Re: [ARSCLIST] Do these tapes need to be baked or not?

["Peter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I've always found this article rather encouraging concerning people's
ingenuity.  Here I am with multi-thousand dollar scientific ovens to "bake"
tapes and someone is out there with a food processing unit that costs under
$100.  When reading the article I have, however, always wondered why he
flips the tapes periodically.  Does this serve some purpose no one else has
discovered or has the author simply gotten carried away with the "food
processor" theme?

There is one piece of erroneous information in the article but the author
still comes up with the right way of handling the tape, even if for the
wrong reason: tape does expand when it is heated but, contrary to the
article, this does not make it loose on the reel.  The primary expansion
vector when you heat tape is thickness, not length.  This is the reason you
need a smooth pack before baking (if possible).  When heated, the tape
thickens, tightens the pack and can cause wound-in wrinkles and deformation
to get worse.

Peter Brothers
President
SPECS BROS., LLC
(201) 440-6589
www.specsbros.com

Restoration and Disaster Recovery Service Since 1983

> > On 2004.12.12 16:25 Dick Spottswood wrote:
> > > If I'd knowed you was comin', I'd have baked a tape, baked a
> tape, baked
> a
> > > tape...
> > > Dick
> >
> > http://www.tangible-technology.com/tape/baking1.html
> >
> > Probably the definitive article on the subject.  Plus, it's title
> > goes well with the previous post.
>
> Eddie Ciletti's piece covers all the issues I'm aware of. I only
> wish he had
> put the warning
>
> DO *NOT* BAKE ACETATE TAPES!
>
> at the beginning of his piece.
>
> Salutations, David Lewiston
> The Lewiston Archive, Recordings and Documentation of the World's
> Traditional Music
>
>