Very strong tape?

[T i m]

Hi all,

As you guys can often come up with some good out of the box thinking. ;-)

I have an old but very clean (because it's galvanised) adjustable dinghy trailer that needs some unavailable parts.

Basically it's made from telescoping box section steel tube with holes though both sections at fixed intervals with a couple of bolts though each joint to hold the adjustment' (length / width) in place.

However, at each end of the sliding joint there were 'plastic' collars, to take up any difference between the section dimensions. It seems these were designed in such a way that prevented you from actually taking the trailer to bits and so any that were still remaining when I bought it (second hand) were damaged as it was taken down to be delivered to me in a car.

Now, I might be able to design and print some replacement items (in PLA) but in the short term I was wondering if there was a suitably 'strong' tape that might do what was required.

And that would be something that could be bound round the inner section tube (at the key points at the different positions etc) so that it can still be easily slid into the larger tube(s), offer some resistance to the tubes twisting inside each other (axle sections mainly) and just help to keep the whole thing from clanking when it goes over holes and bumps.

eg, Insulating tape would be too soft and probably just get crushed when built up to the required (~1.5mm) thickness so I was wondering if a metal (chrome) tape might work better?

a 3D printed 'sleeve' would be basically a square box section, about

40 mm long with ~1.5mm thick walls and rounded corners. It would want to be a close interference fit on the inner section tube (and possibly glued / pinned into place) and a light sliding fit on the inside of the larger section tube.

Ideas?

Cheers, T i m

[Andrew]

I got some UV resistant tape that looks like yellow ptfe tape, but a lot thicker. Seems to survive outdoors quite well. Screwfix sell it.

[tabbypurr]

The strongest tapes are duct & that glass fibre stuff. Duct tape gets used to make belts & can be pretty strong, but I'd not like trying what you're talking about with it. Layers can slide, edges ruck up etc, and it's not a hard material.

I've never used chrome tape, I presume it's mostly plastic though.

NT

[dennis]

Yes don't use PLA, its brittle. Can you print nylon?

Polyimide tape might work. Its the reddish brown stuff you find on 3D printers for some things.

[whisky-dave]

I have this roll of stuff I got years ago for something at work.

Perhaps to string a student up ;-)

it's been discontoinued by rapid it'd be ok in a tug of war sort of stress but it's easy to break with fingers accross the width. Probbaly not what you're looking for but.....

I assume you need it to make sure something 'remains' in place rather than leaves ;-)

How could I resist

[Clive Arthur]

<snip>

I wonder if large heat shrink tubing might do the job? Tougher than tape I would think. Or some wraps of fibreglass.

Cheers

[nothanks]

I don't think you need to have something that goes all the way around the tube so a rubbing strip on each face should do. Rivet some nylon or (insert your choice of plastic) strips onto the four faces. Alternatively, could you screw round head s/s self tappers into the box section so that their heads provided the rubbing surface?

[Rob Morley]

Hot glue.

[T i m]

<snip>

Is it sticky (unlike PTFE etc?)

Whilst is will often be 'outdoors', that normally seems to relate to exposure to the sun / UV etc and on this trailer, only the bands that aren't within the tubes will be exposed and there shouldn't be in this case (or not for long) as part of the point is that it will be stored indoors (in a garage) in kit form.

Cool, I'll check it out, thanks. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

<snip>

I've used that fibreglass tape and we in my mind for this task. It's also very sticky.

I don't think I would either. It may be a bit soft for that role.

Quite.

I think it used to be actual metal and I think was banned because the edges can be very sharp.

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

<snip>

Whilst it might be, from the tests I've done on it I think it would be pretty strong.

Not tried tbh.

Kapton tape, yes I have some here (but not as wide as I think would be appropriate for this role) and yes, that is pretty tough stuff.

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

Thanks. Would you say it's as 'soft' as say gaffer tape, if you overlaid it say 5 times, how 'hard' would the resultant be?

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

<snip>

I actually thought of that one but it would have to be pretty 'large', well, compared to what h/s I've had / used in the past. ;-)

Yes, I agree.

Ah, a couple of turns of some woven roving 'bandage' and stippled with resin. Not only could that be applied where I like (and would likely stay there) and to whatever thickness was needed but could be 'worked' slightly to trim / true with a file etc.

I think the radiuses on the corners would be gentle enough for it to not 'lift' off them.

I think this, subject to getting the right thickness might be a good solution.

Or use carbon fibre tape / resin?

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

<snip>

Agreed, although something on the corners (only even) might have a greater effect (think a multipoint ring spanner versus a straight hex one)?

Yup, or small countersunk machine screws, maybe just two in the line with the tube across the middle (away from the corners) Loctited in place?

Hmm, I get what you are saying but that would create a point load and not offer much give or noise damping.

Thanks for even more good feedback. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

<snip>

I'm guessing you mean 'just' hot glue there Rob, rather than attaching something with hot glue?

I think that could work, but I'm not sure how I would get it sufficiently uniform, given that it only needs to be ~1.5mm thick all over?

Cheers, T i m

[Marland]

T i m <

Handlebar tape may have some of the properties you want, though there are different types so you may need to look at what particular properties a version has.

Elsewhere in the thread someone mentioned chrome tape, another metallic tape that is fairly tough is the aluminium tape intended to hold /seal sections of flue pipe together.

GH

[dennis]

8<

Seal yes, hold together no.

[T i m]

<snip>

Ok.

Me. ;-)

Ah, yes, I know the stuff and yes, it may well be the sort of thing I was thinking of because:

It is quite thin but with only a very thin layer of adhesive.

The 'tape' part is quite hard (being aluminium rather than PVC etc).

It should be quite resilient to compression, the only real force it might experience (as the tubes twist against each other (axle sections) or press top to bottom (longitudinal section).

It comes in reasonable width rolls (75mm etc), helping to spread the load etc.

Being in the form of a tape I can apply as many turns as I like till I get the right fit (then rinse / repeat on the other locations).

It should also be reasonably easy to get locally to try at least or use atm, till I can come up with something more 'mechanical).

Cheers, T i m

[Andrew]

*very*. It's quite a struggle to get it off the roll.

[T i m]

Thanks for the update, I'll check it out.

Obviously, with any form of 'tape' I may have to be careful when feeding the tubes into each other that I don't snag / ruck it up. I'm less bothered with it deforming in place as I'm sure I could still get the thing apart with some heat or solvent etc.

Cheers, T i m