On 06/05/2019 06:05 PM, Stan Sieler via cctalk wrote: My experience with them is that the seal bands are quite long-lasting, but the black ends that snap in tend to crack after a while. These small parts could likely be reverse engineered and made on a 3D printer. Jon

Another failure category that I've experienced with very old IBM reels is that the "blue back" ones can have a tendency to come apart; that is, the rear flange separates from the front. The "blue" ones are a bit different in attachment from the "brown" ones in that the two halves are held together by a number (perhaps 30, I didnt't cound) of slender plastic "fingers" that are molded into the rear flange and engage with a number of metal clips on the front flange. With time, these "fingers" can become brittle and break with the result being a lot of tape on the floor. I put a small bead of polyurethane glue (e.g. "Gorilla") on the outer radius of the "finger" attachments and clamp the whole assembly together until the glue cures. No glue gets into the tape areas and the result seems to be permanent. I also get the occasional broken or cracked flange, but those are simple to repair using a good acrylic solvent cement. --Chuck