Double Sided Turners Tape

[Mike Wenman]

I received my pendant backer plate in the mail today from Richard Joyner. Since I had to drive into the city, I stopped by the Woodcraft store to pick up a new roll of turners tape since the roll I have is many many years old. I never have had any success in using this so what's the secret to getting it to hold on?

I screwed a piece of 8/4 hard maple for a waste block on the backer plate, turned it round and trued up the face. Applied some tape then put the piece on that I intended to use for the pendant. Brought up the tailstock with a small piece of wood on it to hold some pressure while I rounded off the pendant piece. After I backed off the tail stock and attempted to work on the face with a freshly sharpened skew and using very light touch, the piece immediately broke loose and went zinging across the shop as soon as the tool touched the piece.

Sooo, where do I go from here to get this stuff to hold?


Mike

[Scott Stevens]

Hi,
Long time lurker, first time poster.

Having just been dealing with this very issue myself during the last month, I feel there's some information to share.

I tried two types of two-sided tape.
One unknown was thick and had so much adhesive that it was a gooey mess that would twist like a marshmellow centre between cookies. Kept going off centre and wanting to slide off the baseplate face with pressure.
The second type was the Duc brand from WMart as reccommended by posters using this same backer plate. It is thin and very sticky with no extra adhesive and a cloth fibre weave type of material. It too was lacking in grip power.

I was using a maple block and a dozen+ exotic woods for pendants. The backs were sanded and cleaned before sticking them on, using the tailstock to pressure hold them a couple minutes before use.

With this tape, 2 flew off as you described. The rest mostly went as far as drilling before becoming twisted and off centre or having the tape bunched up on one side. Drilling with a forstner bit was sure to grab the tape and mess the whole deal. A few moved while rounding edges or with anything but the lighest of cuts(All very dry hardwoods).

So, after 2 dozen attempts and not a suitable hold amongst them, I got out the hot-glue gun.

Beauty!
It works much better. Holds in place even thru drilling and off centre eccentric stuff for pendants. I use a good amount the full size of the backer, which I found best to be large as possible. 1.5" for a 2" pendant seems a lot stronger than a singe inch. 1/4" overlap all around seems ok, but more is asking for extra problems.
I use a 1" regular flat chisel to pop the finished pendant off.

HTH

Scott

[John Keeton]

Scott, don't guess I can say welcome, but sure glad to see you jump in and post!! Hope it won't be your last - sounds like you have a lot of info and experience that would be helpful.

[Tom Sherman]

Mike I believe Scott is on the right track, a couple of years ago my wife decided she would like to turn some compact covers. After following the directions using 1" of tape and having to chase them across the shop I started covering the mandrel with the tape applying the turning material and then trimming off the excess tape. It seemed to work fine.

[Thom Sturgill]

I use the cloth tape. Cover the back pretty completely and have had one out of six come loose and it was an oily wood. Never had much luck with the tape for anything else.

[Steve Schlumpf]

I have been using the ACE brand of heavy duty cloth carpet tape and the stuff works great! Haven't turned very many pendants but have used it a number of times for collars. Never had a problem with it but always make sure the surfaces are flat and clean before using the tape!

Scott - Welcome to posting on the forum! You'll find that the site is a lot more fun when there's personal interaction!

[Harvey Schneider]

I have used "Turners Tape". I don't remember which website I bought it from.
I find that the holding power is good if it is left under pressure for a while before I do any turning. The grip definitely becomes stronger with time and pressure combined. I sometimes have trouble prying the work loose when I'm done.
Harvey

[Jim Silva]

I use double faced tape for turning almost daily in a small production turning environment. The fiberglass backed tape (NON FOAM) is the best I've found. The good stuff CANNOT be found at Lowe's or Depot (at least at the 4 locations near me). The foam tape that they sell is next to useless for our purposes.

The brand I'm using is made either by Henkel or Shurtech and I've been able to find it http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/%28kwliozupbtn5vmrgovxuvo55%29/ProductDetails.aspx?SKU=58637
here. Much better price than in woodturning catalogs and for wider and longer rolls.

I turn pendants all the time using this stuff and it works perfectly and with care can even be repositioned. I just did a demo on pendants for my local club (my first demo:D) and had a lot of inquiries about the tape. Hence the ready knowledge lol.

I recently turned two 16"+ platters, each secured to a large wooden faceplate with five or six 2"x 3" pieces of this tape only. Both sides. (To be fair, I did back it up with the tailstock when beginning both sides but removed it with absolutely no slippage for the remainder of the turning.)
Tough part was pulling it free from the faceplate.

Keys are not to let it get hot, not to handle it's surface more than necessary and to keep the surfaces it's being adhered to wiped free of dust and oils.

Hope this helps
Jim

[Frank Kobilsek]

I'm with Steve - Ace brand HD Cloth carpet tape. I've done a 14" plate with the stuff so I can't imagine having trouble with a little pendant. I apply it to my face plate after cleaning the face plate with mineral spirits. Your problem might be dust. Wipe off the waste block with a damp towel before sticking part to it. Surfaces to be bonded must be very flat. Tape is presure sensitive, so you have to squeeze it for a period before you have full bond. Heat is your enemy so if you have a thin part and you get it hot sanding your tape is softening.

Frank

PS: Yes, Turning plates with tape might not be smart but I had a very figured 14" wide 3/4" thick flat board that beg to be a couple serving trays.

[Phil Hansen]

I find that the holding power is good if it is left under pressure for a while before I do any turning. Harvey

I find the same. Use the tape to attach the pendant, fit the backer plate to the headstock and hold in place with a bit of pressure from the tailstock for a while. Sticks like crazy. The only tape I could find over here was the stuff that is used to fix new grips onto golf sticks. Works for me and haven't had anything fall off.

Phil

[Larry Pickering]

I use 3M Automotive Attachment Tape, it's pricey but it works.

[Jim Burr]

I've had great results with the 3" blue foam tape at Lowe's in the carpet section. Don't remember the brand, but has done great for 60-70 pendents. I tossed in a couple of pics with the waste block attached just for reference.

[Mike Wenman]

Thanks for all the info. Tried a spot of glue from my glue gun and it seemed to hold exceptionally well. (Thanks Scott for that pointer and Welcome to the Creek :) )

Received an e-mail from Richard and he seems to use the wmart Duck brand of double sided tape on a waste block and also puts a piece of packing tape on his pendant blank before adhering them together with tailstock pressure. gonna give that a go as well.

Thanks again.

Mike

[Jim Silva]

I've had great results with the 3" blue foam tape at Lowe's in the carpet section. Don't remember the brand, but has done great for 60-70 pendents. I tossed in a couple of pics with the waste block attached just for reference.

I tried that tape (still have some) but don't like it for several reasons.
One, it has "give" to it. It can and does deform slightly in compression.
It also deforms in a twist more than the fiberglass tape so it's not ideal for keeping something centered. For pendants that's a problem. For larger things it'd be dangerous so I just don't bother with the foam stuff preferring to err on the side of caution. Also, going through where I buy my tape my cost per foot is about the same.

The other issue I encountered was in finishing pendants. Using a friction polish as I do for them, even slight heat generated causes the foam tape to get mushy and let the piece move about. In pendants where a FP is applied after completing turning on one axis, then moving to eccentric for the hole and the easement into it, that bit of sloppiness can yield unsatisfactory results or the piece to come free.

The fiberglass tape is certainly not free from these issues but it's considerably less susceptible to them from my perspective. I've done several hundred pendants in the last year or two and fiberglass wins hands down in my book. Your mileage may vary:D;).

[David Woodruff]

Not surprised. I got suckered on this stuff 10-12 or so years ago. same result as you. Threw the stuff away. I thought it might work on at least small stuff. I concluded that it did what it was supposed to do,Me buy it, its job was finished. I have felt the same way about some fishing lures I have purchased. The only think it caught was me.
My instincts are more finely tuned today or maybe I just listen better, any way "if it sounds to good to be true, it usually is.

[Scott Lux]

I've used both the Duck brand from WM and Turner's Tape from WC. Both have worked well for me.
I always leave the pendant/tape/backer clamped together for a couple of hours before turning. Sometimes on the lathe with a block, sometimes in my vise (gently).
On the couple of occasions when I rushed it, I had problems.

[Frank Van Atta]

I've been using Permacel double sided tape for better than 10 years and have had excellent results with it. You do have to put it under pressure for a few minutes to get better adhesion, and even then you need to be mindful of how much torque your cutting tool is producing - light cuts from the center out work the best. This works great with pendants. The bad news is that it is pricey - currently running around $30+ per roll. I've been using the same roll for those 10 years I mentioned, but the initial price might put still put some off. If you want to know all about double sided tape - brands, adhesive power, pricing, etc., see: http://www.findtape.com/shop/results.aspx?cid=11&setscreen=1&width=1280&height=631

If the price of the tape puts you off, there is an alternative - blue tape and hot melt glue. Here's an article on the method: http://www.davidreedsmith.com/Articles/BlueBowlReversing/blue_bowl_reversing.htm

The problem with plain hot melt glue is getting it off the surfaces. Alcohol will help you do this, but it is still a mess. The blue painter's tape adheres nicely to most surfaces, and releases easily and cleanly. I have been using this method more and more and have had great success with it.

[Jim Burr]

I'm sold...off to 'net land for a purchase and trial :D