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Plastidip - a tool for techies

Mon, 25 Aug 2008, 08:09 pm
Na8 posts in thread
I thought I would post a little bit of a review on this product for techies. What's Plastidip? It's a special spray-on or dipping liquid rubber. It's used to cover the handles of tools, but can be used on a range of other items. You can remove the rubber easily - it's like the stuff that comes on plastic-covered coathangers. Three to four coats is recommended as a minimum to get a good rubber cover; but the spray is quite thin and I'd bet about 10 coats would be good. It should be noted: Plastidip has to be used outside or in an extremely well-ventilated area. The fumes are very strong, and there are a number of health and safety concerns using this product. If you buy it, read the safety documents before using it. I bought myself an aerosol can from the Aussie retailer (this is an American product) on ebay. I am using it to coat shadow puppet rods. Initially, I 'hung' the rod from some small lengths of cotton thread, inside a box where I could control the spraying. This didn't work so well, making it difficult to get even coatings. I then tried simply placing the rod on top of some paper cups, and coating each side. This works better, but still requires coating one side of the rod at a time. It is suggested that I now try inserting the rod into an old screwdriver and spraying as the rod rotates. The Plastidip is quite a good product, but it has issues in terms of applications, safety, etc. I wish I'd gotten the dipping can instead of the spray. (More info below the pics) Here's the info on where to get Plastidip: http://myworld.ebay.com.au/plastidip/ They send from QLD, so shipping was about $30 to Melbourne (sadly). I got the Performix Plastidip in spray can form.

Not this particular

Sat, 30 Aug 2008, 06:37 pm
Not this particular product, but Plastidip also produce a similar variety that can be used as liquid electrical tape. Check the above ebay store listings, you'll find one clearly marked as electrical tape. Yes, I'm also looking into heat shrink tubing thanks to some advice from some American puppet makers. Mermaid shadow puppet now on sale at Puppets in Melbourne

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