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Saturday, December 31, 2011

The shim I use in my ATG's

I was asked by a fellow stamper about the "shim" I use in my ATG's. It's just a piece of paper that is thicker than card stock.. unless you have some super sturdy card stock, that too would work. I actually use the paper out of the Stampin' UP! dimensionals package, but you can use anything really.

This is two ATG's.. the on on the left I have a shim on.. the one on the right I don't.. see how the tape goes off the edge of the roller.. that was driving me nuts. I had read about it somewhere where someone had just cut a circle and placed it over the roll of tape.. and it worked.. I doubted it at first, but it really works.


I cut a circle the size of the roll of tape and then had to trim one side in just a little bit so I could get the 1" circle punch in on it so I could punch a circle out in the middle of it.

I then slip it over the top of the lip on the side where the tape goes:


There is nothing fancy about this, but it keeps my tape where I want it on the roller. When the shim gets tape icky on it.. don't toss it out, it's even better that way.. you just push it down on the roll so it kinda clings to the roll, keeping it from warping up.

UPDATE: not sure why I didn't remember this.. but when I first wanted to make a shim, I wanted to use one of the pieces from a roll of Stampin' UP! ribbon. But at the time I had no empty rolls.. last night as I was finishing up another roll of my beloved Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon (20 rolls will be here this week).. I remembered.. these are perfect to use. You would remove the plastic pieces of course.. I kept them in this half so it didn't get lost on my desk.. and it fits right in your ATG. see pic. below:



thanks for looking ~

have a great airborne day!
God Bless All Our Military.. each and every one of them

39 comments:

glowegal said...

Oooh thanks for this tip! It droves me bonkers when it starts coming off the wheel!

Diane S said...

Great tip, Pam. Although I haven't had this problem in a while, I will remember this tip when it happens again.

LaVerne said...

I am going to try that, Pam. My tape drives me nuts sometimes!!

Jan Hunnicutt said...

Thanks Pam, my ATG was on the table needing to be refilled so I went to look at my ribbon and found just what I needed!

Becca said...

LOVE this!! This also drives me crazy! I thought it was the way I was rolling the tape off or something. I will be adding my shim to my ATG today! Thanks for posting this

Lisa Oliver said...

Works like a charm!!! Thanks sooooo much!

Ginny Maxam said...

Great Idea!! Thanks for sharing this tip!! 20 rolls of riding hood red!! Wowwie!!

Velda said...

Thank you, Pam! My friend has been having this problem with her ATG and I've been working on fixing it. This is a great help.

Carol L said...

Thanks for a wonderful, helpful tip Pam! Who knew?!

Over Embellishing said...

OK Pam- this is a great idea! Sooooo now you call the ATG people and you market the heck out of your idea- in a snap you could be a millionaire! Seriously though thanks for the tip!

Trish said...

Thanks Pam, that is a great tip!

Cards by Brenda said...

Thanks Pam. I tries it and it works like a charm!

Sherry Butcher said...

TFS. I so need this.

Pammy J. said...

Did you put this under the plastic piece that locks onto the roll or instead of it?

conil said...

What a terrific idea. Thanks so much.

Sherry Fralic said...

Great tip! Thanks so much.

Shaz in Oz.CalligraphyCards said...

Great tip Pam as mine does this sometimes but not all time - maybe when tape spool is fuller - so shim it is :D Shaz in oz.x

Kathy said...

Brilliant! This drove me nuts. I immediately took one of SU ribbon spools apart and tried it. Thank you so much for sharing.

Debbie said...

Thanks for this tip Pam! I've been fighting with my tape!! I shimmed it and voila...problem solved! Back to my Christmas cards!

Big D said...

I am having trouble with the tape not wraping around the other wheel the catch wheel as it where it works once and then it starts not wrapping and there is a piece of tape way bigger then the wheel coming up on it. What am I doing wrong



airbornewife said...

Do you mean that when you load the ATG and put the end of the tape around the wheel on the right.. that its not staying on there? If that is what is happening... turn the wheel a few times while holding the trigger.. that is what I do so that it stays on. If its different please let me know. Thanks, Pam

Big D said...

Pam I can get it on there and wrap it around and it stays until I try and run it on a card and then the catch wheel starts pushing the tape up like and not staying tight on the catch wheel. I wish I could show you. I love the atg but can't use it because of this not sure if the wheel stops pulling or what is going on

airbornewife said...

Do you have the piece that snaps into the catch wheel on there? that keeps the tape from coming up.

Big D said...

Thanks for trying, I will take it apart and clean the glue off the wheel and see if that helps. I may just need a new one. I really appreciate you answering me. Darleen

Big D said...

Pam, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, I think I will take off the wheel and clean it real good and see if that helps. Really appreciate you trying to help. Darleen

AmyS said...

It is unbelievable how much this helps! I used a circle I cut from a box of granola bars, and not only does the tape stay in place, it rolls on much more smoothly. Thank you so much for this great tip!

SueB said...

Awesome! Thank you so much. I cannot wait to try it.

Acornbud said...

Thank you so much for saving my sanity!

Billie Dee said...

I just stumbled on this and ... I can't thank you enough! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Lisadwb said...

I have fought with my ATG for years. Hubby was helping with a rush invitations and we fought with the tape slipping, I was told to buy something that would work and throw mine away. You have saved my ATG!! I tried it today and I am so pleased with how it works.

Leeann said...

I haven't had much problems with the tape coming off of the guide wheel but my problem is that the sticky side of the tape sticks to the wrong side of my tape. Making it not sticky where it needs to be. Does that make sense? Any ideas?

the 2 Pink Ladies said...

I use a CD that is no longer usable.

joan said...

Thank you so much for this tip. I just bought my first ATG gun and after 10 minutes I was ready to throw it out the window. I cut the circle out with my Cricut and it works like a charm. I wonder why Scotch doesn't catch on and fix the problem!

Anonymous said...

Ho! I am so happy ! This was driving me insane !! Took a ribbon spool and it works perfectly now :) Thanks a whole bunch !

Sandy Kay said...

Thank you so much! Someone just shared this post with me today and I am so thankful! Don't know why I didn't find this idea sooner - it really does work!

Amanda said...

Brilliant! Thank you

Diann said...

Thanks for this tip.Have you any advice on what I can do because the tape on the right side has come off and is all twisted! Can I cut it and start again or will I just have to waste the newish tape. Any suggestions?

airbornewife said...

Diann, I have had mine become worked back on itself. I cut that part off, but don't toss the adhesive, I lay it down on card stock and rub the back of the strip.

I also take the roll off and use about 1 foot of the adhesive that is on the tape, I then reload the gun, and go from there. hope that helps

Pam

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for posting this tip. I had been struggling lately with the tape falling off the rollers. I have had my ATG for quite a few years and only just started having this problem. I was ready to give up when I decided to trouble shoot. Such a simple thing to do and at no cost. I would have never thought of this. Thanks again.

Karen