How To Assemble A Strut Card

July 31, 2016

This is a brief overview of the production method for standard strut cards.
This is what we do day to day when producing strut cards for our clients.

Strut Cards a4 a5

 

I’ve done a 2 minute video on youtube.

 

Step 1: Card Preparation

We need to get the card/screenbaord ready, and we do that by applying mounting tape. Mounting tape is basically a wide roll of double sided tape. We roll out a a couple of metres onto the bench, then we lay the precut card sheets down onto it.

The excess tape is trimmed off and the mounting tape smoothed down with an applicator.

All the extra tape is trimmed off
All the extra tape is trimmed off

 

Card is trimmed and smoothed
Card is trimmed and smoothed

Step 2: Printing

The artwork is printed onto 250gsm high gloss paper stock. We use this stock because the high gloss give a nice finish to the prints. We use the heavy paper weight because it sticks to the cardboard very easily and rarely bubbles, it is also less likely to bubble over time when the strut cards are in use.

Full colour high gloss prints
Full colour high gloss prints

Step 3: Sticking Stuff To Other Stuff

It’s time to start sticking things together. Line the print up on the card, hold it in place with some spring clamps. It is worth spending a little time here to make sure it is right, the print can slip around a bit, and once it is stuck, it’s stuck.
Now you hold back the free end of the print, peel back about about 20mm of the backing sheet of the mounting tape, exposing the adhesive. Fold the backing sheet sharply, really squish it down, otherwise you can get a defect along the line. Holding the backing tape as flat as possible, apply the print down onto the adhesive. This forms a hinge for the rest of the print.

With the hinge in place, we remove the clamp on the edge, and move the middle clamp to sit on the anchor end. Lifting the print out of the way, we grab the folded backing sheet, and peel it all the way off, exposing the rest of the adhesive. Then using the wide applicator the rest of the print is mounted. It is starting to look like a strut card!

Step 4: Trimming

Trim off two edges to tidy up the sheets, then I run them through the guillotine to cut them down to their final size.

Step 5: Hot Gluing the Strut On

The print is mounted and trimmed to final size, and ready to be turned into a strut card. I measure up the centre of the sheet and make a guide for positioning the strut on the back. Using the hot glue gun we stick the strut onto the back of the print.

Completed Strut Cards

We have have a complete strut card.

That’s it. Strut cards are a great visual merchandising tool. They are cheap to produce, robust, and easy to install.

Strut Card

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