Duct Tape stress tests

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By Phillip Torrone
Posted 2005/04/05 @ 7:15 am
Category General

If you’re wondering what the strength of duct tape might be Make reader Taylor reports in with some possible clues…I decided I needed a hammock in my dorm room, and what better way than duct tape. I attached 4 strips on either side to the ceiling, making a loop at the bottom. I then used some clothes line and 2 carabiners to attach the hammock. The whole setup can hold my 200 lb friend (he fell asleep for 4 hrs in it). Under that stress each strip is holding around 25 lbs (assuming the weight was equally distributed, which I did my best to do). I haven’t pushed it to the limits yet, maybe this weekend I’ll see just how much it can take (Photo 1, Photo 2, Photo 3).

BY Phillip Torrone

Editor at large - Make magazine. Creative director - Adafruit Industries, contributing editor - Popular Science. Previously: Founded - Hack-a-Day, how-to editor - Engadget, Director of product development - Fallon Worldwide, Technology Director - Braincraft.

In the Maker Shed

8 Responses to Duct Tape stress tests

mattyc on April 5th, 2005 at 8:37 am said:

I’ve seen that waffle-shaped ceiling before. Do you go to WPI? Live in Stoddard?

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MattGrommes on April 5th, 2005 at 8:50 am said:

Man, that just gave me a great idea: A Duct Tape Hammock. Not just attaching a regular hammock, making one totally out of duct tape. A friend of mine made a shirt from the magical tape and that thing was tough. Hmm, off to the garage!

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OldMike on April 5th, 2005 at 11:34 am said:

Many years ago (ca 1955 – 1958) I fastened a bookshelf to a wall using essentially the same technique (I used gummed picture hangers). It worked perfectly for several months, then I was awakened one night by a tremendous crash. Examination showed that there was a failure of the bond between the paint and the plaster on the wall, rather than the bond between the hangers and the paint. Think of the shock of being dumped out of a hammock in the middle of the night!

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futurefeeder on April 5th, 2005 at 6:45 pm said:

In high school we duct taped our 140lb. science teacher to the ceiling of our dormitory. Ah, the wonders of duct tape.

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adricm on April 6th, 2005 at 12:23 am said:

one party (geeky party) it got decided to see how much tape would be required to tape a bowling ball to a wall.. us geeks of all trades ve engineers,

we won, only took 10feet.. they used most of a roll, and their bowling ball fell in an hour, ours stayed for 3 days…

trick? 2 long strips one making kind of a ’6′ shape sling with some cross bracing at the bottom (the bowling ball held in the sling kept the lower part held against the wall, ) and we ran it up at enough of an angle, we could brace the top with 2 1′ cross braces..

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zlgeraibegnst@mailinator.com on April 6th, 2005 at 6:43 pm said:

The duct tape capacity in this setup will probably be based on the tensile strength of the tape itself, rather than the adhesive properties. With sufficient surface area and loading the tape in shear, the adhesive strength should exceed the tensile capacity of the tape. You can see for yourself using simple Scotch tape. Tape a strip with about 12″ adhered to a desk, and pull in shear. The tape itself will break before the adhesive gives.

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bjorke on April 7th, 2005 at 7:51 am said:

You didn’t say what the stress rating on the duct tape was — it’s made in a variety of strengths, depending upon the amount of fabric in the tape.

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adwb on April 10th, 2005 at 7:02 pm said:

they have the same ceiling at WWU

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