Cheap Kapton Tape

[CaptOblivious]

As many of us know too well, Kapton tape can be very expensive. But I've learned that the expense is largely because we are buying a brand name. As a few of us may know, Kapton is 3M's brand name for polyimide; and I have found a cheap source of polyimide tape: Grainger.

 

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/ecatalog/N-/Ntt-polyimide?Ns=List+Price|0&op=search&sst=subset

 

Grainger carries two basic varieties: Tape with acrylic adhesive and tape with silicone adhesive. Be sure you are buying the kind with silicone adhesive! Acrylic adhesive won't hold up under your soldering iron.

Better yet, if you have a Grainger near you, you can order it online or at the counter, and pick it up at the will-call desk, and not have to worry about paying shipping for such a tiny item. A 5-yard roll will last you a good long time, and costs a fraction of what brand-name Kapton tape from your favorite hobby shop would.

 

The only catch is that Grainger is a business-to-business (B2B) outfit, and you have to have a company to deal with them (at least online). The good news is that in most states, you can form a sole proprietorship at will, and in many states (including Missouri, where I live), if your business name uses part of your name, you don't have to register as doing business under a fictitious name (which costs way more than you save by buying this way). So, I can legally do business in Missouri as "Goodman-Wilson Electronics" without registering with anyone or paying a single cent in fees. Check your state's laws.

 

Anyway, Grainger doesn't actually verify any of this information, so it's largely moot, anyway.