If you’ve seen The Red Green Show, you will know that the “handyman’s secret weapon” is duct tape, also called “duck tape”. Duck tape saved the day and our achy fingers this afternoon. One of our staff members was unrolling spiral bindings off of old reports so we can recycle the paper. I suggested using the roller on the spiral binding machine that is used to roll the spiral bindings on to the reports, to roll the spiral bindings off of the reports. We took some reports to the machine (“¡a la máquina!” is Burqueño for going to the machine, which seems to happen quite often around Albuquerque), but the roller would not unroll the spiral bindings. The binding machine is really old, and the rubber roller had dried out and hardened over the years to have a smooth surface with small cracks. I needed someway to either soften the rubber (not much of a an immediate prospect there), or something to put on the roller to add texture so that the roller would grab the spiral binders and roll them off the reports. Wouldn’t you know it: duck tape turned out to have the perfect texture for grabbing spiral binders! I stuck three strips of duck tape on the roller, and voilà! It rolled the spiral binders off the reports quickly and easily. Chock up another problem solved by using the handyman’s secret weapon.
Off Center & Not Even 
That tape has got to have at least 2000 uses!
I think it’s more on the scale of Carl Sagan “Billions and Billions” of used. Thanks, John.
In Italy it is called Nastro Americano (American tape). 😉
That probably makes more sense the Nastro Anatra. Thanks, Allen.
Appunto!
I’ve used plenty of it in my time. 🙂
It’s good stuff. Thanks, Lavinia.
It saves the day… mostly 365 + days!
Thanks, Nancy.
buona giornata Timothy
You too.
Happy day Timothy
Grazie, Simona.
You are a real handyman ! 🙂
Thanks, Harry.
Whatever works. 😀
Duck tape works well. Thanks, Robin.
Duck or duct that stuff is the answer to everything!
Thanks, Teri!
It’s been a long, long time since I watched that.
Brilliant! So “MacGyver” of you Tim!
Thanks, Tiffany. I don’t know MacGyver.
Very cool! I’m so impressed that you know The Red Green Show!
Thanks, Resa. I first came across Red Green on YouTube and then rented the DVD’s of several of the shows. That show is hilarious.
Red Green ran forever here. I got to work with him on a cable movie once. A nice person, and funny in real life!
He seems like a funny, likable guy. Some of the projects he came up with on the show are so imaginative.
Thank you for the great tip! Duck tape is a great resource for many DIY projects and it’s great to know that it can be used in this way too!
You are welcome, Becky. Thanks, for dropping by.
A great opportunity for a handyman to get a great repair in a great location!
Absolutely. Thanks, handyman.
Thank you for sharing this creative solution! I agree, it is great that duct tape, the true handyman’s secret weapon, came to the rescue once again. Your quick thinking turned a frustrating situation into a smooth operation!
Thanks, Any Ta.
Thank you for the great tip. Really cool!
You’re welcome.