Customer Reviews

3M M1000 Hand-Masker Masking Tape Film Dispenser

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Since the only other reviewer doesn't know that these are product reviews and not seller reviews, I thought I would attempt to counteract the lone (and unjustified) one-star review for this product.

I was painting some shelves I built in my garage and decided to use paper rather than just tape, to keep the area neat and clean. While picking up paper at my local home improvement warehouse, I saw this product on the shelf. I had never worked with paper before, and this dispenser seemed a little pricy, but I decided to give it a shot. I am so glad I did.

The instructions are short and to the point. Attach the cutter, which thankfully, isn't really that sharp at all, just enough to get the job done. Load the paper and tape, paying careful attention to the direction, so that each unwraps correctly. When installed correctly, the tape perfectly overlaps the edge of the paper. The ingenious part of this product is the positioning of the tape and paper on the dispenser. It uses the natural tension in the tape roll to apply the tape to the paper. The result is a tape/paper mask that appears it was packaged as such, which would be nearly impossible, and expensive if it did exist. There were a couple of areas where I had to use the paper and tape separately, without the dispenser, and it was a terrible hassle compared to using the dispenser.

I am a big fan of products that are well thought out and executed, and even more so when it saves me a tremendous amount of time and hassle. This meets all those criteria, and therefore gets 5 enthusiastic stars.

I've spent numerous hours using both the M1000 and the M3000 tape dispensers. The M1000 doesn't hold a candle to the M3000. I have 4 major gripes with the product:

1. The handle is in a very unnatural orientation to the paper. It is awkward to hold and use.
2. The paper cutter is not very sharp, so rather than cutting cleanly through the paper/tape it rips - and usually haphazardly and not where you want it.
3. The paper can unroll itself when you don't have tape on the reel because there is no clip to hold it put, like there is on the M3000 - it is very annoying when it happens.
4. There is not a tape guide to keep the tape evenly fed or from backtracking and sticking up. This is the most minor shortcoming in my opinion, since this is a problem primarily due to operator inexperience, but it just highlights the poor thought that went into this product.

The bottom line is that the M1000 is vastly inferior to the M3000. I know that the M1000 is 1/3 the price of the other, but you get way less in terms of quality. If you plan to use a paper/tape dispenser for any length of time at all go for the M3000. You'll save yourself much aggravation.

The two piece plastic blade is very flimsey and to easy to break. I had to replace it with the metel blade off of my old M3000 in order to make it worthy of daily use.

My husband was a professional painting contractor for years. He's retired now, but we're in the process of building a new home. For the money, he said this one will do what he wants/needs it to do - and he said he can pick up a metal cutting blade for it if needed. Good product for a great price. and FAST shipping too!

I ordered this item on August 22, and was told I can expect delivery by September 14! That is unacceptable service by any approved Amazon vendor! I tried to cancel but they shipped it anyway. I will buy this item locally before it is ever delivered.