The processing of high temperature thermoplastic polymers as a hot melt adhesive is one means of joining thermoplastics to metals. The present study establishes the role of processing in thermoplastic joining of a titanium alloy (Ti-6A1-4V) using thin film poly(etherketoneetherketoneketone) (PEKEKK). A design of experiments (DOE) was performed to determine the effects of the soak above melt temperature (T-m = 380 degrees C), hold at the isothermal recrystallization temperature (T-iso = similar to 340 degrees C) and cooling rates on the joint strength. Extended soak times are required to remove the residual spherulitic crystallinity in the polymeric adhesive. With the elimination of the residual crystallinity, high-strength transcrystalline regions are enhanced at the polymer-metal interface during the hold time at T-iso and during cooling to ambient temperature. Average tensile strengths of 137 MPa were achieved, exceeding the bulk polymer tensile strength of 118 MPa by 16%. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) show that extended soak times above T-m led to excessive polymer squeeze-out, resulting in the creation of strength-reducing shrink voids or unwetted regions. As a result, the failure mode of the joint, which was normally cohesive for high-strength joints, became a mix of cohesive and adhesive in parts with excessive polymer squeeze out.