Two sheets of clear plastic cut down to 13"x19" and a pack of swiss frame clips and you've got yourself an $18 DIY frame for your Fillmore Poster. Anticipate some wait time--the shop was hopin, but Chris took good carea me (and my cheap little job). read more

Plastic. Fantastic. So, I'm building a robot suit. A metal body with a plastic helmet (and 20 lasers, ands 625 leds...but that's a differnt story). Therefore, I am in needs of some plastic ripe for a vacuum and a heater (vac former). This is pretty much the store that every plastic hobbyist dreams of. They have all kinds of plastic - pre-made boxes, bottles, and lots and lots of sheet/roll stock. However, my favorite part of the whole place? The scrap bin. There are plenty of decently sized pieces for pretty cheap prices all buried in one massive bin by the back door. The help was pretty good for me too. I asked a couple of questions about the type of plastic they carried, and after pointing me in the direction of some PET-G sheets, they also happily took me around their sheet stock selection to show me what they had. Also, they were nice enough to give me some pointers on how to vacuum form the material I pulled out of the bargain bin. Thanks fellas! There's parking here too...super useful given the area, though it is a bitch to get here around 5pm. I'll be back tho - lots of plastic, no shipping costs from intarweb suppliers = win! read more

TAP plastics has a unique service, creating almost everything one could need in plastic. Very friendly staff who take the time to listen and help with your project. Great service, very nice people. read more

My office sent me here one day to pick up some plastic. I had no idea this place even existed. I needed to get some plastic sheets for a building. I went here, asked for it, they cut it on site, and I got it within 15mins. Employees are definately friendly and helpful. Price is inexpensive for everything. read more

I have been working with Tap plastics for eleven years on professional art projects. This past week Jacob and the rest of the team went above and beyond helping me with every detail of a new and overwhelming photography installation. I am ever grateful for their patience and kindness helping me make this very ambitious idea possible with plexiglass boxes, plexi blocks, resin and silicone. I LOVE Tap plastics. THANK YOU! read more

very friendly, kind, fun, and helpful staff! I found and they made the one small plastic plate exactly how I wanted!

Man I love this place. You can find items here that you literally cannot find anywhere else. The customer service I received today was great too. About a year ago I bought two large pieces of acrylic/plexiglass to soundproof two windows in my apartment. (I actually made a tutorial video on youtube on how to do this called "DIY window soundproofing - Indow alternative". Anyway, I recently moved to a new apartment and wanted to use a piece of acrylic to cover the fireplace since it's a non-working fireplace and makes lots of whooshing noise, and also lets cold air in. That will hurt my heating bill come winter. Anyway, I brought in one of the pieces I had previously purchased from them and they cut it to the new size I wanted, no questions asked! This is great customer service folks, I really appreciate Tap Plastics! read more

Picked up some missing pieces I forgot to get from their San Leandro Store. Pretty much the same stuff but the employees are no where as friendly. I'd go back but just saying there's no comparison... read more

Jacobo at TAP Plastics went above and beyond for me this morning. He helped me find a creative solution and quickly turned it around in just a half hour. I would definitely recommend this store and this team for your plastic needs! read more

Excellent service, all sorts of things you can't find anywhere else in the city, and the scrap bin provides access to all sorts of sheet good remnants at about half-price. Plexiglass is surprisingly expensive, so helpful staff who are willing to help problem-solve, precise in their cutting, and knowledgeable in their craft is a huge benefit of shopping here. Frankly, if you're not in a rush, you can find much better prices online, but in a pinch, I'm thankful for TAP. read more

I use TAP Plastics for raw materials in my research and design projects, so I'm in the store a great deal. Being in the store a lot, I have a chance to watch their customer service people in action. Here's some things you may want to consider before going into the store in a clueless state: 1. Have a rough idea of what you want. If you go up to their well trained staff and cannot begin to describe what you're looking for, you're not going to get very far. "I don't know what it is," is not going to win you points with TAP Plastics. They'll meet you half way, asking you what you're trying to do with the plastics and so forth, but you need to be part of the process (not just compaining about it when you cannot articulate you needs). 2. If you need something "fabricated," come in with a rough drawing. You cannot expect them to design your project for you. This is where most people get into trouble and end up bitterly compaining about it on yelp. It is your job to make a simple drawing of what you're trying to make. They could do it for you, but it's $90.00 an hour labor. 3. The store is often busy so their time is as valuable as yours. Try to ask questions that are relevant to the task at hand. Meet them half way and they'll give you 110%. They are all trained by the company to explain every product they sell so ask them questions. They don't carry hardware, such as screws, nuts and bolts. Why? Because Discount Builders is 300 feet away. If you have serious techincal questions or need help with design issues, the guy you want to see is Hugh Patterson. He is an Uber Genius. The guy has a huge educational background and knows the engineering properties of the various plastics inside and out. He's the guy that engineers and other designers go to when they hit a brick wall. Be warned, he is a bit like Dr. House (that annoying TV doctor) and is quirky, but he knows his stuff. Just don't try to act smarter than he is because he's seriously brilliant. However, get him on your side and your work will go smoothly. The other guys are great and extremely helpful, justwork with them. They are well stocked and can offer advice on where to find materials they don't have. The selection of plastics is great and they can cut odd shapes. The do require template patterns for anything outside of a circle, but they provide the large scale graph paper to do it on. Walk through the store and look at everything because there is a lot there. I love the store and it has saved me much time and money that would otherwise be spent driving out of town to find materials. read more

I love these guys. I always go to TAP Plastics for all my projects. I drive 20 miles to the Pleasant Hill store because of the wonderful service. I have and older sailboat and the were able to cut a new port window perfectly even down to the angle of the bevel. The staff spends time with my and assists me in fiberglass repair, fairing repair for my motorcycle and guides me to the perfect produces to maintain motorcycle, airplane, and boat. read more

A confusing mixture of superb and then bizarrely indifferent (occasionally bordering on hostile) customer service, often from the exact same people, within a span of a couple of minutes. If you know what you want, sometimes you get "What the heck do you want that for?" (no kidding), and sometimes they just really appreciate you having done your homework. If you don't know what you want sometimes they're really attentive and guide you to the right choice. Sometimes they're just pissed off that you don't know your stuff. Only in san francisco read more

Great for small and big projects involving plastic. The staff here is super friendly and helpful. I've had a bunch of plastic custom cut for me and they've turned around every project quickly. read more

TAP Plastics saved my ass! I have a small winery in SF and they made some awesome food grade lids for my fermentation bins. Furthermore, Michael, Bob and Howard know their plastics. They were extremely helpful and accommodating for a slightly insane winemaker during harvest. You couldn't ask for better customer service and more integrity. If you need plastic, you need TAP! Sincerely, Chris Nelson read more

I wish there were more stars. I went into the store today with a kid emergency and the staff was super nice. Thank you so much for helping me out. You guys are awesome!!! read more

I could not recommend tap plastics more. I had a hair-brained idea I needed help fabricating and the entire crew was so helpful, patient and attentive. I feel so grateful as this was a big project that I had a lot riding on but was a little out of my wheelhouse in terms of skillset. The deliverable was better than I could have imagined and I have a very happy client. Thank you so much to everyone for your help. Truly truly grateful and you have a customer for life! read more

Having recently moved to SF from London we searched high and low for conservation-quality perspex frames to match one we bought across the pond. And I don't mean those nasty plastic box frames either... Couldn't find anyone in town who could recreate what we had, so we took a kind framer's advice and went to Tap Plastics. The staff were friendly and paid careful attention while sketching out our specification - which incidentially is going to probably cost about a third of the price of the frame we bought in London. Ok, we're only halfway through the process and have yet to see the finished result but how cool is it that you can design your own products (within reason!) in plastic?! We'll see once we get the finished product... Also what about the fantastic multi-colored plastic boxes? And I've ALWAYS wanted a plastic podium for my living room. read more

I made a mistake on an order and Mike was quick to call me and get the issue figured out. The product itself is great quality and I will be ordering from them again in the future. read more

These guys were awesome. Had to order some cut-to-measure clear acrylic sheets for signage for a work project. They had it down in 15 minutes. Were really friendly and professional. Turns out I was given the wrong measurements (too big, thank goodness), so I went back in to have an inch taken off both dimensions. I had called ahead for an estimate to let my boss know, they said about $1.50 a cut. Fine--way cheaper than rebuying new panels. Go down, turn 'em in, done less than 10 minutes later. For FREE! They fixed OUR screw up for FREE. And again, totally professional and friendly. There's also a ton of really interesting stuff in the store--mold material, epoxy, vinyl...if I was still a theatre tech student, I would have this place on speed dial. They have a plastic customer for life! read more

This place is stock full of supplies (sheets, fabrics, films, hardware), parts and ready-made products for a billion projects. And they have a shop that cuts and mods things on the spot! However, the staff are SUPER PEOPLE!!! Very helpful. Very courteous. Full of ideas, and able to give you feedback and clarify any you have yourself. Definitely worth the trip from anywhere in the bay area. Also they have a scraps bin with lots of sheets and other things for small project. I went in to get a Custom Floating Frame made, and they made it all in 20 minutes to the best quality I could have asked. Not expensive, and kind of cheap/competitive too. read more

I could literally spend hours in here! Highlights: - customer parking lot - magnetic tape by the foot - UV museum quality acrylic - caps in every size - paint supplies - epoxy, sealers, bonding materials Pretty good customer service too! Can't lose! read more

I've always heard of TAP Plastic! The first time I stepped inside TAP Plastic, I fell in love. Like a little boy in a toy store I like how the workers are not super attentive, they'll let you roam around so you don't get bothered. I actually approached Rik after he was done helping another customer I came in looking for a solution to my Photography/Videography need. I took out my phone & showed a picture of my toys that I put on my iPad's screen as a clean, reflective surface Rik showed me a material call Acrylic, he showed 1/16" , 1/8" & P-95 (which is glossy on one side & matte on the back) When he asked me for the dimensions, I said 30 x 40. He gave me a quote that made my eyes wide open. He allowed me to take the estimate so I can think about it. He also showed me the scrap pile. I eventually left the store and while sitting in the car for a moment, I realized 30" by 40" is freaking huge. Luckily I have an IKEA tape measure w/ me, after looking at the dimensions, I realized at home, I measured 30cm x 40cm LOL! So I went back inside, looked for Rik, he gave me a new quote. I also asked him if the numbers I have him made his eyes pop open. He said "no" , he's heard people in the past that wanted huge sizes Anywho...I went w/ P-95, Black Acrylic, Glossy/Matte, rounded the corners to 1/2" , they were done in less than 10mins, I couldn't be more satisfied! Rik has excellent customer service! I love it when people talk to you like a friend! (Friday, December 11, 2015) read more

TAP Plastics is a treasure for all of us makers! Every person I've encountered there has gone above and beyond to share their expertise and ensure I leave with the right materials for the project. Kudos to Junior and the whole crew. read more

We had two mid century floor lamps that were missing their diffusers and a vintage Christmas tree holder (it lights up and spins) that was missing the color filters. The people at TAP plastics were beyond helpful making suggestions and getting the appropriate measurements for circular cuts. They had the pieces cut same day, amazing! read more

TAP Plastics - TAP measured and cut the missing color filters to the exact size. - Hobby Shops Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Awesome service. Great product. Roy was so enjoyable to work with. I had a complicated product to be made for my bathroom light channel, and he did everything to get it right. Great experience with the whole staff! And great coffee! read more

These guys are consistently amazing in all aspects of their work: excellent personalized customer service with a smile, precision work, reasonable prices, and speedy completion of work. I have been there about half a dozen times during the last two or three years. No matter who I deal with, it's always excellent. Kiowa is always friendly and helpful. My most recent precision job was done by Scott. Bravo, you guys! In addition to the custom jobs I have had executed here, I usually take some time to look around the shelves. Much of the time I find very reasonably-priced objects that I didn't know I needed, and that end up being quite useful. read more

I usually don't take the time to do yelp reviews unless there are people I want to give a shout out to so Tap Plastics: Awesome customer service from Kiowa. I'm not the tech shop type and I've never worked with acrylic so I felt a little retarded when I walked in to get some custom pieces made for a project I am working on. Kiowa helped me with my measurement specs and sketched out what I was trying to create. Super mellow guy and an amazing smile-he was really patient with me and that is HUGELY appreciated. I've gone to about a half a dozen tech shops and have received a condescending vibe from some of the guys when trying to explain what I am trying to create. Turn-around time is pretty average and I'm looking at 1-2 week for 2 custom made acrylic casings. Thank you Kiowa! youda best! read more

Absolutely phenomenal! I love this place! I came uncertain but hoping that I could get a piece cut to sort of "frame" my daughter's art work on a plain serving tray. I needed a very weird size/shape, but Roy figured it out for me and did the work, kept "whittling away at it"...for $6!!! They're friendly and fast and they really seem delighted to help you solve problems and complete projects. read more

This place isn't cheap. However, you do get what you pay for. The major advantage going here is the custom cuts that will guarantee a perfect fit. Also, wide selection of color and materials. read more

Right on for the fantastic service at Tap Plastics.... the staff at the San Francisco spot was so cool and friendly, I'm BIG slot car enthusiast and i needed a huge collector case, Roy really went beyond and above on helping me design a much cooler case :-) Very patient dude, i really appreciate him taking detailed measurements on designing the case. read more

This company sucks and I'm sorry I couldn't give them ZERO STARS as their was no option!!! We ordered a custom board to be delivered in 3 business days to finish a custom boat order. After 10 days from the date of order not only did we NEVER receive the plastic board their Webb Fulfillment representative Kisha Weethee sends me a bogus e-mail stating that UPS will be conducting an investigation that "the process to investigate a lost or uncollected C.O.D.claim takes an average of 10 business days." and "therefore we are unable to accommodate your request for a full refund at this time". TAP Plastic screws up and therefore pushing my job back while delaying me refund. When I suggested to Kisha to overnight me a new board I was told no so I requested a refund. When I called to speak with the owner I was denied and only offered another e-mail to voice my concerns by the condescending Kisha. If your looking for NO SERVICE,PATRONIZING CUSTOMER SERVICE,YOUR OWN CUSTOM ORDERS LATE DUE TO THEIR INCOMPETENCE and 20 days to investigate/fill your order or receive a full refund this company is for you. We will not be using this company for our future restorations. Once again this company and customer service SUCKS!!!! read more

There's much more to Tap Plastic then just plastic! I cut down an IKEA Billy door to fit an IKEA Expedit shelf unit and needed the plexiglass to fit the cut down door. I took the door to Tap and received the most awesome customer service. Left the store with a perfectly fitting plexiglass that the Tap employee helped me install in the door; for a very reasonable price. And there's parking in the back. Thank you Roy for your patience and service. I've also used the Tap store in San Mateo; always great service and VERY interesting products. read more

TAP Plastics - DIY project using Tap Plastic plexiglass custom fitted to IKEA doorframe - Hobby Shops Near Me - San Francisco, California

One bad apple here. First guy I had was an unhelpful jerk. Second guy was awesome. Unfortunately, the jerk is bringing down the ship.

These guys rock! If you are a Geek doing some weird project and yes you need some sort of plastic... this is the place. Nice staff great inventory and stuff cut to size while you wait. Two acrylic thumbs up read more

The store itself has a pretty nice supply of things you really cannot get anywhere else, like drill bits for acrylic, fancy polishes and adhesives capable of bonding polyethylene, and their scrap pile is a treasure trove of material if you stop by to check it regularly, but if you actually need to TALK to anybody working there for any reason--whether it's a simple cut order or a more complicated fabrication quote--you'd better enjoy dealing with smarmy dickheads who believe they're too gifted to be working in retail despite the fact that that's mysteriously where their skill sets have landed them in all the years they've been a part of the workforce. I don't know any of their names, but I've been in at least a dozen times, and in my experience, the younger girl (yes, there is just one of them) is generally the most helpful, and the tiny little bald dude is the snottiest and most worthless. If he's the only one behind the counter just come back later because all he's going to do is make up excuses to cover all the holes in his knowledge of the materials he's not good enough to do much of anything with. Even if you know exactly what you want by both its official name AND the specific brand name that they carry, he's going to struggle to find some way to make himself feel superior by insisting that you omitted a nonexistent magic industry term that he absolutely has to hear before he could possibly have any idea what you're talking about, and if you don't know that term then you really shouldn't even be bothering him in the first place because he's got a lot of important conversations to have about all the parties he gets invited to behind that counter. Even if you manage to eliminate every last speck of ambiguity from your request, he'll move on to quibbling about numbers. "Well you said you wanted a 3/4" sheet and we don't have 3/4" sheets, we have 19mm sheets. There's a difference." Come back the next time and ask for the 19mm sheet instead and he'll flip-flop the other way and call it 3/4" or 29/32" or whatever the hell else he can think of to avoid doing any actual work. Once push invariably comes to shove and you find your own goddamned sample in the tray to wave in front of his pruney little gnome face, he can't actually remember more than one dimension at a time and he has no idea how to use a computer, so he'll make you repeat your measurements over and over as he struggles to convince his rapidly aging eyes to focus on the pricing tables in his little book. God help you if you need a tool or appliance you saw on their website but can't find on the floor because he doesn't know what that is, what's on it or how to look up a SKU. His default response is usually "well maybe if you can come back with a printout of what you saw I could tell you where it is." There's a computer right behind him and it has internet access, he's just an asshole. And if you do need fabrication work done, there's very little they can actually do here. The list tends to change from visit to visit depending on who you end up talking to, but they suck at line bending, they suck at welding, they suck at routing and they suck at polishing. Maybe their laser engraving is top-notch--I've never used them for that--but you'll be far better off going to a shop run by a person who actually makes things for a living rather than the village idiots who weren't good enough to get hired at Lowe's. Their prices are also insane. If you don't need it today, you can almost always do better online, even after you add in the shipping. It's also worth noting that all of their polycarbonate is made by Bayer, the father of Zyklon-B. But that scrap bin... It's great. read more

How To Loose a Business Don't even bother! I came in to the store to get a plastic sheet. As i walked in two workers were behind the around the counters. No "Hello", no greetings of any kind. Just doing their own thing. I walked around and came over to the counter. An older, somewhat bald gentlemen behind one of the counters continued talking to his coworker, completely ignoring me. Then he came over. I told him that i need a piece of plastic and it would be nice to get a color of the plastic similar to what i have on top of my car and asked him to help me choose. Right away, he rolled his eyes and made a face as in "what else does this guy want from me!". His response: we don't match colors, we only sell colors we have. I asked if there is a way to bring the samples closer to the car to compare. The answer: No, it's glued (and then lifted the samples right off without any issues). Then he came to the door, looked outside at the far-away-parked car and said "I'm not leaving the store" and "I didn't see anything on top of any car". Well, if you are in the business of loosing customers, that's exactly how you would act. I don't know what this guy's deal is, but you should not be allowed to talk to the customers this way. Stay away! read more

Customer service? They are clueless (that is the charitable option). Or they are assholes and don't care. Dropped off 4 pieces. 1st order was $500+. Said they would have it ready in 2 days. Came back. Compared the pieces to what I gave them (NOT measurements, actual pieces to duplicate). They weren't right. Guy says to me: "You gave us bad measurements." REALLY? I said "I gave you the old pieces so you could duplicate them." Guy says: "Doesn't say that on the order." WOW. ASSHOLE. After 2 more visits, 2 re-cuts, it was right. Dropped off 3 larger pieces. 2nd order. $600+ order... . So PISSED OFF AT THESE GUYS, can't even finish review. If their f*&^%*g life depended on it, they could get customer service. They don't give a shit. If you can get what you need anywhere else, go for it. read more

The SF Tap on Van Ness has the WORST customer service. Massive attitude. Furthermore I ordered a simple cut job and they gave me munched up acrylic edges. I had to recut it on my table saw to get the edges presentable. Hear that Tap, I used a basic table saw with a wood blade on it and I got better edges than what your overpriced back room gave me! So, buy materials here if you have to but don't have them do the job. Go to Mr. Plastics in San Leandro. Funny thing is there is a Tap about a block away from Mr. Plastics and that Tap is totally incompetent as well (but much friendlier than SF). I've spent quite a bit at Tap over the years but now that I've found Mr. Plastics I'm moving on. read more

3 stars because of customer service. int the store they had some cool things. As I was looking around looking for something and passing by 2 floor workers not asking me if I needed help not once the younger guy was talking on the phone in the front non store related. so I finally asked a guy standing at the counter he came over and asked one of my questions and the 2nd question he didn't know the answer and said he would be right back. he never came back. so I just bought some mirror glaze for polishing and left. that is sad too they had some cool things in there I might go back I am 50- 50 right now. read more