Are they terrible or am I using it wrong?
Depends on the item.
Some are great some are annoying.But generally: Skill issue
I use them everyday. I work in logistics. Trick number one is to have special tape that isn’t as loud when unrolling it.
Tip number two is just use your finger to put the first bit on, hold it with the finger and do the rest. At the end, push the top part against the box to make the knife cut the tape.
Wipe over the tape with your finger if needed, some tapes and kinds of carton don’t have much holding power. If you move your fingers over the tape, you’ll heat up the glue and it will stick better.
Managed to perfectly perforate my chin with one of these as a foolish 16 year old in my first job. Entirely user error (I’ll let you guess how) and left my chin looking like you could tear it off like a postage stamp for weeks after.
Safe to say I wasn’t allowed to use it again after that, so my only experience with these is that they’re terrible - though that’s probably not a fair judgement given the circumstances 😂.
You’re not supposed to lick them.
Very sage advice, though in this instance the issue was more me trying to tear off a small piece of tape by holding the dispenser at face level with the blade facing towards me… Whilst pushing the strip of tape away from me to try and tear it. I learned an important lesson about physics that day.
Bought one when moved to a different country and had to pack a lots of big boxes.
Its great time saver, only downside is how god awful loud they can be.
I felt dumb at some point to put hearing protection on for using these things. But they are actually realling fucking loud.
A triangle shaped thumb nail and the tape roll alone is all you need to be lightning fast. Seen pros do it for a living, so I had to try. Beats these things by a mile!
I don’t think it’s possible to use sheathing tape without one.
Years ago I worked 2nd shift in a bindery at a medium-sized print shop. One day when I came in at 3 pm, the 1st shift straw boss announced that we had to get a certain job folded and boxed and ready to ship by 5 pm. The asshole who ran the folder on 1st claimed it was “all set up and ready to go”. It was not. So to add to the frustration of the situation, this one c*nt, whom her co-workers called “Pricess Smith” because she was fucking the married supervisor who’s name was Smith (no, not really), used to hide one of only two tape guns in her toolbox. So after wasting an extra 10 minutes looking for the one remaining tape gun (after 15 minutes finishing the set-up of the folder), we barely got the job folded, boxed and palletized in time for the truck driver to load and deliver it.
Later, once we had time to breathe, I was still feeling salty. I broke into her assigned plastic toolbox by removing the hinge. I took out “her” tape gun (not hers. just to be clear) and taped it up in a huge wad of tape, then put it back and put the hinge back on, and put the toolbox back where she kept it.
The next day, we heard that she cried about it and even went to the company VP about it. After placating her, according to one of the other supervisors, they all laughed their asses off.
They’re less bad if you use quality tape.
100% and figuring out how tight that tension bolt needs to be for the tape you are using.
How’s it not working for you?
The only way I’ve been able to get these things to work is to put my thumb on the tape roll so it stops rolling out and I can cut it with the blade part. I have historically had the same issue as you though.
Oh, thank you! Based on these replies I assumed I am the dumbest person on the planet.
You shouldn’t need to do that, but a lot of people do.
Instead, when you apply the tape, roll it away a little bit to get the end to stick, and then pull on it to unroll. When you’re done, press the flat end down and twist the tape gun into the tape to cut it cleanly.
Once you’ve the the technique down, it’s very efficient.
I felt the same way for the longest time and then I decided to try that. It’s probably like training wheels, but it at least works for me now.
It’s supposed to be taped ‘to’ something by the time the blade is supposed to get involved. The object should be doing the holding of the tape unless it’s just super light.
Still a bit annoying if you only need a length of tape not stuck to something, but then that’s precisely not what it’s designed for.
My issue is that it was always the wrong angle no matter what I tried and would never rip on the teeth. Holding my thumb on the tape stops me from looking like an idiot and accidentally pulling way more tape out when I try to cut it.
Ahh yeah, I’ve had plenty of issues with that too. I’ve no idea when it started to just work for me. I just started to give ‘er an angled yank and it started working. It kinda’ reminds me of the stories of how F1 cars perform. They have so much down force that you pretty much have to rocket through the corners to keep grip up. If you try to tip-toe up to the edge like with a normal car, you’ll just slide out before you reach peak performance, bacause faster means more grip.
Like with the tape guns, I think some require you to be a bit rough with it and the little flappy plastic thing, or else it doesn’t bite enough to cut the tape.
Probably using them wrong. These things are great if you have a lot of boxes to tape and need it done fast.
That or really bad tape was what I was thinking.
Where I work, we use the cheapest tape known to man. It’s pretty much 50/50 if they work or you spend 30 seconds fixing it. Helps if you adjust the tensioner…
If the tape itself sucks and doesn’t actually stick to anything, it really doesn’t matter if the tape holder is good or cheap. Most of the time, the real issue with the dispenser is the blade has become dull and won’t properly cut. But if the dispenser is of decent quality, the blade is easily replaced and/or sharpened. Not that any employer actually spends time or money doing basic maintenance of their own equipment…
Practice helps.
don’t use UPS brand tape for these things
The ones where the plastic shield pressing against the box makes the little teeth plunge into the tape are friggin’ orgasmic.
I prefer static blades imo there are better for a wider variety of situations.
But I’ve that could be the dynamic nature of things I use tape on. The pressure ones are absolutely wonderful for their intended task though. Although not Jean creamingly if you are me
Although not Jean creamingly if you are me
Did not realize it capitalized that word. I really need to remember to proof read the shit I post online… Maybe I’ll learn my lesson … One day
You’re likely using it wrong. They’re great, when you have a good one.
