Double-Face Tape Tip

By Harold Stewart
Photos by Harold Stewart

Posted: January 6, 2010

My wife saw me struggling to remove double face tape from an aluminum pattern I used for cutting a wood part.  She suggested I place painter's masking tape on both surfaces first, then use the double-face tape to attach the two pieces.

When finished cutting the part, simply separate both pieces, remove the painter's tape with the double-faced tape stuck to it, and you're done.  No clean up and both pattern and wood are clean!  I use this method all the time on my shop projects.

Here's how it's done.  Gather your wood, template, painter's tape and double-faced tape.  I use 3M brand double-faced tape, but any good, thin double-faced tape should work.  Do not use foam backed tape as it allows for too much movement between the pattern and the wood.

Apply low-tack painter's tape to the surface of the template as well as the wood, making sure they will mate fairly close.

Apply the double-faced tape to the painter's tape on the pattern.  This photo shows the double-faced tape on the painter's tape, but the backing is not pulled off yet.

Remove the backing from the double-faced tape, align the pattern to the wood and complete the cut.

When your finished cutting the wood, remove the template and the double-faced tape from the wood. Note how cleanly it comes off of the wood.  The painter's tape also removes easily from the template making clean up a snap.

One word of advice: you do not need to use a lot of double-faced tape because you don't need it in all areas of the template or material you're working on.  As you can see, I just use it where I think it is needed most, and not all over the template and material.  This method can be used in many applications where you need to hold something secure for a shot time, such as hold something on a drill press (stop blocks to drill multiple pieces), or even something as simple as a stop block or gauge on a table saw for cutting a few pieces of wood to the same length.

Harold Stewart is a registered member of WWGOA.

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