So I’ve shaped a few ICE9 blanks and glassed them with RR. I have had a lot of trouble with getting tape to stick for cutlaps. It’s not the end of the world with clears, but for color work it drives me nuts. I vacuum the blank and blow it off as well. I use blue 3M painters tape which has worked on lots of other blanks with no problems. I searched and found that people had trouble with tape sticking to Walker blanks, and Walker was working with ICE9. Anyone have solutions? I’ve tried pressing it down really hard, flattening the tape right away after I put it down. Nothing works perfectly.
3M- 233 auto body tape . Atlantic Surfing Materials or West Marine$$$$$
Spray a little acrylic clear on the blank. That usually helps.
I’m blown away that you got the blue painters tape to stick to anything porous at all, let alone keep resin from seeping. Like mentioned have you tried the 3M 233 for taping laps, pins etc? If not I’d bet it will solve your problems
Blue painters taped hasn’t worked perfectly, but it has worked with other blanks. I’ll get a little bit of bleeding but nothing a thin pinline won’t fix. I haven’t tried 233 because it’s expensive, I can’t find it reliably locally, and I always forget to order it when I get resin or glass.
The tape doesn’t even come close to sticking to the blank. It lifts up immediately. On other blanks it would at least stick to the blank for the duration of glassing.
Yeah it’s really expensive but you won;t believe how well it works! The way it bends for lapline/pinline curves, airbrushing bleeds no more, taping over boxes, etc… all that frustration, you will smack yourself for not spending the money on it sooner. A roll or two of the (1/2" & 3/4") will get you through most situations. Tape your edge line with it then when necessary use a wider cheaper masking (not the blue painters tape!) to fatten the band. hth
Yea… 233 all the way. I love the stuff so much I use it FOR pinlines… HA!
I was gonna jump in here early and say how much that blue tape sucks, how I wouldn't even tape an order card to a board with that shit, but I thought that was a little harsh.....
You won't believe the difference when you get some real tape.
Oh jeez guys now I’m so embarassed. I’ll check the auto stores and see if I can find a West Marine around here and get some real tape. I’ve been putting it off for years but I guess it’s finally time to break open my wallet. I’ve got a few rolls of 2" wide blue lying around still. I’ll stick with that for hotcoats until I run out.
Hey Rachel, yea the blue stuff is for painting rooms and places where you don’t really want the take to stick very well(makes cleaning up a ton easier) Regular masking tape with work better than that stuff for surfboards.
You can get the 3m #233 tape at napa auto parts I believe they have 2 flavors green and tan they both work very well
3M 233 crepe standard maskiing tape, 3M 233+ Green (supposedly even better) Shurtape makes an equivilent for both that also works well. As someone above suggested you can save a little money by using 233 to pull your first line and then widen the tape line with a cheaper tape or masking paper and tape. Most commonly used in a good glass shop; 1 1/2 or 2".
Howzit Mike, Other than the color, the only real difference between 233 and 233+ is the plus is thinner which makes it bend better. Get a new full roll of each and put them side by side and you'll see the difference. Aloha,Kokua
Hello Rachel ,
3M 233.. as stated by many, is the best....
...Green or Tan?....
I was shocked last year to find out that the Tan is in inches and the Green is Metric...Hmmmmm...is the green 233 + ?
Keith gave me some 232 that he bought on E-Bay...works great...It was cheap but he had to buy enough to fill a small SUV.....Thanks Keith...it's good tape.
Back to Home Depot and Lowes....Look for the Black and Gray label. 3M #2020. I use this stuff for painting , repairs, and cut laps. Works good with poly.....Epoxy takes so long to cure...even good tape can go bad with long epoxy cure times. The resin eats away at the adhesive over time. The new resin Greg L has should cure this problem.
Happy glassing
Ray
Blue Painters tape has a lower sticking point as to not pull the paint off the walls when creating straight lines or transitioning colors, it does work well for fin box installations. As everyone stated 233 is the best
Tom
Believe it or not, but our local walmart superstrore has 233 tape in the automotive section.
3m 233 beige is manufactured with a not so enviro friendly solvent based adhesive. 3m came up with 233+ green as a more enviro friendly water based replacement for 233 beige. They made a big push to get the end users to switch to the new green tape which was met with a lot of resistance. They decided to slowly faze out the beige instead. For example they don’t make 1/2" in 233 any more.
Master airbrusher… you would know. Everyone is on the mark with the 233 and 233+. Aggressive tack, high temperature tape for resin work is a must unless you have developed the timing and ability using UV polyester to get away with the cheaper masking tapes. That doesn’t always work out, even with us experienced folks.
As far as painting and bleeds, blown off or vac’d foam and pushing the tape down slightly into the foam with a tongue depressor, or backside of a spoon or your thumb nail does well, but for perfect crisp lines that I am planning no pinlines (or for sprayed pins) I use Futures acrylic to preseal the tape edge before painting the desired color.
I can see why Rachel would be attracted to the flexibility of the blue tape but ultimately anyone that tapes off a lot of curves knows the width of the tape is key to how much bend you can get, and that is especially true if you are taping a reverse curve as in if you are taping off for a deck color and a clear lap. Also when you are taping noserider laps or eggs that have a lot of nose curve. Forget kinking 3/4" or 1" tape trying to do it… go grab some 1/4" or maybe 1/2"… no amount of pulling 1" is gonna produce unkinked tape.
Laying down the key curve with quality tape is key here, after that, I also change to lower temp cheaper tape, or even wax paper to deliver more bang for the buck. Use wax paper when masking off large areas that aren’t being painted or designated to be another color. You can even re use the wax paper multiple times!
Yep, 233 is the stuff. Buying cheaper tape is a false economy.
Total agreement about using narrower (1/4 or 1/2") tape for pulling curved lines. I stated this once before in another previous thread, but some of those who have posted on this thread "poo-ed " the idea complaining that narrower tape stretches too much and won't stick. when pulled hard. My answer to that is don't pull so damned hard. You are absolutly right when you stated that one inch kinks. Lowel