Most people's body chemistry and hygene habits are such that this is a Very Bad Idea. The natural
chemistry and dirt/grime in the skin oil can cause the tape and/or heads to be damaged. Plus, in
many areas, the air is so dirty that this oil is actually abrasive because it's laden with dust and
pollen.
-- Tom Fine
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Lennick" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 12:10 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] MAGNA-REEL Sound Recording Tape
> Next time I hit a squealy acetate tape, I may try the old "oil from the side of
> the nose" trick again. (Or the forehead..got more lubricant there. And it's
> natural.)
>
> dl
>
> "Richard L. Hess" wrote:
>
>> David,
>>
>> Some lubricants work some of the time, but there is no room in the
>> matrix for the tape to take them up, so they just hang around on the surface.
>>
>> Although we''ve been calling the tape squeal "loss of lubricant" it
>> isn't as what is assumed to be the original load of lubricant still
>> appears in the chemical analysis. It is no longer enough since the
>> properties of the binder have degraded.
>>
>> Relubrication, overall, has a poor track record. Another restorer and
>> I had really hoped we could get it to work and we tried some really
>> nifty lubricants, with marginal success. The best relubrication
>> results have been with isopropyl alcohol as Marie O'Connell wrote
>> about and I published at http://www.richardhess.com/notes/ (just
>> search for Marie in the dedicated search box and you'll soon find it).
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Richard
>>
>> At 09:55 PM 9/18/2006, you wrote:
>> >Radio Shack used to sell a head lubricant, a couple of decades ago.
>> >I found that it
>> >worked at the time, although the SSS problems were much smaller and less
>> >widespread. Seems to me that it was good on squealy non-backcoated
>> >tapes, but I
>> >can't remember how often you'd have to apply it or if it would work
>> >for an entire
>> >reel, especially at slow speed.
>>
>> Richard L. Hess email: [log in to unmask]
>> Aurora, Ontario, Canada (905) 713 6733 1-877-TAPE-FIX
>> Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
>> Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.
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