Other Types
When constructed with plastic films instead of paper, masking tapes can be used for more rigorous applications. Polyester-based tapes are used to mask off during etching, plating, and in particular, powder coating. Tapes based on polyimide films can resist molten solder in electronics applications. Glass cloth tapes are often used in powder coating and sandblasting operations. Foil or vinyl tapes are often used in plating. Layered tapes made from multiple materials laminated together can be used for masking flame spray, thermal spray and HVOF. Masking tape can also be used to adhere posters to walls up to the day rating. Masking tape can basically be used for any purpose required of it, and is not limited solely to painting needs.
The adhesive applied to a tape is often a critical determining factor for a given masking situation. There are three broad types of adhesives (with many chemical variations of each): rubber-based, acrylic-based, and silicone-based. Rubber-based adhesives generally provide the greatest adhesion, but the lowest temperature resistance. Acrylic-based adhesives offer a wide temperature range, providing adhesion from sub-freezing temperatures up to 275–325° Fahrenheit (about 150° Celsius). Silicone-based adhesives provide the highest temperature resistance, with some tapes (such as some polyimide films and glass cloth tapes) allowing for intermittent use up to 500°F (260°C).
Nowadays masking tapes are widely used for decorative purposes. They are printed with different patterns, some Japanese tapes are made of washi paper.
Read more about this topic: Masking Tape
Famous quotes containing the word types:
“Our major universities are now stuck with an army of pedestrian, toadying careerists, Fifties types who wave around Sixties banners to conceal their record of ruthless, beaverlike tunneling to the top.”
—Camille Paglia (b. 1947)
“Science is intimately integrated with the whole social structure and cultural tradition. They mutually support one other—only in certain types of society can science flourish, and conversely without a continuous and healthy development and application of science such a society cannot function properly.”
—Talcott Parsons (1902–1979)