: I found that the packing tape I tried to not be all that good of a
: release agent, stuck pretty well to the epoxy. Also very
: difficult to get a smooth surface using it.

: Bill H.

That's interesting Bill. I think I have used a couple different types of tape with no problem. The last stuff I used is just super cheap stuff that I bought in a package of 6 rolls, possibly at the local hardware store, but I can't recall for certain. I have used it for the underside of my coaming, and under the initial fabrication of the hatch seal mounts, and both applications worked fine. As for a smooth surface, I doubt any of them were perfect, but they were more than good enough for the intended joints which were made with thickened epoxy anyway. For the most part, I found that the tape would produce a released surface more or less as smooth as the underlying surface to which the tape was applied. Tape overlaps would leave bumps, but these would pretty much disappear when sanding to epoxy the molded parts together.

However, your observation suggests that before trusting a type of tape, it would make sense to test it with the epoxy one uses to make sure that it will release as expected.

Best regards,

Allan Edie