9 Jun
2015
9 Jun
'15
5:32 p.m.
I'm getting a little tired of replacing old dried-out foam blocks to
hold down the ends of 1/2" tapes. Worse, some of the ones I've fished
out have utterly crumbled over the years, leaving bits of themselves
inside the reel.
One thing that I recall is that many tape manufacturers used a blue,
sort of "sticky silicon" tape to hold ends in place. This stuff never
seems to degrade.
Does anyone know what the stuff is and where one might get a roll of it?
--Chuck
9 Jun
9 Jun
5:38 p.m.
On Jun 9, 2015, at 14:32 , Chuck Guzis <cclist at
sydex.com> wrote:
I'm getting a little tired of replacing old dried-out foam blocks to hold down the
ends of 1/2" tapes. Worse, some of the ones I've fished out have utterly
crumbled over the years, leaving bits of themselves inside the reel.
I am curious: NOS tapes that I bought in the last year or so came with the foam blocks,
but I don't recall ever encountering either a foam block or the magic plastic tape
"back in the day" on tapes from the rack that I handled as a backup operator. I
presume that if they came with blocks, they were discarded when the tapes were unpacked.
Is it really necessary to secure the tape end in normal use, or is it just needed during
shipping to keep the tape from getting loose on the reel during transport?
--
Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net>
http://www.nf6x.net/
5:49 p.m.
On 06/09/2015 02:38 PM, Mark J. Blair wrote:
I am curious: NOS tapes that I bought in the last year
or so came
with the foam blocks, but I don't recall ever encountering either a
foam block or the magic plastic tape "back in the day" on tapes from
the rack that I handled as a backup operator. I presume that if they
came with blocks, they were discarded when the tapes were unpacked.
Is it really necessary to secure the tape end in normal use, or is it
just needed during shipping to keep the tape from getting loose on
the reel during transport?
Obviously for the auto-loading drives, either would be bad news. But
it's for the last reason that I'm interested in the blue (well,
sometimes white) tape.
--Chuck
5:57 p.m.
Obviously for the auto-loading drives, either would be
bad news. But
it's for the last reason that I'm interested in the blue (well,
sometimes white) tape.
Or yellow.
I'd like a source of these too. Foam blocks were ok back then, but it
seems like it's hard to guess which type will not go to crumbs or goo.
I would also like to find a few of the rings that prevented insertion of
a write-enable ring. These seem to have been uncommon. We were a CDC
site at the time, dunno if that's a selector.
De
5:58 p.m.
Was the magic tape silicone, or was it maybe something like vinyl, like the clear vinyl
(?) film used for no-adhesive window decals?
--
Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x at nf6x.net>
http://www.nf6x.net/
6:01 p.m.
On Tue, 9 Jun 2015, Mark J. Blair wrote:
Was the magic tape silicone, or was it maybe something
like vinyl, like the clear vinyl (?) film used for no-adhesive window decals?
I have a couple of those strips on some tapes - feels like vinyl.
Mike Loewen mloewen at cpumagic.scol.pa.us
Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/
6:47 p.m.
On Jun 9, 2015, at 6:01 PM, Mike Loewen <mloewen at
cpumagic.scol.pa.us> wrote:
On Tue, 9 Jun 2015, Mark J. Blair wrote:
That sounds right. It?s the same stuff used for DECtape; we called those LBTs (?little
blue things?). They work for 1/2 inch magtape provided the backing is glossy, not the
matte stuff that some manufacturers used.
I believe it?s the same stuff that you can find in window decals, like the ones of animals
I had as a 4 year old.
paul
Was the magic tape silicone, or was it maybe
something like vinyl, like the clear vinyl (?) film used for no-adhesive window decals?
I have a couple of those strips on some tapes - feels like vinyl. 
6:03 p.m.
On Tue, Jun 9, 2015 at 3:58 PM, Mark J. Blair <nf6x at nf6x.net> wrote:
Was the magic tape silicone, or was it maybe something
like vinyl, like the clear vinyl (?) film used for no-adhesive window decals?
I think the ones I used were vinyl. A little thicker than the parking
permits I had a few years ago, but about the same feel.
5:53 p.m.
I am curious: NOS tapes that I bought in the last year
or so came
with the foam blocks, but I don't recall ever encountering either a
foam block or the magic plastic tape "back in the day" on tapes from
the rack that I handled as a backup operator. I presume that if they
came with blocks, they were discarded when the tapes were
unpacked. Is it really necessary to secure the tape end in normal
use, or is it just needed during shipping to keep the tape from
getting loose on the reel during transport?
For my money, there ought to be one always, though careful handling in a
controlled environment can probably get away with skipping them.
Shipping is where the worst stresses occur, of course, so is the most
important. I've received a number of tapes for imaging over the last
few years, and I don't think a single one had anything to keep it
packed. One such tape had slipped an outer chunk of the pack around the
inner rest, producing a hard crease. Needless to say, there was a read
error there.
De
7:38 p.m.
On 09/06/2015 22:32, Chuck Guzis wrote:
One thing that I recall is that many tape
manufacturers used a blue,
sort of "sticky silicon" tape to hold ends in place. This stuff never
seems to degrade.
Since I used to buy them, I can say with some authority that (1) they're
vinyl tape, as others have surmised, and yes it's the same stuff that
adhesive-free window "stickers" are made from, and (2) they came in lots
of colours - I have almost every one except purple, and, oddly enough,
blue. So the item on Amazon might be a very good option.
--
Pete
Pete Turnbull
8:04 p.m.
On 6/9/2015 5:38 PM, Pete Turnbull wrote:
On 09/06/2015 22:32, Chuck Guzis wrote:
Have you checked the places that sell professional audio reel 2 reel tape?
One thing that I recall is that many tape
manufacturers used a blue,
sort of "sticky silicon" tape to hold ends in place. This stuff never
seems to degrade.
Since I used to buy them, I can say with some authority that (1) they're
vinyl tape, as others have surmised, and yes it's the same stuff that
adhesive-free window "stickers" are made from, and (2) they came in lots
of colours - I have almost every one except purple, and, oddly enough,
blue. So the item on Amazon might be a very good option.
3364
days inactive
3365
days old
10 comments
8 participants
participants (8)
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bfranchuk＠jetnet.ab.ca -
cclist＠sydex.com -
drb＠msu.edu -
mloewen＠cpumagic.scol.pa.us -
nf6x＠nf6x.net -
paulkoning＠comcast.net -
pete＠dunnington.plus.com -
spacewar＠gmail.com