Heat Shrink Tubing

[staceyrebecca]

I was at the hardware store (good ole Home Depot, not a tiny place..) & went a-looking for heat-shrink tubing to heat and shrink over arm rods & whatever else gets in my way. They had a small variety package of different diameters, but they were no more than 3" long apiece. I asked the guy with the home depot apron & mardi gras mask where I'd find it...he said that's all they carry.

So my question to you is, where do you find it, & if I buy it, what's a good "general" size to get (for the purpose of shrinking around arm rods & various other things that get in my way)?

 

[Blink]

Hey staceyrebecca,

I actually just picked some up yesterday. You won't find what you need at any of the big stores (all they carry are the precut small lengths). You need to go to an electrical store. They sell it by the package/roll. Just check your local electrical stores and they should have it. Good luck.

 

[MGov]

Hi Staceyrebecca!

Yeah, what Blink said.

Also try Plasti-dip:

http://www.plastidip.com/index.php

I switched from the tubing to Plasti-Dip because it didn't require me to sit there with the hair dryer.

Also wanted to post on your thread to make your e-mail go "bing!"

 

[staceyrebecca]

Thank you for the bing, mgov.

Mgov, did you ever try a heat gun as opposed to a hair dryer?

 

[MGov]

I didn't have access to a heat gun at the time I was using the tubes.


BING!

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Heat shrink tubing is one of those things that if you have an electronics/hardware surplus store in your area it's worth checking there for too because you'll sometimes find it incredibly cheap.

 

[staceyrebecca]

Bing indeed.

I'm wondering then, Mr Plasti-dip, how long does it take to dry?

I've actually been seeing the heat-shrink "around" for awhile & liked shrinky dinks as a child..so I thought that would be my best option.

 

[MGov]

Okay, first, proper credit for the Plasti-Dip goes to Swazzle Puppet 101 blog.

http://swazzle.com/blogs/2005/11/arm-rods-part-three.html

As for time, I kind of stopped noticing how long it takes to dry because I just do a bunch and leave them sit over night. But now that I look at the can, it says 4 hours to dry.

 

[Teenager's]

You can also use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process--It takes somewhere around :30 minutes before you can handle it. (unless it's a thin layer. I usually pour the stuff on) --but after that & I have it positioned where I want it I also let it sit overnight.

 

[staceyrebecca]

You can also use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process--It takes somewhere around :30 minutes before you can handle it. (unless it's a thin layer. I usually pour the stuff on) --but after that & I have it positioned where I want it I also let it sit overnight.

I assume you're speaking of the dipping stuff...