What is the stuff called...?

[Zach England]

I have seen some stuff that is a plastic-rubber type substance used for making tool handles. It comes in a can and you dip your tools into it to coat the handles. What is this stuff? I have googled every term I can think of and cannot find it.

Thanks.

[Rod Sheridan]

Plasti Dip??????????????

[Mike Nolan]

Plasti-Dip Handle Coating?

[Bill Huber]

This is the stuff I use the last time I use any and it work very.

http://www.amazon.com/Rubberized-Plastic-Coating-Black-Coating/dp/B000VS2HMK

[glenn bradley]

+1 Plastic Dip from Lowes.

[Zach England]

Does it work for padding clamp ends? That is what I need it for.

[Jim O'Dell]

I would think getting an even coating would be hard. I wouldn't even try on a parallel type clamp, but other clamps it might be worth a try.
Plan to use as much of the stuff as possible when you open the can. I used it one time, and of course was useless the next time I went to use it.:o Jim.

[Mac McQuinn]

I just used this product in a Western Flyer Wagon restoration for my Grandchild. Wagon was my Son's who is now 30. I purchased the wagon used in the late 1970's. It had a rubber coated metal handle on it in which the rubber was peeling away from the metal. to re-apply a new coating I used an old Tupperware dish just big enough to lower the handle into vertically, deep enough to achieve a coating as far up the handle as you desire. Fill the dish almost to top w/ coating product and very slowly lower handle into the goop. Let it sit for 10 seconds and slowly pull it out. Hang it up from a coat hanger and let dry. Do this procedure as many times as needed to gain thickness desired. The wagon handle took 5 trips. It will look like you have a permanent drip edge on the bottom of item your working with although after a day or so, this all shrinks back and looks very nice. The coating is very uniform in thickness and firms up very nicely after a day or two. The product I used had a resealable can for future use.

Mac

[Perry Holbrook]

You can find it on the shelf at Home Depot.

Perry

[Michael Poller]

That stuff is great. I have used it quite a few times to re-hab old pliers and small hand tools I pick up at yard sales.

It can be finickly to work with but after a three or four coats it really stays on the tool and makes it much easier to work with.

It's also forgiving in that if you mess up the application, just let it dry, cut away, and try again. Peels right off.

[Tom Veatch]

Does it work for padding clamp ends? That is what I need it for.

I've tried that, and found the durability in that application to be somewhat lacking. And, since it doesn't increase the footprint of the clamp on the workpiece, the contact pressure and potential for marring the surface is essentially the same.

Bottom line: Seemed to be a good idea that, for me at least, didn't work out too well in practice. YMMV.

[Michael Poller]

The bottle/can says you can use a brush to apply it, but I think the biggest challenge will be to get a consistent layer of even thickness with no irregularities on something like the face of a clamp.

Even if you did, I am uncertain of how it will react under the forces excerpted by a clamp, nor how well it would hold up under those forces repeatedly. Might end up having to re-apply to often to be worth it.

Also not sure how it handles getting glue on it and whether the glue would come off easily of not.

[Bob Vavricka]

I have seen some stuff that is a plastic-rubber type substance used for making tool handles. It comes in a can and you dip your tools into it to coat the handles. What is this stuff? I have googled every term I can think of and cannot find it.

Thanks.

Zach,
Try searching for plastisol. I have used some that had to be heated in an oven to cure and some that just cured without added heat. If I remember right we put a thin coating of something on the metal tool handles to make it stick better. Otherwise it could just be pulled off.
Bob Vavricka

[Garth Keel]

I got some at Ace HDWE on line. There is one pkg that has about 8 different colors that can be added to the clear base. I haven't tried it yet but I did see it used on T.V. at some time. About 15-20 as I remember, some sizes cheaper.

[Michael Schapansky]

Handy stuff. I "wrapped" some Christmas presents with it a few years ago. After the packages were wrapped with paper I'd drizzle a little plasti dip in different colors all over the boxes. They sure looked different.

[Brian D Anderson]

Does it work for padding clamp ends? That is what I need it for.

I have no answer but I can tell you what I did with my clamps. I found a bundle of cork panels at Home Depot. They're about 1/4" thick cork in 12"x12" panels. I cut them to size and adhered them to the clamps with double sided tape. The only slight drawback is that if you get glue between your piece and the cork, the cork will peel off and stick to the glue. Not really an issue as it is easily scraped off.

You can kind of see them here:

http://www.jfreitasphotography.com/Temp/SofaTable2.jpg

-Brian

[Mark Elmer]

Hi all,

Many NAPA Auto Parts Stores have Plasti Dip on their shelves and those that don't can have it for you in a day or two.

[Josiah Bartlett]

I use liquid electrical tape. Its slightly more pliable but basically the same stuff and it comes with a built in brush in the lid, same type of can as pvc pipe cement.

[Zach England]

Thanks, all. It was easily obtained at Ace hardware, which lately has had me pleasantly surprised on several occasions by their selection of products and staff who can tell you where something is. My problem finding it had been looking in the tool sections of Lowes and HD, but alas it is on the bottom shelf of the back corner in the paint department at Ace. They had about six different colors and an aerosol variant. I settled on something that resembles safety yellow.

[Lee Schierer]

I used to work at a major plier manufacturer and they used plastisol for the grips on pliers. To get better adhesion, dip the handles in clear lacquer first, let it dry and the plastisol will be nearly impossible to remove.