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  • Looking for a good high tac application tape for supply only

    Posted by Liam Pattison on 16 September 2009 at 15:59

    Hi there

    I’m supplying some fine text and images in cut vinyl but i’ve had a couple of complaints from the customer that they can’t get the vinyl to stick to the application tape and part from the backing paper.

    I reduced the cutting pressure and decided to use a high tac application tape to help solve the problem (thanks to advice from this board). And i know about proper technique etc.

    I usually use main tape’s pefectear medium tac for general work, so i purchased their high tac but as far as i can see it is less sticky than the medium tac. Has the supplier sent me the wrong one. They are not marked or labeled so it’s hard to tell.

    I have tried R-Tape’s conform clear high tac and their paper high tac, but these don’t even seem as good as main tape’s medium tac.

    Can anybody recommend me a good quality high tac application tape, weather clear or paper. I need to roll the work to send it so anything that is suitable for this type of work?

    Many thanks

    Liam

    Liam Pattison replied 15 years, 11 months ago 6 Members · 13 Replies
  • 13 Replies
  • Peter Normington

    Member
    16 September 2009 at 20:08

    The r tape or perfect tear high tac should not be a problem.
    Perhaps your customers are doing it wrong, they need to remove the backing paper from the tape, not the other way round, sounds simples.
    but suprising how many people make this mistake.

    Also what are you using to squeegee the app tape with? a large squeegee will not put enough pressure on it to make it adhere.
    Just one other question, some vinyls are better that others at accepting the app tape, what vinyl are you using?

    Peter

  • Chris Wool

    Member
    16 September 2009 at 21:20

    is it mat or gloss vinyl i have had problems with mat and med tack.

    chris

  • Liam Pattison

    Member
    16 September 2009 at 21:52

    Thanks for taking the time to explain all that info Peter, confirmed the things i was thinking or had tried, i thought i was missing something. Lynn also explained to me about the importance of not cutting to deep before.

    I stressed to the customer how to peel backing paper from ap tape and even sent TWO instructional videos!

    I think it is slightly the customers inexperience and slightly the fault of the material. Because we tried it ourselves and found the same problem, but obviously it was easier for us to sort out than it was for the customer.

    Chris, it is mainly matt vinyl i’m having the trouble with, some colours more so than others. Gold was the worst.

    I am just looking to find a really strong application tape so that it can minimalize the chances of the customer messing it up.

    There must be a tape which is good for matt vinyl and for work you are supplying through the post.

    I remember when we did some work for a big graphics company they use to put vinyl in some kind of heat cabinet after they put the application tape on. Does anyone know about this, or is there any thing else you can do to the tape once it’s on to get it to adhere to the vinyl better?

    Cheers

    Liam

  • Liam Pattison

    Member
    16 September 2009 at 21:55

    Sorry Peter, i missed your question. It’s Mactac Macal 8200 (matt) vinyl i’m supplying the work in.

  • Chris Wool

    Member
    16 September 2009 at 23:06

    as its mat then it needs a good hard squeege just before removing from the backing paper.
    high tack is not must better and rub the gold with your fingers see it any gold colouring is on your hand, if so this dusty colour is stoping the app paper from sticking.

    chris

  • Warren Beard

    Member
    2 February 2010 at 22:52

    Anybody else have problems with App tape coming away from the vinyl?

    I always used Oracal’s normal paper tape and it works well, after so many people recommended Conform I thought I would take advantage of a good deal to buy 2 1220mm wide rolls cut to different sizes and I ordered high tac as well. I find the tack is lower than Oracal’s regular tape and I have endless hassles with it and can’t wait until it’s finished. I now use Oracal’s tape for work I do on site and Conform tape for work I do in house so if I have a major problem then I can quickly rectify. If doing small text or images with lots of small pieces I would only use Oracal tape or will take ages to slowly peel the paper back. I must admit it’s the first time I heard that knife pressure could cause this problem and will experiment a bit but have no problems at all and am 100% confident with the Oracal tape, it’s just the Conform, in fact what I do now is run it through my laminator twice at full pressure which helps a little bit and this happens on all types of vinyl too.

    Just thought I would see what others have to say about it.

    Cheers

    Warren

  • Peter Normington

    Member
    2 February 2010 at 23:04

    our choice is perfect tear by main tape, the high tack is very high tack and can be hard work to remove on large graphics. but for small text, it is great
    it is as good as conform for staying flat on exposed backing paper.
    It does sometimes "cockle" when humdity is high,
    but the secret ingredient is our weeder sheeter,
    it really does apply far more pressure than you can by hand application.

    Probably a easytaper or laminator could do the same, but the weeder sheeter just does the one job,

    Peter

  • Warren Beard

    Member
    2 February 2010 at 23:09

    Cheers Peter

    I did almost order a sheeter and contacted them for a price and they quoted me $896.00 including shipping, I just thought as I have the laminator I would hold off on the purchase for a little longer.

    I really don’t know why nobody tries to be the UK supplier and bring in a few of these to save costs, if it works so well there could be a business opportunity there 😕

    anyway I think I might try this Perfect tear tape and see how it compares, where do you get it from?

    Cheers

    Warren

  • Lynn Normington

    Member
    2 February 2010 at 23:20

    Warren as Peter has said ours is perfect tear we get ours from Cherwell 01280 840297 normally get a 1220 cut to two 610’s. as for the sheeter weeder we only got the sheeter John c got both, I wouldn’t be without my sheeter means I can work on my own for large stuff 🙄 as for the weeding bit I don’t mind that, I cut some weed that while my next bit is cutting, when thats finished I can carry on 😀

    Lynn

  • Graeme Harrold

    Member
    2 February 2010 at 23:36

    Also having some probs with tape not sticking to vinyl, but I feel this is mainly down to temperature. Unless I have the workshop up to at least 15 deg C, then the glue on the app tape just doesn’t grab enough.

    With going too deep, (done this a couple of times) the vinyl will come off with the tape and the top layer of the backing paper. Normally takes me a couple of cuts to get sorted after a blade change……………

  • Lynn Normington

    Member
    2 February 2010 at 23:44

    Graeme should you not be sorting passport’s etc. not worriyng about app tape 😀

    Lynn

  • Liam Pattison

    Member
    3 February 2010 at 13:03

    As Peter and Lynn have suggested i also use perfect tear high tac. I Keep a high and a medium in stock. If i’m fitting the work i’ll use medium, but if i supply only i always use the high tac.

    The problem of the app tape coming away from vinyl and backing is much worse in the winter i find, so i always make sure the work shop is reasonably warm before i apply it.

    After i put the app tape on i always lay the decal upside down and put it underneath a pile of offcuts. I find this makes a big difference as well.

    I have ordered from both amari and grafityp

    Liam

  • Liam Pattison

    Member
    3 February 2010 at 13:06

    Forgot to mention that the perfect tear was the strongest tac i could find, i tried just about every other make i could. And it did solve the original problem which caused me to start this thread.

    Cheers

    Liam

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