Home › Blog › Electromechanical & Switchgear › Cabinet Bonding & Assembly › How to spec a bonding tape part
How to Spec a Cabinet Bonding Tape Part: What to Send H-O for a Quote
A bonding-tape RFQ that says "acrylic foam tape, 1 mm, see DXF" reads like a finished spec, but it hides every decision that actually picks the part: the substrate pair and its surface energy, the real gap, the service temperature, whether the assembly passes through a powder-coat oven, and whether the joint is even permanent. When any of those is wrong, the revision loop starts after the die is cut instead of before it.
This article is the checklist the H-O applications team works from for cabinet and panel bonding parts: the seven things to send, why each one changes the answer, how to call the part out on the drawing, and what happens after you hit send. It condenses the selection logic of the full application page into a quoting workflow.
Request a quote for your project →
The seven things to send, and what each decides
| Send this | What it decides |
|---|---|
| 1. Both substrates, including the coating | The adhesive chemistry. Bare or anodized metal accepts general and structural acrylics; powder coat, paint, and olefin plastics route the joint to the LSE family; dissimilar pairs may take a double-coated tape with a different adhesive on each face. |
| 2. The load: what hangs on this bond, and how | Structural versus general duty, and which property to read on the TDS: lap shear (ASTM D1002) for in-plane structural joints, peel (ASTM D3330) for edge-lift and overlay retention, holding power (ASTM D3654) for parts carrying sustained static load. |
| 3. Bond-line gap and surface condition | The gauge. The catalog spans 0.006 in. ultra-thin through 0.118 in. gap-filling; thick foam cores for stamped, coated, or wavy faces, thin transfer tapes for flat close-fitting parts. |
| 4. Continuous service temperature at the bond | Whether a standard acrylic holds or the joint moves to the silicone/acrylic hybrid for hot-adjacent locations near transformers and power modules. |
| 5. Process sequence (bond then coat? oven profile?) | Whether the family must survive or use the oven: pre-powdercoat remains as the bond line through the cure; heat-activated film develops its bond under the heat. A standard acrylic applied before powder will not survive the cycle. |
| 6. Permanent or temporary | Whether the joint belongs to the permanent families at all, or to removable tape or no-PSA PVC cling foam for residue-free release. |
| 7. Presentation and volumes (kiss-cut on liner? rolls or sheets? prototype and annual quantity) | The converting plan: die-cut pieces, kiss-cut-on-liner for assembly-line peel-and-stick, slit rolls, or a lamination that combines the tape with an insulation or foam layer in one part. |
How to call the part out on the drawing
Four habits make a bonding part quotable the first time. Name the faces on the face of the drawing ("powder-coated steel door / PC-ABS clip"), because the coating is the spec, not a finish note. Dimension the footprint and the gauge separately, and say which one is fixed: a gap-filling bond wants the gauge driven by the measured gap, while a flush nameplate wants the thinnest gauge that holds.
State the dwell plan when the line will load the joint quickly, so the review can flag a fast-grab rubber-based grade or temporary fixturing. And write the process sequence as an instruction ("bond in the white, then powder coat at the supplier's published cure") rather than leaving the oven to be discovered at the line.
For load-path joints, add the expected load and direction so the area math runs against lap-shear data per ASTM D1002 rather than instinct.
What engineering does with the list
The review runs the parent page's sequence. Item 1 picks the chemistry: Structural Cladding for bare-metal load paths, General Purpose for the broad middle, LSE grades where the lower-energy face demands them, ultra-thin and transfer tapes for flush and laminating bonds. Item 2 sizes the joint against the property that matches the load. Item 3 fixes the gauge from the measured gap.
Items 4 and 5 route hot and oven-bound joints to the hybrid, pre-powdercoat, or heat-activated families. Item 6 catches the fixturing cases before they become residue complaints. Item 7 sets the converting and presentation plan. The output is a family and gauge direction with the vendor TDS attached, a footprint proposal, and a quote.
What happens after you send it
- Drawing review. Typically opened the same business day; the response is either a tape-family direction or the specific missing items.
- Material direction and quote. Family, grade, gauge, and converting plan, with peel, shear, and holding-power class cited to the vendor's TDS for your substrate pair.
- Samples. Typically 3 to 5 business days for common die-cut configurations on materials we keep on hand, so the bond can be trialed on production-finish hardware.
- Production. Standard production runs about two weeks after drawing approval, including kiss-cut-on-liner and laminated configurations; expedited service is available. MOQ varies by material and part.
Documentation available on request: vendor technical data sheet, certificate of conformance, lot traceability, and first-article inspection, under our ISO 9001:2015 certified quality management system. H-O is a die-cut converter, not a tape manufacturer; we do not extrude or mold adhesives in-house, and extruded or molded profiles are coordinated through our partner network.
The mistakes this checklist prevents
| Spec mistake | What it causes | Checklist item that catches it |
|---|---|---|
| Coating left off the substrate callout | A general-purpose acrylic peeling off powder coat under its own preload | Item 1 |
| Gauge picked from the catalog, not the gap | A thin tape touching only the high spots of a wavy panel; collapsed bond area | Item 3 |
| Hot-adjacent bond on a standard acrylic | Creep under static load as holding power drops at temperature | Item 4 |
| Oven discovered after the tape was chosen | A bond that cannot survive the 350 to 400°F powder-coat cure | Item 5 |
| Permanent tape used as a fixturing aid | Adhesive residue fouling a face that needed a later bond or finish | Item 6 |
| Load test scheduled the day of assembly | A "weak" result on a bond that had not finished its wet-out | Items 2 and 7 (dwell plan) |
Frequently asked questions
Can H-O cross-reference a competitor tape part number on my print?
In most cases, yes. Send the print: engineering identifies a comparable family from the lines we convert, matching on adhesive chemistry (acrylic, LSE acrylic, rubber, silicone/acrylic hybrid), foam-core construction and gauge, and the peel, shear, and holding-power class on the TDS. It is an industry cross-reference, not a guaranteed drop-in; for structural or high-temperature joints we will ask for the load and service temperature so the match is made to the real duty.
What presentation should I ask for: rolls, sheets, or kiss-cut on liner?
Let the line decide. Kiss-cut-on-liner is the default for repeated assembly: parts peel off one at a time, square-cornered and sealed-edged, with no field scissoring. Slit rolls suit long straight runs cut to width; die-cut sheets suit low-volume or large-footprint parts. If the part combines functions (a bonding layer married to an insulation or foam layer), say so and it is laminated and supplied as one part.
Do you need the powder-coat oven profile, or just a note that the part gets coated?
Start with the note ("bond then coat") because it changes the family immediately, then supply the cure profile (temperature and time) during the review. Pre-powdercoat grades must survive the cure; heat-activated grades must reach their activation window inside it. The profile is how engineering confirms the selected grade against the vendor TDS rather than assuming a typical oven.
How do samples work for a bonded joint?
Samples typically ship in 3 to 5 business days for common die-cut configurations on materials we keep on hand. For bonds, trial them on production-finish coupons, the actual powder coat or paint from your coater, not on lab-clean metal, and give the bond its dwell before pull-testing. That one habit makes the sample result predictive of the field instead of flattering.
Send the checklist, get a bonding part quote
Attach the drawing and as many of the seven items as you have. Drawing review typically starts the same business day.
Samples typically 3 to 5 business days; production about two weeks; MOQ varies by material and part. Expedited service available.
Family-owned in Winsted, Connecticut since 1971 · ISO 9001:2015 certified · OEMs worldwide send us a drawing — and get back their part.
Related reading
ApplicationSwitchgear Cabinet Bonding & Panel Assembly TapesRead →
Sub-applicationTelecom Rack Bonding & AssemblyRead →
GuideStructural, General Purpose, or LSE: Choosing an Acrylic Foam Tape for Switchgear Cabinet AssemblyRead →
GuideWhy Tape Bonds Fail on Powder Coat: Surface Energy, Wet-Out, and Dwell TimeRead →
IndustryElectromechanical & Switchgear hubRead →
Request a quote for your structural bonding & assembly part
Send H-O your drawing or describe the part—engineering reviews every RFQ and converts samples on your geometry.
Last updated · Reviewed by H-O Products engineering (ISO 9001:2015 certified converter, Winsted, CT).
References
- ASTM D3330 (peel adhesion); ASTM D1002 (lap shear); ASTM D3654 (holding power); ASTM D2979 (probe tack); ASTM D3652 (tape thickness); ASTM D3575 (cellular polyolefin foams).
- IEC 61439 and UL 508A, cited by designation as the assembly standards the finished cabinet is built to.
- Vendor technical data sheets for the AFTC acrylic foam, heat-activated, transfer, double-coated, rubber-based, silicone/acrylic hybrid, ultra-thin, pre-powdercoat, and removable families, and PVC cling foam.
This checklist supports a quotation workflow; it does not constitute design guidance for any specific joint. Grade-level strength values vary by substrate, gauge, dwell, temperature, and loading rate and are confirmed on the vendor's current technical data sheet during drawing review. Assembly-level listings belong to the tested assembly. All parts are custom manufactured to order; minimum production run quantities vary by material and part. H-O is a die-cut converter, not a raw-material producer.