Hi all, quick question. I made a perfectly shaped template recently, but I also made it from 3 layers of the whitish looking scotch tape. I have heard some say that scotch tape is not strong enough and also that it can slip and distort the template shape etc.

Thing is I don't want to have to go through the trouble of making another template and Im a bit skeptical about putting a layer of tape over what I've already done out of fear Ill distort the shape just a tiny bit.

On the other hand, i think I've heard some say that a scotch tape template is more accurate but requires more than 3 layers of the scotch tape

So does anyone out there think this template will survive shipping and the manufacturing process or is it nessesary to make another template?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Hopefully BA and/or John will chime in and confirm.
I'd be surprised if the templates are shipped without being folded or otherwise.
It's pretty doubtful (to me anyhow) that they are sent, padded in a box. That would be pretty expensive to do.




Fred (StealthTJ)

ok, listen up ......most people are WAY to uptight about their templates. the template is nothing more than a way for the factory to get a GENERAL idea of curvature and size/shape.
they get folded up and put in an envelope with 10 other templates and sent in. I crack up every time I get a big box in the mail that has nothing more than a plastic template inside....all padded and carefully packed.
3 layers of tape is sufficient and sounds like you have made a wonderful template depicting your shape and curvature. good job. with a permanent marker write your name , front, back , left and right markings and also I suggest putting the year. (that way if you update it later on, they know which one to throw out). just put it in an envelope and send it in to John with your order.
Please people, STOP getting stressed out about your templates.
DebbieS.

Yeh this seems very true as debbie says.

Templates are only made of some tape & LIGHT plastic arent they, so they are pretty flexible and crumple proof i think.

The only way they are gonna get wiped out is if they catch flippin fire.

TIP: If you use a medium weight clear packing/box tape, you'll have a lot more durable template than if you use scotch tape.

Debbie's right !

That's why I think it's important to provide the factory with some accurate measurements of your balding area because when it gets to the factory, your template is gonna be a little flat I think

But Debbie, what are the most critical measurements in order to get the curvature right ? If I'm not mistaking, since we're talking about curvature (and not simply lenght or width), they need a combination of 2 particular measurements right ?

Regards

if you send in length and width measurements, they automatically curve the piece to those measurements. you will never just get a flat piece of lace with hair tied to it.
if you have an oddly shaped head, I suppose its best to send in a template but I can honestly tell you that some of the nicest hair systems I've ever seen have been at the conventions where we pull a stock unit, cut it down to the clients template (that we just made at the convention) and apply it. Anyone thats ever been to a convention will tell you that some fabulous looking heads of hair have been generated this way.
lace will conform to any shape head...........and so will the thinskin type bases.
BA orders by measurements only and many of my clients do also. In my opinion, and I'm sure some will argue with me, but unless you have a very oddly shaped head or balding area, a template is just not a neccessity.
DebbieS.

Thanks Debbie

I didn't know they could extrapolate the curvature of the piece only with lenght and width measurements. We're talking about measurements taken by following the shape of the head I suppose... not in a straight line from front to back of the template right ?

Most of the pieces I ordered so far came up with not enough curvature. No big deal, they were perfectly wearable and I was very pleased with them

But even if my templates were extremely accurate, I always had to fold little portions of lace onto themselves near the sides of my pieces because the curvature wasn't tight enough.

So I'm trying to find out how to improve curvature accuracy. I'm starting to think that ordering 2 types of material (so far, all my pieces were ordered with a skin perimeter) may complicate things a little for the factory in regards to the curvature... I'm about to order my first all lace piece, so we'll see how it turns out.

Thanks again Debbie

I was unsure about how the measurements are taken. It is made following the curvature of your head and not in straight lines across the template.

Curvature always has been the biggest problem for me too (not enough curvature). I was one of those who carefully packed the template in a box as Debbie described. I even paid extra for box shipping to the factory but I agree with Debbie that this doesn't make much difference. Once I got the template back, it was as flat as a pancake.

Along with density, I think curvature is the toughest to get it right. Maybe my head has unusually high curvature. I hope someone comes up with a clever and simple way to specify curvature that the factory can follow.

I'll have John ask the factory guy if there is a better way of getting the curvature. I just have not had a client where it was a problem. like I said, if you have an oddly shaped head, by all means, send in a template...but if you just have the standard MPB topper, usually measurements work just fine. sometimes I'll write something like this:
front to back = 8"
side to side across temples = 5"
side to side = 4"
this piece would be wider in the front than in the back as some have a wider frontal area where temples need to be covered.
I'll check with John and see if we can come up with something for curvature.........perhaps just a circumference measurement like we do with full caps. ??
DebbieS.

Circumference measurement, yes I thought of that as well.

Thank you so much Debbie for your time and implication in this forum

Keep us updated !!!

Regards

The factory have hundreds of template moulds that they use for curvatre, As long has you dont have a extremly pointed head, The front to back and the side to side measurement will naturally give the curvatre when made to size. Angles and curves like this belong in engineering and other manufacturing industries not with hairpieces as we are not using thousands of a inch with our measurements like we do in engineering,Etc,Etc.

Regards BA.