The Tale of the Tapes: a good article by Jon Namba

[Daris Mulkin]

Excerpt from: Jon Namba In the beginning, there was pin tape. ... The tape had small metal barbs/pins in the strips every few inches. The pins ran across the width of the tape and a scrim was applied over the barbed strips. Installers would layout a hall area and room, match patterns at the doorways, apply a liberal amount of latex to the pin tape, place the two carpet edges into the tape, and roll with what was, and is commonly known as a "porcupine" roller.

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Jon Namba wrote a good article in FCI this month on seam tape. The first part of it sure brought back memories.

The Tale of the Tapes - Feature Article - Floor Covering Installer

Daris

[Nick Arrera]

Put many a hole in my thumb with the porcupine.

[kylenelson]

Good article, after Koolglide I wonder what the next innovation in seaming carpet will be?

[Daris Mulkin]

Nick I know what you mean by the porcupine. My thumb used to look like raw hamburger.
I still have a roll or two of pin tape. I also have a roll of the gold foil tape of Roberts from the 70's. I also have a full roll of the Conso Jet Lock with the label still on it.
One of the things he didn't mention was we also used to use the burlap from the carpet wrappers as wet tape. Worked good. We were recycling before it was the thing to do.
Another thing we did to save a buck was take 6" tape and split it, had twice the tape for 1/2 the price.
How many of you have used the tape with the steel bars? I have and didn't care for it. I think they even had a tape that had steel screen on it.

Daris

[Chris Mha]

Still use the tape with the steel bars occasionally. Concord makes it.

[rusty baker]

Concord was giving free samples. Daris, are you still getting the FCI mag? I quit getting it when they cut back. I was e-mailed the on-line version a couple of times but don't get it now either.

[TFP Admin]

You can renew or subscribe to FCI Magazine's print or online versions here: Floor Covering Installer Subscription Form

Jim

[Daris Mulkin]

I get only the online version anymore which I'm not overly impressed by. I actually like the paper version as I can pick it up and read and reread anytime I want, or even keep it for later referencing. But ya know everything is online now and the current trend to be green which I think is a little much also. But I'm not the one getting rich from it so I guess that makes a difference. Boy I bet I left myself open on that remark for a lot of remarks.

Daris

[rusty baker]

As I understand it, the print version is still available, if you want to buy it. I don't remember how much it is.

[getoverit]

Originally Posted by Daris Mulkin Nick I know what you mean by the porcupine. My thumb used to look like raw hamburger. I still have a roll or two of pin tape. I also have a roll of the gold foil tape of Roberts from the 70's. I also have a full roll of the Conso Jet Lock with the label still on it. One of the things he didn't mention was we also used to use the burlap from the carpet wrappers as wet tape. Worked good. We were recycling before it was the thing to do. Another thing we did to save a buck was take 6" tape and split it, had twice the tape for 1/2 the price. How many of you have used the tape with the steel bars? I have and didn't care for it. I think they even had a tape that had steel screen on it. Daris

Boy!!That article definately brought back the memories. I remember the Conso and the Gold foil. Anyone remember the tape that had the fake toilet paper attached? It was supposed to tear away when you powered it. When I was an apprentice one of my duties was to put the TP under the seam tape. We used the burlap too. Never split the 6" though. I used the steel bar tape and didn't like it at all. We've got most of our crews sold on the Sinch iron now. Len Perkins came down a few months ago and certified our crews. They all swear by it now. I wish it had been around when I was installing....Would have saved me a lot of grief over the years trying to explain what seam peak is and why it happens..

[TFP Admin]

getoverit, I corrected the name in your post. You can edit your own posts for up to 24 hours after you post it. Just click the Edit icon and do your editing.

Jim

[Daris Mulkin]

I believe the tape that had its own tp type paper was Burgess, they also had the colortell tape. Which had a dye in the thermo and when hot it disappeared.
I found the patent for a Burgess Seam Iron and found out they called it a sadiron.
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3400245.html
I'm still looking for the seam tape.
Here is the first seam tape I could find for Burgess:
http://www.google.com/patents?id=rMc...age&q=&f=false

Daris

[Peter Kodner]

How come no one has mentioned the Silva tape? You hooked the ends up to a transformer and electrical current melted it all at once. Was supposed to be the greatest thing in the world for making snip and fit rugs.

[Daris Mulkin]

I tried that thing once and didn't care for it. Its still out there though. I also tried to hook it up to the Roberts foil tape. It worked for a second and burned the foil off at the clamps. To me the tape was so thick that it profiled to much.

Daris

[Guy Arnal]

Used the transformer years ago in a funeral home. All the tape split in half from traffic after 3 years, of course in weekly callbacks. WHAT A NIGHTMARE.