![]() ![]() ![]() This would be a significant issue in - for example - a router template. Carpet tapes and similar are thicker and gummy designed to adhere uneven surfaces and with enough elasticity within the tape to conform to side load without de-mounting. Isn't this like carpet tape or the stuff in the DIY store? One roll will last the weekend warrior many years and will always be of benefit both in the shop and around the home. It is however worth stepping back and considering pulling the trigger now to save yourself being faced with the exact same decision the next time you're on a single-instrument budget. ![]() That money could go on any number of other things within the project. In that respect, the argument has validity. $19 or €23 seems like a significant hit if you're working on a single-instrument budget. Certainly, if you're located in the EU then you've got no excuse not to pick up a roll or five for your shop! For myself, factoring in shipping and import duties from StewMac ( non-US buyers beware: StewMac use DHL who force you to pay huge fees on top of normal duty and VAT these days) makes my best option Guitars and Woods in Portugal who sell a stormingly large roll measuring 48mm x 55m (1,88in x 180ft) for €23 also just over a dollar per square foot. What's so expensive about that? When you look at the fact we rarely use more than a few square inches at a time, you can quickly see that it is pretty damn cheap as a consumable. StewMac's price ($19 for 2in x 108ft) equates to just over a dollar per square foot. If the product vanished tomorrow, you can guarantee that a noticeable part of our world would stop turning.or at least grind along a little slower.Ī regular refrain about this tape is that it is expensive, or at least appears to be when you look at it as a single item purchase. Years of use in the real world by myself and countless luthiers worldwide have proven its suitability time and time again through concrete results testament to how those numbers translate to real-world results. Still, numbers on the datasheet mean little to most of us on this side of the fence. Additional properties such as shear strength (resistance to movement perpendicular to the adhesive) is important since that is what guarantees the adhered parts won't slide around against each other. A super-handy solution that lends itself to many problems admirably, and you soon feel lost without it.ģM's technical information datasheet on the tape lists its basic properties which look like opaque numbers at the best of times simplified, it consists of a polyester film thinner than the average human hair, that the bond strength (when firmly applied to clean surfaces at room temperature) is very strong, yet not so strong that it would be a tricky task to de-mount. Since that time, this tape supported me through all kinds of mad uses from car repair to furniture making, stained glass work to electronic repairs, re-applying badges and labels to window decorations. I've been using this tape for as long as I can remember, and likely bought my first roll from StewMac way back when I was learning to make my first instruments and did a big splurge on their overly-expensive tools like many people in that position do. Whilst not specifically designed for the luthier in mind (we misappropriate all kinds of things for our devious ends) this pressure-activated tape has cemented itself as a go-to for attaching thing A to thing B with legendary strength, reliability and convenience, whether it be for a few minutes or for several years.Ī strong double-stick tape is the perfect accompaniment for router templates and accurate temporary workholding such as desktop CNC, inlay pantograph milling, etc. These are without doubt the most common uses this tape sees in the average luthier's workshop and it more than pays for itself off the back of those tasks alone. 3M have a long-standing reputation for sticking it producing technically-excellent products that perform in demanding circumstances. I'm sure that the late great George Carlin didn't have double-stick tape in mind in this skit, however we might be able to take a shot at that booklet he proposed if we renamed it, " How You Can Go Stick It". I think there ought to be a government booklet entitled "Where to Stick It." You have absolutely no idea where to stick it. "You know where you can stick it." Well, why do we always assume everyone knows where they can stick it? Suppose you don't know suppose you're a new guy. Anything from attaching router template to adhering pickguards onto acoustics, its versatility ensures that a smart luthier will always find new tricks and uses for it. 3M's thin-film double-coated adhesive tapes have been a mainstay product in a luthier's workshop for as long as we can remember.and probably longer. ![]()
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