Shrink wrap

[DSW]

I though of something a minute ago when commenting on shipping things. If you've never used shrink wrap, you need to try it some time.

 

I keep one of those small 4" rolls on the truck all the time. It's perfect for securing hard to bind items like small steel rods and flat stock. Duct tape also works well, but can leave a sticky residue. Down side of shrink wrap is it can be a bit "fragile" on the roll. Drop it and ding the edges and the wrap wants to tear rather than stretch when using it. I like to keep it in it's own little cardboard box so things don't ding it up when it's not being used in the truck. Same goes for the bigger rolls.

 

One good use for big rolls of shrink wrap is to corral bushes. We used to use it to wrap up bushes and shrubs when doing concrete pours. You can get the bush tight and up out of the way when working and if you don't leave it all wrapped up for a week, it doesn't hurt the plants. Probably a useful trick for those doing gates and fences,

 

It also makes a wonderful mask for odd shaped things like columns. It used to be a nightmare trying to protect columns and such when throwing concrete color. However shrink wrap is quick and easy to instal and easy to take down.

[Glenn]

We use the shrink wrap for holding 20 feet sections of small stock in a bundle that becomes self supporting in a group. It is great for cleaning up electrical cords behind the computer and keeps the bundles clean.  A couple of wraps around last years business paperwork keeps it all together and tidy. Add a clean paper towel and it makes a good ban-aid, or keeps the dressing on the wound clean and free of surface dirt when working in not so friendly an environment.

 

I keep a roll in several different places so it is always handy. It gets used a lot.

[madax]

nice tip for tricky fencing and pouring mud thanks makes some of my bunggie, tie down straps, string and rope collection obsolete on the job site

[rockstar.esq]

If you take a wad of shrink wrap or plastic baggies and tie them to a light pull string, you can make a conduit "mouse" which will pull the line into a long conduit run with an ordinary vacuum cleaner.  On longer runs, we might use a burst of compressed air at one end and a shop vac at the other.

Be advised that conduit routed underground almost always allows water in.  Many apprentices were encouraged to look down a conduit run right as a journeyman gave the mouse an air blast.  They quickly learn why savvy journeymen tend to stand where they won't get wet.

[arkie]

I was watching some guys lay fiber optic cable in (soon-to-be) underground conduit along a county road.  They had a BIG Ingersoll Rand compressor and were blowing the "pig" nearly 1000 feet along at a time.  Amazing!

[Smoggy]

We used to use a ball of scrunched up news paper as the air pig when lining ducts for cable instalation, blowing it along with the IR comp and we also used the same technique for running cabling up lamp columns, so I suppose it will work in most situations. Any one make light fittings?

[rockstar.esq]

I recall reading a gunsmith trick for repairing cracked rifle stocks where they used old fashioned rubber surgical tubing as a wrapped "clamp" around a glued- up crack.  I could see a layer of shrink wrap being a useful way to keep the glue from sticking to the tubing as well.

[Kozzy]

42 minutes ago, rockstar.esq said:

I recall reading a gunsmith trick for repairing cracked rifle stocks where they used old fashioned rubber surgical tubing as a wrapped "clamp" around a glued- up crack.  I could see a layer of shrink wrap being a useful way to keep the glue from sticking to the tubing as well.

When gluing up larger wood panels with pipe clamps, the panels rest on the pipe--which tends to get gluey and worse, the glue causes the pipes to stain the wood surface.  A quickie layer of stretch(shrink)-wrap around the pipes in the contact section solves the problem and is well worth the time.

There are times when I've had a really messy glue-up job where I used the wide roll to cover the whole bench top by doing sort of a figure 8 round the ends of the bench to cover most of the surface.  When I get lazy and skip it, I always wish I had taken the 3 minutes and 15 cents to put the plastic down

The stuff is at least as useful to have around as duct tape.  I keep the narrow rolls on a handle in the truck to consolidate things like a few sticks of wood or steel bar/angle that are easier to secure as a bundle rather than a bunch of loose pieces.