We may receive a commission when you use our affiliate links. However, this does not impact our recommendations.
You might think I’m kidding. I am absolutely not. This year, a tape dispenser for my blue tape is the nicest thing I’ve added to my shop.
Like many woodworkers, I use blue painter’s tape for many tasks, from taping down small repairs to marking out joinery to shimming things square. For years I simply pulled it off the roll. You know the drill: Find the end of the tape, get a fingernail under it, pinch the end, pull, rip.
With a tape dispenser I work about five times faster. You might be rolling your eyes at this point. If you are, then just stop reading. The rest of us know that a dispenser is a huge improvement.
You need a heavy one with a grippy base. I shopped around and found mine at Staples. It will hold only one roll. Now I’m on the hunt for a heavy vintage one like we had in the newspaper productions shop I worked for four years. It would hold three rolls. That way I can have blue tape, sellotape and regular masking tape.
— Christopher Schwarz
- To read past entries from this guide (and from former years), click here.
