Between the Plasti Dip and this blue tape there isn’t a clear winner.
##price
The Plasti Dip is less expensive. Comparing the advertised coverage area of the two products, Plasti Dip is ~1.4¢ to 0.7¢ per square inch and the tape is ~4.8¢ per square inch. … huh, I thought the price difference would be more dramatic. Maybe I should divide the Plasti Dip number by four since I’ve been only putting one coat instead of four.
###Ease of application
The tape is pretty easy to apply. It also doesn’t need to cure for multiple hours. And you don’t need to wear a mask while putting it on.
###Ease of lasering
I’d give this a tie. Both used the same process and the same speed, the tape needed extra power, but that’s not really a concern that affects “ease”.
###Cleanup
I’m going to give this one to the tape as well. Although I haven’t actually done it yet, I think the selective engraving (to weed the small stuff) and cutting the large stuff will be very easy and fast. Even though WD-40 works basically instantly on the Plasti Dip, I would still end up doing two or three applications as little bits would stick in the little nooks and crannies. Then I’d have to do a separate cleaning to get the oily WD-40 off.
##mask quality
I’d give a slight edge to Plasti Dip here. Very slight. Plasti Dip seems to be thinner. I’m thinking that thinness will make very small pieces less likely to get brushed off during the cleanup of the metal to prepare it for the application of powder. (Pic below to show tape thickness.)
##masking for multiple colors
I’ll have to come back and update this after I’ve done some multiple-color powder coating using the tape. Plasti Dip works very well for doing multiple colors.
###Availability
When I decided to try Plasti Dip I had to run to the nearest auto-parts store and pick some up. For me, that meant about 15 minutes of time invested. I suppose someone locally might have this tape, but I wouldn’t bet on being able to find it. Otherwise the tape needs to be ordered from theinternet.com.
##safety
I dunno… You start burning stuff with a laser and who knows what you’re getting.
Prismatic Powders says this tape is “1 mil”. It didn’t look or feel like it was a thousandth of an inch thick so I measured it. (I don’t get many excuses to get out the micrometers, so I takes whats I can gets.)
I realized I should have included polyimide tape in my comparison. Um… I’ll just say that the only reason I can think of that I would choose polyimide over the polyester is that it might be a little cheaper. It creates so much of a problem when demasking though (because it tears so easily) that I would avoid it unless I didn’t think I had any other good options (which is what I thought until last week).