Taping on spackle

All,

Working on my first EPS/epoxy board. Foam is 2#. I’m done with shaping and sealed with two coats of water-thinned spackle. Sanded down the spackle to very thin layer and blew it all off. Tried laying down tape for a cut lap and found the tape (the green 3M stuff) won’t stick to the spackle. Maybe the spackle is not truely dust free (not blown off well enough - although it looks like it is). Does another type of tape work better over spackle? Your thoughts and info appreciated.

thanks,

Jim

Howzit jim, Try using a shop vac on the blank. I stopped blowing off the blanks years ago before airbrushing and find my tape offs adhere better to the blanks.Aloha,Kokua

Thanks, Kokua. I’ll give that a try.

I haven’t had trouble getting tape to stick to spackle, so maybe your blank is still dusty, as you suggested? Also, just a heads-up, I’ve had a little bit of trouble doing cutlaps on spackled eps. When you cut the lap and pull the tape, it pulls up spackle and beads of foam, creating a little trough on the inside edge of your lap line. Not sure how to avoid this…

Well, that would suck. Sounds like your tape is sticking more than well enough. What kind of tape are you using?

Howzit jim, Try using a tape that doesn’t have to much stickiness to it. If I’m doign a paint job I use a tape from Fiberglass Hi. called 505 that works good but not for tint or pigment work,only for airbrush work. Aloha,Kokua

I’ve been using 3m. I’ll try the 505 stuff from FGH and see how that goes.

Hey SS,

Sounds like your tape is mega strong…I use the the green 3m too and have had no problems. Sounds like your cutting too far into the foam. Timing is the key…sharp razor…glass cured enough…cut a slit mid-rail along the tape line…as you pull the tape keep the razor right on the edge(tape/glass) cut as it comes up …should make a zipp sound. I had a few spots like you describe when I did my first few…but by cutting as you lift the tape , smooths it out. Oh yah…it does sound as if you still have dust on the blank…have fun…