Re: [ARSCLIST] Adhesive tape survey

[David Lennick <dlennick@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I don't use anything (haven't, in over 50 years of handling thousands of reels) 
EXCEPT when I'm shipping a reel, because the tape will become loose in transit. 
Less problematic if it's 1.5 mil but thinner tapes tend to wrinkle or stretch 
when you try and tighten them. I'll use splicing tape (only the more recently 
made good stuff) to hold the end of the tape to the side of the reel.

People who use masking tape should be shot.

People who pull the last inches of tape down inside the reel don't even deserve 
the dignity of a firing squad.

dl

Richard Warren wrote:
> Hello Christie Peterson,
>
> The best general rule I know of is NOT to use ANY sort of adhesive 
> material on reel-to-reel tape, neither splicing tape (unless absolutely 
> necessary for repair) nor hold-down tape. Eventually the adhesive will 
> bleed through the tape or ooze out at the edges and cause trouble. And 
> those plastic hold-down tabs, which are not adhesive, are at least as 
> bad as adhesive, since they damage many layers of tape. I've never 
> noticed any problem, in about 40 years of experience, from using nothing.
>
> Sincerely, Richard Warren
>
> At 09:05 AM 1/23/2007, you wrote:
> > Hello, ARSC-listers:
> >
> > I'm looking into what kind of adhesive tape to use to affix the end of 
> > 1/4" open-reel audio tape to the reel for long-term storage.  As an 
> > archivist, I am perhaps obsessively afraid of adhesive tape (it still 
> > makes me cringe a little inside every time I have to use splicing 
> > tape), since I have seen first-hand what it does after 20, 40, 60, 
> > etc. years.
> > Still, I am at least equally afraid of damage to improperly stored 
> > audio tapes, so I'm looking for advice.
> >
> > From those of you who have been in the "business" for multiple 
> > decades, and/or who have worked extensively with older tapes, what 
> > type of adhesive tape do you advise (and not advise) using?  Is there 
> > anything out there that doesn't seep excessively, or do other 
> > *terribly* ugly things as it ages?  What do you use and why?
> >
> > As a corollary, the original tapes I'm working with have been stored 
> > with their ends un-secured for 30-40 years, and most don't seem to 
> > have suffered any ill effects from this.   Any opinions/horror stories 
> > on the importance of taping the end down?
> >
> > Thanks in advance,
> >
> > Christie Peterson
> > Project Archivist, Muskie Archives & Special Collections
> > Bates College
> > 70 Campus Avenue
> > Lewiston, ME 04240-6018
> > (t) 207-753-6918
> > (f) 207-755-5911
>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
>