From: gyoungblood (email suppressed)
Date: Thu Aug 16 2007 - 11:30:39 PDT
By "cleaning" I meant removing the old oxide coating that shears off, obscures the signal, and clogs the heads. I did not know about baking. I cleaned my 3/4" tapes by scanning forward and reverse numerous times, cleaning the heads after each pass. Some 30-year-old tapes were fine, others needed this kind of oxide removal (cleaning). Some required up to 30 or 40 passes before the signal was restored. AGFA tapes were the worst.
----- Original Message -----
From: Sandra Maliga
To: email suppressed
Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2007 11:57 AM
Subject: Re: [FRAMEWORKS] video restoration
i also wondered about the need for cleaning. The tapes can be checked visually and if they look tightly wound and the edges are smooth and the tape unreels cleanly they may very well be ok. I recently transferred a tape from the early 70's and it was fine. It had been kept in various basements. I went to a place in Burbank; the guy had masses of old equipment and seemed to more or less know what he was doing. He charged a fair amount. But I watched and I could have done it myself.
I'd welcome access to a deck so I could digitize a few more tapes for free..... in LA.
Sandy Maliga
On Aug 13, 2007, at 5:07 PM, david tetzlaff wrote:
Cleaning old open reel tapes is only an issue if mold or some other foreign substance has gotten to them. A possibly more important issue is whether any lubrication built into the emultion has dried out, causing the tape to no longer ride smoothly over the heads. In this case something would need to be added, rather than removed. A definitey more important issue is the tendency of the binder that holds the emultion to the base to dry out over time and lose its adhesive properties. Thus, attempting to play old audio or especially video tapes may result in nothing but the oxide coating shearing off the backing. In order to prevent this, tape archivists 'bake' old tape before playing it back. A certain amount of heat causes the binder to soften and renew its grip, at least well enough for a new dub if all goes well. The standard operation employs a large cardboard box and a hairdryer... and maybe some voodoo.
Even with a crude apparatus, its not a do-it-yourself kind of deal, so you you should look to find someone who has experience in handling old tapes, preferably lots of experience.
__________________________________________________________________
For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
__________________________________________________________________ For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
__________________________________________________________________
For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.