Welcome to the Heskins Blog

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

Grip tape is the same as non slip tape, isn’t it?

Put simply, yes and no!  Modern skateboards have their origins in the late 1950s, when grip tape started appearing in the 1970s the most commonly available mineral in the US was silicon carbide (also known as carborundum tape).  From the 1980s onwards throughout western industry aluminium oxide became more prevalent as an abrasive mineral and began replacing silicon carbide; it was more readily available, more quality consistent, had the same level of hardness and was cheaper.  Grip tape can be produced with either, Heskins uses both minerals.  Heskins non slip tape is only produced using aluminium oxide or S2 (a form of silica).

I have heard that silicon carbide is better and tougher?

Completely untrue.  As mentioned above silicon carbide was the original grip material however from the 1980s onwards moves were made towards production using aluminium oxide.  Mineral hardness is measured by the MOHS scale, both aluminium oxide and silicon carbide register the same mineral hardness, 9.  1 is talc and 10 being diamond.  Silicon carbide retains its place in grip tape usage mainly as an ‘old school’ remnant, reminding boarders of its vintage 1970s roots, in performance there is little difference with aluminium oxide offering better quality output.

What about the adhesive?

Most grip tapes have a lower level of adhesion compared to non slip tape.  A skateboard is an easy substrate to adhere onto, in the worst case it might have a lacquer coat.  Non slip tapes might be applied onto extremely low energy substrates, the most difficult materials include PP, PUR and siliconised powder coat.  Non slip tapes have to possess an adhesive capable of permanently and instantly bonding to these surfaces, this can only be achieved with modern, advanced and often application specific adhesives.  The old system of simply applying a higher coat weight is no longer seen as an effective approach.

Is the base material different?

Grip tapes typically use a thin PVC base.  Anti slip tapes will normally use thicker PVC, Heskins use various thicknesses of PVC dependent on the end application.  Other plastics that are utilised by Heskins include: PET (provides extra strength and zero stretch tolerances), PE (full biodegradability), PP (can easily be hot welded instead of adhered), aluminium foil (formability and extreme flame retardancy) and PU (cushioning abilities but very expensive compared to other plastics).

Does the backing liner vary?

At last a simple answer, yes!  Most grip tapes will use a thicker backing paper, the reason is unknown but is believed to be historical.

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Friday, May 1st, 2009

Today (1/5/09) was our annual ISO9001:2008 quality audit from NQA, for the past few days all staff on production and administration has been involved in ensuring that we have been on schedule.  All this attention focusing on quality thought this would be a good opportunity to inform of the different layers of quality control and continuing improvement that exists at Heskins when we produce and dispatch our grip tape.

As mentioned we are ISO9001:2008 with NQA and have been since 2001.  Different stages of quality processes exist all the way from initial booking in and inspection of raw materials through to the final stage: the last check before the grip tape is dispatched.  All of the Heskins grip tape is inspected at all intermediate stages as follows;

Length - our machines are calibrated yet we always ‘over-run’ to ensure no shortage.

Width - we use calibrated Mitutoya verniers, we even hold a wide width, 305mm version, on request we can easily work with +/- tolerances.

Colour - colours are checked against Pantone or RAL books that are changed annually to prevent fading.

Our die cutters are accurate to 0.1mm and produce material that is consistent; our slitters operate to finite tolerances.   Our ISO certificate is available to download from our website; we aim to ensure that you, the customer, have the confidence in the wide range of processes that form the Heskins quality system.

Grip Tape ISO9001 2008 logo

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Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

Anti slip tape walkway applied at SheffieldHeskins is proud to be associated with the internationally renowned interior designer, Linda Florence.  From our material Linda Florence huge cutlery shapes using our anti slip tape for the Millennium Galleries, Arundel Gate, Sheffield, England.  Sheffield is the UK’s steel city and is famous throughout the World for its tableware.  The anti slip tape shapes were inspired by designs in the Sheffield Museum metalwork collection.  The enormous shapes were cut from master rolls of our black standard safety grip, please visit our products page www.heskins.com/prod01.htm. Regimented lines of historic cutlery evolve and progressively fuse together to create a pattern of cutlery hybrids, which visitors can explore with their feet.

The amount of anti slip tape required was huge; if one looks at the photos the scale is evident!  The traction tape provided a very tactile and visual material for this application.

Traction tape cut into large scale cutlery shapes
This is our first blog; we are now no longer blog virgins! We will constantly keep it fresh with relevant and interesting content; we aim to fill the blogs with product information, applications and projects. Please bookmark this page, we aim to inform!

For more information on the extremely talented lady that is Linda Florence please visit her website on www.lindaflorence.co.uk

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