Hello Richard,

     I think from here on in I'll just limit my postings to Merry  
Christmas, as I realize I'm in over my head with the pros on the  
list. Forgive me Mike Spitz, as a senior moment overtook me.

   cheers, Ken
On Dec 22, 2010, at 6:01 PM, Richard L. Hess wrote:

> Hello, Ken,
>
> I find your paraphrase of Mike Spitz's statement interesting as  
> whale oil was the lubrication component of the binder system and  
> not the binder per se. Lubricants were still added to the polyester- 
> polyurethane binder system, when it was introduced.
>
> While this is an interesting story and lubricant/binder  
> compatibility may be an issue, I have not been able to substantiate  
> this in any of my research.
>
> The major whaling ban was passed in 1983, going into effect in  
> 1986, so whaling was prevalent through 1985, at least in Iceland as  
> this history shows.
> http://www.whalemuseum.is/whaling-iceland/history-of-whaling/
>
> SSS tape was manufactured prior to 1983. I have some Ampex 407 that  
> I purchased in 1982 that went sticky by about 1990 (or so).
>
> However, the U.S. appears to have banned import of sperm whale oil  
> in 1971.
> http://k-12.pisd.edu/cyberweb/science/Whaling_History.htm
> http://books.google.ca/books? 
> id=GYCSW7LZn3sC&pg=PA338&lpg=PA338&dq=United+States+ban+on+sperm 
> +whale 
> +products&source=bl&ots=iqElPiGHNa&sig=G_GS42SO4enn9R8PA26giLx5KB8&hl= 
> en&ei=ZYISTeHuC9mMnAeZ8eS3Dg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=19&v 
> ed=0CJwBEOgBMBI#v=onepage&q=United%20States%20ban%20on%20sperm% 
> 20whale%20products&f=false
>
> I think 1971 is too early a date for manufacture of SSS tape, but  
> perhaps there were large reserves of the oil at the manufacturers?
>
> I still think we're seeing a binder failure issue and not a  
> lubrication failure issue.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Richard
>
> On 2010-12-22 5:19 PM, Ken Fritz wrote:
>>     This is a FWIW posting regarding  the SSS problem and I'm sure  
>> many of you already know this.
>>
>>   The owner of the only US tape manufacturing facility passed this  
>> on  to me a year or so ago and I hope I'm forwarding the correct  
>> information.
>>
>>   Whale oil was always used in the binder of tape until the ban on  
>> whale harvesting went into effect. We observed the ban while the  
>> Japanese didn't. We switched to a polyurethane base while the  
>> Japanese continued to use whale oil until they stopped making  
>> tape. I believe today's  technology, regarding polyurethanes,  has  
>> solved  the problem but only time will tell.
>>
>>   Merry Christmas all, Ken
>
> -- 
> Richard L. Hess                   email: [log in to unmask]
> Aurora, Ontario, Canada           (905) 713 6733     1-877-TAPE-FIX
> http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
> Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.