The Framers Forum

bear with me on this, i'm new, but i'm hoping the old hands on here can save me some experimentation time.

ive just started working with gummed hinge tape, the best way i could work out to use it via google was with wetted fingers, but this seemed a bit of a messy way to do it so i'm wondering if anyone has a more efficient way of dampening the tape they could share with me?

the follow on question, for gummed frame sealing tape is a gummed tape dispensor the way to go?

Different people will do it different ways - nothing wrong with any of the methods, it will be what suits the circumstances and your workshop set up.

For hinging tape:

Soft brush and a container of water, just brush gently onto the bit of tape to wet.
Natural sponge sitting in container of water, sponge will be damp enough to wet the tape when it is pressed down.
Tape dispenser, the roller can be wet enough to do the job but check the water isn't getting manky.

For brown gummed tape:

Either a tape dispenser - or larger paintbrush and container of water - or sponge dipped in water.
Each one has its pros and cons, we use a tape dispenser for the gummed brown tape most frames but on extra wide tapes we put down strips of board and use a wide paint brush dipped in water.

I have had (the same) gumtape wetting machine since 1987. It was not a cheap item but it's earned it's keep many times over.

I has a handle that you pull and cuts the tape off at the right length. I use exclusively 4" wide tape.

I have two tape dispensers. One for brown tape and one for hinging tape. In hot weather, I need to keep changing the water very regularly. It does not take very long for much of it to evaporate.

interesting comments, are there any recomendations for tape dispensors?

https://www.kitepackaging.co.uk/scp/tap ... ispensers/
https://packer.co.uk/manual-water-activ ... bp222.html

Just a mention on a related subject. The coat weight of gum increases with the overall weight of the gummed paper tape. I don't find the common 70 gsm gummed paper tape has a particularly effective amount of gum on the tape at all. As a result I use much thicker gummed paper tape, which I buy from a local packaging supplier. The packaging industry is not only not very keen on narrower gummed paper tapes, but also the thicker weight tapes are usually more easably obtainable in wider tape widths. I normally use 105 gsm gummed paper tape and I can only usually get this only in a 3 inch wie tape. The tape is much more opaque in use and does not allow the frame, backing board and tabs to show through.

In my experience, it is not possible to use anything other that self adhesive tape when attempt to stick tape onto polymer mouldings, or waterproof coated backing boards. There was a time when I tried using polymer mouldings for a while, but I don't much like them and have not used them for years. I have found that self adhesive tape on polymer mouldings tends to bubble up and start lifting off from both polymer mouldings and waterproof coated backing board during spells of hot weather. Having said all that , there are some particular nicely priced Polcore Mouldings in the smaller profiles in the budget priced ranges, which I imagineare likely to be quite worthwhile for those who want to produce their own ready made frames.

Of course one advntage when using these lower priced Polcore mouldings for ready made frames is that there is not need to tape the backs on ready made frames whatsoever, which saves us the bother. I'm still not personally interested in polymer mouldings even for producing ready made frames, but I know that many other framers like to use polymer mouldings for producing their ready made frames, which seems to be advantageous.