I got tired of putting one arm through the center of the roll in order to pull the tape smoothly and I didn’t want to pay $50 to buy a holder that was way too wide for a roll of 12" tape. So I made one based on the metal one on USCutter.com. They have a video which shows how to load the roll onto the holder. The end of the tape goes under the front roller, sticky side down.
I cut three sets of the sides on my GF and glued them together for strength. I cut a 13" wide base from a scrap piece of plywood (with a saw).
I cut 1/2" dowel about 15" long so the pieces would extend past the sides. I cut two pieces of 1/2" PVC pipe (with the saw, NOT with the GF!) slightly shorter than the base, so they would spin around on the dowels. Then I nailed the pieces together using the tiny holes at the bottom of the side pieces. You may want to use screws… I couldn’t find any in my DH’ shop.
I’m using clamps to hold the completed piece onto a table. I don’t have a permanent table that I wanted to nail or screw it onto and I wanted to be able to move it out of the way at my whim.
Thanks for sharing too!
I’ve been wanting one of those holders for a while as well, and haven’t wanted to dish out the money for one either…and haven’t had the time yet to design one.
That’s what we made at our vinyl shop. Used a 2x4 and put two metal conduit poles in. Like you we also used the black shipping rings as the roll holder.
LOVE this! I’ve got several huge rolls of the stuff and they are a bear to cut off an even sheet! (i’m gonna make one of these right after the holidays!)
I misread your original post on how your had the tape resting. I meant normally the stuff we would get from Fellers or USCutter would have a black inserts in the tubes sometimes (all the printable material would anyway). They definitely help keep the roll centered for smooth tape application.
I originally thought about using the inserts for the roll of aluminum foil from Costco, probably similar to what you used to use! I was kicking myself because I remembered I’d thrown away the inserts from the previous roll, and I was afraid of messing up the current roll, so I didn’t have any to use. Then I realized I could just try to recreate something like the professional version.
Your way is better…I designed a couple of decorative boxes for plastic wrap and foil (the big ones from Sam’s club) and I used their end caps. Now I live in fear that they’ll change the size. (And they do that every once in a while just to screw things up…makes me madder than a hornet. I had a 3D printed one that was obsoleted before i even got a chance to use it on the next roll.)
You did a great job with it! It’s also set up so it would be easy enough to add a third hole above and centered of the others to add an additional pole if you wanted to use one on a roll with caps.
