I have also found Xfasten to be too gummy for my liking. My favorite tapes are:
Nitto Permacel P-02
3M 410M
Not the cheapest, but they have a good thickness IMO, good overall tackiness, and release pretty cleanly. If you price it out, you can usually rationalize it like: a project only uses $0.50 of tape. Is the convenience and my time worth that? For me the answer is yes.
A cutter will drag up some adhesive no matter what if you cut into tape, so if you can leave an onion skin and not cut into the tape, that’s ideal. But failing that, a not-over-the-top-tacky adhesive is the next best thing.
Caution: Because these tapes aren’t as thick and don’t have gummy adhesive slathered on them, if your material is not pretty flat to start with, you will have some difficulty. If your material is a little cupped, a method like the painters tape + superglue works best, because the glue will act like a gap filler.
It’s tolerant of materials that aren’t perfectly flat
You can cut through the tape without the adhesive getting gummed up into the flutes. (Or, I haven’t had a problem with it yet)
It’s thick enough that it’s possible to cut through one layer of tape without touching the wasteboard if you’re careful.
It comes off cleanly.
We tried to get a double-sided version of blue tape made, but it didn’t work well because it was too thin. Maybe we’ll try again one day, but I don’t have a lot of hope.
Double sided blue tape sounds awesome for small-ish metal work where the pieces are known to be relatively flat.
I’ll buy 3 rolls today! Surely that pays for the R&D and MOQ?
I don’t think there is any one perfect solution to using any type of tape or adhesive combo since every scenario is not the same. The one thing I try to do when I’m doing a complete trhough contour cut is to not have the XFasten tape under the area to be cut through. Again this doesn’t work for every scenario but can be feasible for some situations. I’ve also found that depending on the material size, type and thickness I dont need to completely cover the bottom of the material with the tape.
I’ve used the IPG tape for over 10 years to attach templates to work pieces on a router table or handheld router. It’s never let me down. Its very popular in the DIY/small guitar builder world. When I got started with the CNC I brought over the same method. I use the 1" roll and cut anywhere from 3 to 12 of 1" x 1" pieces with titanium scissors, then place it on strategic spots on an MDF workholding fixture. If I plan to do this repeatedly I mark the spots I will be applying the tape on the fixture, then coat them with CA glue and let it soak in and dry. This hardens and bonds the fibers on the surface which prevents the tape from pulling them away when its removed. Also with tape its important to plan ahead how you will separate the stock from the spoil board/fixture when you’re done. If you’re using tabs cutting pieces out of sheets then its less concern. If your entire stock is being worked with no tabs, you need to have a corner or curved area where you can wedge something under to separate and “break the seal” of the tape. This can be harder than it sounds.
I know the painters tape and CA glue method is widely used but I limit my use of CA because it can go wrong so easily. No one will ever need to go to ER because they taped their fingers together…
and yes, maybe the most used tool…
And I have two, in case I just cannot find one.
Don’t know what to do if I cannot find both of them. Maybe this is a good time for a coffee break…
So I ordered the 3M from Amazon and it’s great. No more gummy hassle like the XFasten/Hippie Crafter stuff, way easier to cut when just off the roll, and it sticks like crazy.
For me, far more convenient than blue tape/cyno glue, too. Just stick, peel and stick and push together. Less smelly, too.
Compared to the hassle of blue tape/crazy glue as well as the gummy tapes, it’s worth twice that to me. At over 100’ long, it’ll do me a lot of pieces at pennies per.
