my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Community   » Film-Yak   » Why can't you get good Scotch tape anymore? (Page 1)

This topic comprises 2 pages: 1  2

Author Topic: Why can't you get good Scotch tape anymore? Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-01-2009 03:52 PM                        I use Scotch tape to put onesheets up in our front doors. Recently I found an "old" tape dispenser from around 8 or 10 years ago that was pretty busted up but still had tape in it. I was AMAZED how much thinner the tape is now, compared to what was in the old dispenser. Also, you can't find a decent plain old tape dispenser these days. Either they are cheap plastic (with a plastic cutter that isn't sharp) or they are a newfangled lever-driven thing that clogs up with the microthin tape. I would just like to find a nice dispenser with a metal cutter blade. Doesn't anybody make decent transparent tape any more?!  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 10-01-2009 04:28 PM                        Of course not. Thinner is cheaper, and cheaper is better. It's no longer about quality, it's about price. That's how the world works now. Sad.  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 10-01-2009 04:41 PM                        Is it actually Scotch tape made by 3M, or some knockoff? Even 3M makes some price-competitive crap now but if you search you can find the good stuff. You won't find it at the grocery store though. Try a well-stocked stationary store, or Office Depot or some place like that. Tape dispensers that work  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 10-01-2009 05:54 PM                        Here my my tape dispensers: I could not find them anywhere locally. I eventually did find them while I was in California one time, so I bought 2. They are great, genuine 3M. That was nearly 10 years ago.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 10-01-2009 06:39 PM                     Office Depot and OfficeMax carries the good 3M tape and dispensers.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 10-01-2009 11:05 PM                     ...wow, and loaded with Artist's Tape ....  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 10-01-2009 11:59 PM                     I have some double sided tape from 3M that will hold a movie poster in place or certain other items a good bit heavier. When using that stuff, once that poster is in place it ain't coming loose unless it comes loose in shreds.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-02-2009 12:40 AM                     What about Sellotape? The stuff is made from real cellophane and the adhesive is rubber based. It's the best thing for taping gels together for scroler strings.  |  IP: Logged Damien Taylor Master Film Handler Posts: 493 From: Perth, Western Australia Registered: Apr 2007 posted 10-02-2009 08:31 AM                     I use that 3M Scotch "Magic Tape" The frosted one that becomes clear on paper. The quality seems pretty good still.  |  IP: Logged Kenneth Wuepper Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1026 From: Saginaw, MI, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 10-02-2009 10:26 AM                     Randy, What are scroler strings? Anything like the old Killer Whales? KEN  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-02-2009 10:56 AM                     On the stage, when you want to have colored lights, you place translucent, colored "gels" in front of the lights. If you want to have a light that can produce multiple colors, one way of doing this is to use a motorized "scroller." A scroller has a roll of gels, taped together in a row, which are scrolled back and forth between two spindles. Using various electronic/computer control devices, you command the motor inside the scroller to run back and forth to index a given color of gel in front of the light. When you set up a scroller, somebody has to create the "strings" of gels for the spindles. Typically, pieces of gel are cut to size then taped together in a row before being rolled up on the spindles and inserted into the scroller. These gel strings are under tension and they also have to be able to withstand a certain amount of heat. If you use cheap tape, it can let loose when you least expect it. The gel strings will separate and the motor will freewheel, causing the gel strings to go "Flap! Flap! Flap!" inside the scroller. It's a big annoyance to the audience watching the show. Different people like to use different brands of tape, claiming the virtues of each one. Some have stronger backing. Some have better heat resistance. Some have better adhesive. Etc, etc. etc. I've seen a lot of people use "Sellotape" http://sellotape.henkel-online.co.uk/ They claim it has good heat resistance and strength. The adhesive, being latex based, has good strength and, when it's time to peel off, the tape is not too difficult to remove. There are many different brands of tape. Some people use heavy vinyl tape. I have even seen some people who heat-weld gels together. But, for some reason, Sellotape seems to be popular. That's why I mentioned it.  |  IP: Logged John Hawkinson Film God Posts: 2273 From: Cambridge, MA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 10-02-2009 11:11 AM                     3M makes a bazillion different scotch tapes under various model numbers. Are you comparing the same model number now to then? They're actually quite a technically-oriented company. You can find technical data sheets for many of their products (though not for all the consumer ones). --jhawk  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-02-2009 11:23 AM                        quote: David Stambaugh Is it actually Scotch tape made by 3M, or some knockoff? Even 3M makes some price-competitive crap now but if you search you can find the good stuff. You won't find it at the grocery store though. Try a well-stocked stationary store, or Office Depot or some place like that. Well, the last stuff I bought was the red-plaid 3/4" 3M tape. I got a 10-pack of it at Office Max. I don't like the "magic" tape because, while it disppears on paper, it still looks frosty on glass, so it's not as good for putting posters in windows. For at least 15 years I had a plain old standard plastic dispenser, which I guarded with my life because it had a metal blade. But it disappeared and I've been looking for a good replacement since. I'll check that link above...anything would be better than the stupid lever-driven one I have now.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 10-02-2009 11:47 AM                     Yeah...with 3M/Scotch...there really are about a bazillion models of their tapes. It is important to know the model number to ensure you get what you really want. I know that when we ordered box packing tape they just ordered scotch tape and what came was that thin crap that folds over on itself, tears...and is otherwise unusable. I then looked on the roll of the good stuff...got the number and said "order THAT" it came in and ahh...the good stuff. As someone else said...I guess they have to be competitive with the crap out there but the good stuff is still there too. Steve  |  IP: Logged Paul Mayer Oh get out of it Melvin, before it pulls you under! Posts: 3836 From: Albuquerque, NM Registered: Feb 2000 posted 10-02-2009 01:19 PM                        Second Randy's recommendation for taping gels used in scrollers. We used to use a gazillion of them on Starlight Express at the Las Vegas Hilton. One year we had the USITT convention here in LAS. One of their more fun events was a "scroller shootout" - set up a bunch of competing scrollers with the same gels, then set them to scroll continuously back and forth until death did them part. Sadly, I don't remember who won that one. Derailed - we now return to the regularly scheduled thread already in progress...  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 2 pages: 1  2

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.