I am restoring the trim on a mid 60's car. Lots of aluminum and stainless. The grille and headlight doors have anodized black paint that needs to be restored with paint. Plastic striping tape will not conform. I have thought of running masking tape thru a band saw to make 1/8" tape. Any better ideas? Dan ps thought this should be in off topic, but thought it may apply to our cars too
No sure if I understand what you need ... but you can buy 1/8 inch masking tape ... the stuff guys use for doing flames and stuff ..
Dan you can get 1/8 and 1/16 tape at most auto paint stores. It works great for fine detail work and is very conforming.
The 3M fine line series masking tape should do the job http://products3.3m.com/catalog/us/en001/manufacturing_industry/specialty_tapes/node_GS7GPWJ4L4be/root_GST1T4S9TCgv/vroot_GSNYTMLW46ge/gvel_GSQM6PQZX9gl/theme_us_specialtytapes_3_0/command_AbcPageHandler/output_html
I agree, my Dad does body work and the high-end 3M masking tape is pretty awesome. You can get it quite thin. Good luck Dan!
For real fine taping were the tape has to bend around sharp curves I use the blue 3M fine- line tape. I found that 1/4" to 1/8" tape bends the best without the outside edges pulling up or the inside edges bunching up as long as the surface I'm taping to is as clean as possible. Someone once gave me a roll of 1/8" white fine-line tape that was used for laying out custom graphics and flames on bike tanks. That stuff was fantasic. It was flexable and stuck well, but the tape roll had no name on it so I don't know who made it. Something like that might be worth checking into. Here's trick I use to get fine-line tape to stick good. I make sure the suface I'm taping and the tape are both warm but not hot. The tape will bend easier and stick better.
i am pretty sure that you dont want to run tape through a band saw to get what you need. it will make lots of little cuts and you wont be able to peel it off the roll.... that and you might cut yourself pretty good. it would be cheaper in the long run to just buy some automotive tape. paint supply stores carry it and it is designed for automotive uses and wont allow bleead under of wet paint. good luck.
I have used the 3M striping tape for years. It will not stick to aluminum when the surface is beveled. It will stick good enough on flat but this grill and headlight doors I am doing has rasied areas with black paint, or anodized in the recesses. I have been using the 1/8". I didnt know they made anything more narrow. That might just be what I need. Like always, ask a question on here and the good people respond with the best ideas!! Thanks to all! Dan ps yeah, cutting masking tape with a bandsaw sounds like an accident waiting to happen lol
Hey Dan. I was just looking through the latest Eastwood catalog and they have a masking tape they call " The most flexible tape they have found." It's a narrow vinyl tape from 3M that "makes tight radius curves while providing superior paint line definition and holding power." They claim it's " the perfect tape to use when masking for sharp curves, over rivets and into seams." It comes in 1/8 by 36 yard rolls and 1/4 by 36 yard rolls. Maybe something like that would work for you.
Not sure what your painting exactly but if it is a difficult job have you considered some of the spray on masking products
Jean, I been spending waaaaaaaaaaaaaay to much with Eastwood lately. They even called me today cause I had so much crap ordered lol. I had thought of the spray on masking stuff for the grill of this car. The headlight doors are really intricate and I think the only way to get a clean sharp seperation is with tape. Very very tedious work, but keeps me outta the bars. Dan
Dan, It's time to come clean and tell us how you did it! :Handshake I found this thread (referenced here by a new one) and I'm facing the same dilemma, along with others. My thoughts were to paint the whole thing and "polish" off the paint around the edges, but that would prolly destroy the anodizing... Russ
