We may receive a commission when you use our affiliate links. However, this does not impact our recommendations.
There is a special satisfaction to solving a problem with tape. Yes, it’s nice to master the tools and techniques of our forefathers, but it’s a lot more fun to say “Look at this Grandpa, bet you wish you had this stuff (blue, duct, double-sided, aluminum) back in the day.” Here’s a use for double-sided tape that not only saves time, it also keeps you from measuring and laying out hardware upside down and in the dark.
These brass ball catches work very well, if you can get both pieces in exactly the right position. I used cloth backed tape; the package says it’s good for holding down rugs and carpet, and it came from the local hardware store. I stuck a small piece of tape to the back of each component, and placed the part that goes on the door in the approximate position. Then I peeled the backing off the other piece and closed the door.
The gap at the top of the door was slightly smaller than I anticipated, so I had to slide the hardware down on the door to let the other piece clear the opening. Then I closed the door and positioned it exactly where I wanted it in the opening. I reached in and pushed up on the cabinet part, then opened the door. Both parts were now where they needed to be, and I hadn’t measured or marked anything. Well I did make a quick pencil mark at the center of the opening to locate the block of wood that holds the hardware behind the face frame.
The tape held the catch while I drilled the holes and installed the screws and the entire process took less time that it’s taken to write about it. Thank you double sided tape.
You might also like “10 Tricks for Tight Joints Digital Download” from shopwoodworking.com
Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.
Hmmmm. I guess the guys who installed their “duck” tape all over the A/C ducts in my house never heard this story.
Daniel,
You may well be right – but I have to go by Webster’s New World Dictionary, and perhaps they have it wrong (there was a recent story in the news about dictionary mistakes, so it’s certainly possible!).
It’s called "duck tape", not "duct tape". It’s not used for ducts, and never has been. It’s called "duck tape", because it’s waterproof like a duck’s feathers. It was used in WWII for sealing ammunition boxes.