bsacks05

bsacks05

Well Known Member
Click Bond from VAF front page 8-10-09

The anouncement of a Click Bond wingtip nutplate kit is some good news. Click Bond is company that specializes in adhesive mounted nutplates, patches, studs, etc.. Their stuff is currently used on C-17s, V-22s, etc..

When I had a training session about a year ago from a Click Bond rep, I mentioned that they should look into marketing for the homebuilt community. At the time, they didn't have any small nutplates like we use. At least their website didn't show them. Now, they make nutplates for #6 and bigger size screws.

The benefit for us is that instead of drilling three holes per plate, we only drill one for the screw, then the nutplate is bonded in place. It WILL NOT come off with normal pressure or torque. They can be removed with a strategically placed shear load or heat from a heat gun.

I bonded a couple threaded studs to the interior of my cabin in order to hold a couple headset hangars I made. Its been over a year and they are still rock solid.

The only downside may be the cost. According to their catalog, the nutplates are $2-$2.75 each. The adhesive doesn't look to be too expensive. Wingtip Kit $295 thanks Don!.
Beyond wingtips, there are many different apps for us such as cable and clamp standoffs and 1/4 turn fastener receptacles.

Makes sense - drill 2/3 fewer holes, less deburring, fewer mistakes, increased structural integrity.
 
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The wing tip kit....

....is listed in the link from the front page. It shows $295. I think
they were offering them at Oshkosh for $275 if I recall correctly. I have
a certificate at home for the show price. I will check the cost when I get home.
Neat stuff tho....
 
I used #6 Click-Bond nutplates (PN CN614) on my wingtips (these have been available for over 5 years), purchased from the flight shop in Utah. Not cheap, but faster and stronger since you're only drilling 1/3 the number of holes (which are all in line just in from the wingtip edge and all cut through the same fibers). Click Bond has all sorts of great fasteners for lots of applications like holding wire bundles. I'm using some of those too.
 
I used Click Bond nutplates and other products in several places on my project. They are spendy, but really a great product.
 
Clickbonds are used quite a bit on the dark side (composite building)...

Bob
 
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ClickBonds not Perfect!

I also used #6 ClickBonds on the fiberglass wintips with great sucsess, but I had some real issues where I used them on aluminum. I had several nutplates on the floor ribs break loose when removing screws...and that makes a real issue, as it's not real easy to remove the "twirling screw" from the "twirling nut plate....and it must be removed before the floor will come off. I talked to the folks form ClickBond about this and they seemed to think it was my surface prep...but I had followed thier procedures to the letter. I did continue to use them for studs to hold wiring in awkward areas, but at least I could easily deal with them if the bond failed. So use on fiberglass is great, use on aluminum sufraces when out of other ideas!
 
ClickBond does not appear to make a 'solid' nut plate, only the 'floating' variety. Is the floating type OK for the wingtips? I think the non-floating variety would be better in this application, but I may be (probably am!) wrong about that. I had thought about using ClickBonds for the tips but am leaning against it because they are the floating variety. And then the post about the ClickBond attach point coming loose. Yikes!! If this happened to a wing tip nut plate that would be bad news....
 
Noah said:
I used #6 Click-Bond nutplates (PN CN614) on my wingtips (these have been available for over 5 years), purchased from the flight shop in Utah. Not cheap, but faster and stronger since you're only drilling 1/3 the number of holes (which are all in line just in from the wingtip edge and all cut through the same fibers). Click Bond has all sorts of great fasteners for lots of applications like holding wire bundles. I'm using some of those too.
Click to expand...

So you bond the nut plate directly to the fiberglass and for-go the aluminum strip that riveted nutplates attach to? If so that would definitely speed up the process, although I still think if a bonded nut plate ever came loose, you'd be screwed, so to speak :)
 
flickroll said:
So you bond the nut plate directly to the fiberglass and for-go the aluminum strip that riveted nutplates attach to? If so that would definitely speed up the process, although I still think if a bonded nut plate ever came loose, you'd be screwed, so to speak :)
Click to expand...

Yes, you forego the aluminum strip. If the nutplate bond fails (I have dealt with tons of these failures on a carbon fiber underwater vehicle design I am involved with) you can simply grab the nutplate with pliers and unscrew the screw. If you can't reach the nutplate, you can drill out the head of the screw - no big deal. The wingtips should not come on and off often.
 
I was just at the Boeing plant today where they make lots of structural parts for the C-17. Click Bond products are everywhere on that plane. One of the employees did a C/B installation demo for my students.

As "experimenters" this might be worth checking out. Get a few of the C/B bits of hardware with adhesive, and devise your own materials adhesion, pull, torque, and shear tests. (The company publishes this info on their site)
Then you will know if it is right for you. It is some neat stuff anyway.
 
Mine came loose

Not sure if they were click bond or not but every single one I used came loose.

Hans
 
Noah said:
Yes, you forego the aluminum strip. If the nutplate bond fails (I have dealt with tons of these failures on a carbon fiber underwater vehicle design I am involved with) you can simply grab the nutplate with pliers and unscrew the screw. If you can't reach the nutplate, you can drill out the head of the screw - no big deal. The wingtips should not come on and off often.
Click to expand...

Noah & N743RV -

Have either of you had a nutplate that was bonded to fiberglass ever come loose? What sort of suface preparation of the fiberglass is required? How long does it take the adhesive to set up before full strength is reached? Thanks
 
flickroll said:
Noah & N743RV -

Have either of you had a nutplate that was bonded to fiberglass ever come loose? What sort of suface preparation of the fiberglass is required? How long does it take the adhesive to set up before full strength is reached? Thanks
Click to expand...

No, I have not. But my airplane is not flying yet either. The failures I referred to earlier on an underwater carbon fiber vehicle were not Click-Bond products or adhesives, and they were really badly abused. There was not always enough time in the project schedule for proper surface prep when some of these were installed. Hence I had no trepidation about using CBs nutplates on my plane.

Surface prep and adhesive are everything with bonded nutplates, as you might imagine. I would stick with the CB359-50 structural adhesive that CB recommends, as they do this for a living and do extensive testing for their aerospace customers. I also used them on several interplanetary spacecraft I have been involved with.

Here are some links which answer your questions in greater detail than I can:
http://theflightshop.com/Cataspx375.html
http://theflightshop.com/Cataspx376.html
http://theflightshop.com/cataspx632.html
 
Pictures!

Jim requested some photos, so here they are. As you can see, I attached my nav and landing lights with CB nutplates too. Also, recommend countersinking the wingtip attach holes AFTER the nutplate adhesive is cured, as the adhesive will work its way into the countersink in some cases, and you will have to go back later and clean it up with a countersink tool. This will NOT occur with a regular hole, since the rubber worm "jig" fills up the entire hole while the adhesive cures. I think I used a drilled hole of .143" dia or so for the #6 fasteners for the wingtip attachment.




 
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I decided to countersink the holes first as I was worried that countersinking into a floating nutplate would not produce a good countersink due to chattering of the countersink bit. The holes that were created during the countersink operation are between a 28 & 27 bit. If adhesive does seep into the countersink in a few instances during the nutplate bonding operation I'll clean them up using the technique Noah described.
 
Update

Bonded 94 nutplates to my new BatWing tips today. The ClickBond system is pretty slick. All nutplates were bonded within 2 or 3 hours, and with today's ~90 deg F heat the adhesive was set by late afternoon. This system is not inexpensive, but is a real labor/time saver. No bonding of the aluminum strip. You drill and countersink one, not three, holes. No rivets to squeeze. The entire job of attaching the nutplates was completed in 2 or 3 hours. I am impressed. :D
 
I've worked with Click Bond on a few projects. Back at United Airlines we started using their clipnuts to install floorboards. As a Project Engineer with another company I specifically requested to have their products used on the Sikorsky S-92 VIP Helicopter structural interior. The key is to choose the correct product for the application and follow the directions as given. Any problems we had were self induced. (i.e. contaminated surface prior to bonding.) Great products and good people!

Ken
 
Click Bonds

Got into my wingtip today and realized that the Click Bond nut plates all held. It was the non floating regular nutplates that came loose, not the Click Bond units.

Hans
 
Thanks to all for your replies!

Hopefully, I will be at part of the construction that involves attaching the Wingtips in a few weeks and I have been looking over the 'Click Bond' system since I would like to have Wingtips that can be readily removed when necessary. Also, I would also like to have a removable Vertical Stabilizer Tip as well since I expect to put a Strobe Light there.

Therefore, I was hoping that some kind people would be good enough to post their thoughts about the 'Click Bond' system.

Thanks again! You all have been most helpful.
 
click bond test

I have used the click bond nut plates and tie wrap anchors in my 8. I will say my experience with them has been great. My concern was and is what happens if the bond fails and you have a free spinning nut plate in a blind area (floor, wingtip)? I did a test of prep vs. minimal or no prep and the anchors are very strong in the prep area and pop off easily in a poorly prep area. Take your time and prep the area well and you will likely not have any problems. hope this helps.
 
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