Any other types of tape one might want to be aware of beyond gaffer's, duct and painter? Every time I discover a new type it opens up a whole new world of possibilities of solving neat little problems around the house in a slightly more elegant way.
Others have mentioned some nice tapes, as a person who makes a living from taping spacecraft together here are some of my favourites:
- Kapton P-224 - Excellent all purpose tape with good adhesion and no residue. High thermal performance and insulation
- Black Kapton 100XC - Great for increasing thermal radiative communication. Pressure Sensitive Adhesive forms a very strong bond that can be easily removed with IPA/Acetone.
- Cho-Foil - thick Aluminium tape, much stronger than the normal off the shelf aluminium tapes, commonly used for electrical grounding. Conductive adhesive, decent thermal range.
- ST150 Vacuum Sealing Tape - Used with plastic liners to create a vacuum around odd shapes. Niche, but very reliable and fun to work with (texture like taffy).
- Teflon tape - plumbers and space nerds love it for sealing things, very easy to use too much of it though.
- Glass fibre tape - excellend performance in vacuum, useful for labelling or protecting something that may be exposed to rubbing or friction.
3M VHB (Very High Bond) is awesome double-sided foam tape, that comes in a variety of thicknesses and bond types. I last used some to re-attach a piece of rubber seal around a car door.
"Gorilla Tape Crystal Clear", which I think is a "repair tape". Size of Duct tape, looks like regular clear tape - but much thicker and much stickier and waterproof. Ideal for say repairing a tear in a paddling pool. Or a crack in a roof-box, where Duct tape would look bad.
3M Super 33+ It looks like standard black vinyl insulating tape - but is a pleasure to use. I don't think the existence of insulating tape is going to blow minds, but I'm just mentioning it for those who "thought it's all the same" and are "annoyed by it".
Self-Amalgamating Tape. Black, thick, rubbery tape with a pull off backing. Not very sticky, so doesn't immediately feel useful. What it does do though, is bond with itself. Not 'stick', but as the name says 'amalgamates'.
If you've ever wrapped a load of tape around something to keep water out, this is what you should have used.
I wouldn't normally inflict this list on anybody, but 'tape' is this wonderful area of technology where everybody knows what it is - but there's seemingly endless specialization for every conceivable use case. Finding/collecting these tapes feels like I'm assembling a box of solutions - and a tape-suitable problem is an opportunity for happiness.
Velcro tape. Super handy. Along with being in essence a two-sided tape, it also fits into a re-usable, removable niche that becomes very useful. For instance, my Steam Deck's Dock is hooked up to an HDMI cable that is heavy and tends to pull it off of where it lives, but I also want to remove it sometimes. Velcro solves both problems.
Don't underestimate its strength. My father was a brake tester for a car company when PC laptops started to become practical to mount in the cars for instrumentation. Someone tasked a mechanic to mount it in the car, and after trying a few things, they decided to use velcro. So, naturally, they coated the entire underside of the laptop in velcro and had a matching velcro pad in the car. Took a crowbar to get it off. You don't need much.
Aluminum foil HVAC tape- super awesome tape for sealing air leaks. It is somewhat rigid and formable at the same time. With the way it is formable, it tends to stay in place better than a lot of other tapes when put into strange shapes.
This is tape full of conductive microspheres that, as long as you use it right, conducts ONLY along the direction through the tape. Two contacts right next to each other will not conduct to each other, but two contacts one above the other will.
I've enjoyed "nano tape", thick clear stuff you can find on aliexpress or amazon. It's like a step up from mounting putty. Good for stuff like sticking a powerstrip to a desk or wall without drilling holes and using screws. I've also used a piece with the top part covered just to add a little bump to my bathroom vanity to stop a fan I'd set there from falling on the floor. It's pretty strong stuff, so beware using it on paint/drywall as it can rip that off later if removed. Works great on smooth/hard surfaces. There is probably some function overlap with 3M VHB tape, but I found this stuff first and still have a big roll. Plus it looks cool.
Nano tape seems interesting alright. If I am looking at the right stuff it uses van der Waals forces for adhesion rather than a traditional adhesive. Thats pretty cool, and re-useable if kept clean.
There are various tapes with medical applications but that’s pretty narrow. Double sided tape is sometimes useful. Very pedestrian but Scotch/transparent tape.
I thought I knew the basics of tape, but as always I learned a lot from that video. The one that went through my head is mastic tape. I used some on actual ducts and I don't know if it's just an extra thick layer of goo or if there are also more engineering secrets. But dang it is sticky and messy.
Years ago, I texted the engineer guy telling him his videos were good and he took time out of his busy day to reply to good old college kid me. It's still a vivid memory to this day and I'm super happy he's back on Youtube again.
His book The Things We Make was good, especially if you're interested in engineering.
Its central thesis is that the engineering method fundamentally differs from the scientific method in that engineers use rules of thumb to solve problems with many unknowns and incomplete information. The scientific method by contrast is a mostly theoretical exercise in building universal principles and theories from empirical observations and experiments.
Engineering, in his view, is not applied science but rather a separate artform.
The book wasn't perfect by any means but that framing and distinction was helpful to incorporate into my worldview.
Engineering is the application of the findings of science to solve actual problems. Science does not solve actual problems, but it is critical to engineering.
Engineer Guy drips content so infrequently that he looks visibly older with each new video. Everytime the channel drops a new video I become aware of how old I'm getting.
In one of his last videos he said he was having a child, so that’ll add a few years to your appearance too :P. That kid is probably in grade school by now…
Congrats! I've got a three year old and she's certainly added a few years to the age of my back, but it's was a happiness engineering optimization that was well worth it =).
Indeed, well there are a few things I should have been told before I became a father -- e.g., how much time I'd spend near the floor of a porta potty with a five year old in a full leg cast -- it is worthwhile and fulfilling. It was not, though, a good way to increase the number of videos I create!
