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A white ago I watched some Ken Parker videos on bracing. He would stick and unstick his masking tape, and then use it. This was on the INSIDE, no one will see it. But Ken is like that. I don't see details that good. I like the whole picture. I thought it was weird because the only problem I've ever had with masking tape is that it doesn't stick.

So I used some blue stuff the other day to mark the bridge so I could glue it. Then a storm came up and we lost power for 24 hours. So I glued it on today. The tape came of easy, but it had spruce grain in it! It wasn't even really stuck! It is a fairly fine grained Sitka, but I've never had that happen with anything, even Redwood.

Is this a common thing to look out for?

I do seem to learn something new every day, so maybe this was just my thing to learn.

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Why be normal?

I have had masking tape pull off spruce grain before when I left it on too long. It's not meant to be permanent.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

We tested tape that was applied to computer cases for protection, which would stay on until the customer removed it after purchase. Not knowing how long the tape would be in place, we did some testing and found that after being in place for a few weeks, new tape came off more easily and cleanly. It was a masking type tape.

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

I had that happen too so I avoid leaving blue painter's tape on any softwood for very long. If there's a reason to leave it on say overnight to do something like mark a position, you can apply the tape to your pants leg or shirt first before applying it to the wood and that reduces the tack. If you don't do that or forget, when it comes time to remove the tape, you can always heat it with a blow drier to soften the adhesive. The it comes right off. That has always worked for me.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

I believe it is Frank Ford who didn't want to pay extra for blue tape who keeps a piece of old towel on the bench and he touches the tape to it before using it

Ed M

Hi Ken

I have a 2oz needle bottle full of denatured alcohol. I use it to get masking tape glue to release. It’s especially handy when pulling the heavy brown binding tape from a softwood top. It works instantly, and the 2-3 drops of alcohol evaporate within 30 seconds, leaving zero residue. I work hard to avoid skin contact with the denatured alcohol. I have been meaning to give everclear a try. Anyway works great!

M

Frank is sharper than Wolfgang Pucks kitchen knives.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Never knew there was so much to know about tape.

The tape was only on about 27 hours. It didn't even seem that stuck; it was peeling up on the corners and edges. But this spruce IS a strange handling piece. It does not just scrape or plane nicely. It does want to pull off in short "splinters", like what was on the tape. It was very hard to thin, because it just did not like to be planed or scrapped AT ALL. It just makes dust with a scraper, and you can't find any direction that doesn't want to tear and dig in when planing. I've never had spruce like that before. It is plenty stiff, it is just the working aspects on the surface that are not user friendly. At least it has a dry feel, and not a creamy feel, if you know what I mean. Usually creamy I would use for hardwoods like some maple, as opposed to other hardwoods, including maple, that can feel crisp.

Thanks for the tip Michael. I don't ever use denatured anymore. It gives me a terrible headache. I haven't tried Everclear, but I use isopropanol for shellac or thinning or cleaning brushes, and it seems to work just the same as the denatured stuff did. But its smell doesn't seem to bother me. The tape I find make the stickiest mess is duct tape. It has uses, but certainly not when making instruments.

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Why be normal?

Hahaha, not sure duct tape has many uses in luthierie except maybe to breath new life into an old guitar case, and yes, super nasty residue. I’ll give isopropyl a try also.

M

We used a layer of Transferite very low-tack tape on bare wood as well as on new lacquer, then blue tape over that. This prevents both the problem you saw with pulled grain on unfinished/unsealed wood and swelling and marking of fresh lacquer due to plasticizer migration from adhesive into the finish. Also helps on damaged finishes where higher tack tapes will remove loose lacquer.

StewMac carries Transferite tape, as well as US Cutter and other signmaking material and tools suppliers.

Other options in sealing the spruce with shellac prior to tape use, and ensuring the direction of pull during removal is opposed to the runout direction, and done across the grain to minimize lifting forces.

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For the times they are a changin'

- Bob Dylan

I feel free using the blue tape only if the wood is shellacked. And yes I have pulled up spruce fibers with blue tape. Low tack tape gets the job done for most things. Another thing to do is to peal the tape off slowly on an angle and use your finger to push the tape down as you peal it off. I understand heat might help too.

You can buy low tack painters tape like Frog Tape and it will pull less since it's just not as sticky right off the bat. I use the yellow frog tape all the time in my shop for things like binding reglues and such, no issues so far.

On an unfinished instrument I'll use the blue stuff and spritz some naptha on it to keep it from pulling out since the naptha just dissolves the adhesive.

I like the low tack Frog Tape too. It works well on lacquer.

A little heat from a heat gun softens the glue on most of the tapes and makes pulling the tape safer. I always use heat on brown binding tape.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

The cheap dollar store tape tends to be "low tack" to start with and sticking it to your clothes further reduces the stickiness, but as others have said - not leaving it on too long is the key for easy removal.

I hadn't planned on leaving the tape on. I was setting it up to glue on the deck, it was warmer there in the sun. I came up from the basement with the glue warmer to plug it in outside, and the power went out! A few minutes later we had A bad storm, wind going every direction, the neighbors flag even blew off and landed on our lawn. From our house all the way over to Grand Bland trees were down and 14,000 without power.

My neighbor never lost his!

At least I can scrape it smooth, or as smooth as this piece of Sitka gets.

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Why be normal?