Splicing tape

[saxmaniac]

What's the chance of getting splicing tape 1/4 inch these days? There seems to be plenty in America but the postage kills that idea. Anyone know of a source or alternative?

[rontech]

Hello.

I had a quick look on google and found the following.

http://www.tapecity.co.uk

There was a website section for reel to reel tape stuff and they seemed to have reels, tape leader splicing tape etc.

[dave walsh]

Ed Dinning responded to a parts wanted thread yesterday [24/4 splicing block] and recommended "Magic Tape", as favoured by Librarians apparently! I use micro power medical tape [40p at any chemist or supermarket]. It's for sensitive skin so very low adhesive but still strong-I use it mainly for VCT repair. One person felt it was a bad idea but it works for me. No one has come up with an example of adhesive spread though or anything that you might get by using something completely unsuitable like sellotape etc

Dave W

[ionburn]

I don't know about the splicing, but I use Magic Tape for many things. It is readily removable and does not leave a gummy residue like that of ordinary tape. I have some Micropore Tape and other surgical tape too. This seems to vary a little between types. Some do leave a very gummy residue and I would not reccomend at all (Micropore is. I think, a 3M trademark, the generic term being surgical tape).

[Edward Huggins]

Try "Studiospares", they were selling it until quite recently.

[paulsherwin]

Scotch Magic Tape can be used if proper splicing tape isn't available, especially for attaching leaders and trailers. It doesn't leak gunge or deteriorate with age. Micropore medical tape is a low tack paper based tape. I wouldn't use it personally as it is likely to cause problems with machines with pressure pads, but just about any adhesive tape can be used as a short term fix in an emergency.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Tape
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgical_tape

[saxmaniac]

Thanks for replies. Tape city do appear to stock it but delivery charge for small quantity is high, I would have to make up a bigger order to justify it, Studiospares don't seem to list it so I think I'm going to try the alternatives like magic tape. Frustrating that it's readily available in America!

[mitajohn]

Try the following or go to Amazon.

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/Splicing-Tap...-/332206614884

[barrymagrec]

Magic tape may be suitable adhesive wise but proper splicing tape for use with a splicing block is 7/32 wide, can you get magic tape in that width?

[paulsherwin]

No, you need to trim it with a blade. Some proper splicing tape is used in this way too, though not usually with a traditional splicing block.

[jamesperrett]

I have bought tape from Tape City and they didn't seem expensive for postage. Their website mentions postage from £1.95 and I wouldn't have thought that splicing tape would be any more than that minimum.

[dave walsh]

I can understand the concern about getting the right width for a splicing block but it does make me smile. When a Lancashire College set up an early Media Studies course open day [circa 1980] I went along [as a professional in another discipline ie not aged 18]. I showed the suspicious instructor that I could edit freehand with scissors in various ways ie straight sloping etc!

He said why are you here? and How did you learn that? I said well it loks like we may all have to change jobs regularly in the future and that it wasn't assumed, in the early amateur hobbyist tape recording market, that everyone could either readily find or afford a splicing block so books and mags explained the "free lance" technique. Needs must!

I don't use a block now and micropore is certainly a lot wider than 1/4". When trimming back you can take a little off the edge anyway to ensure no interference with the tape path or leakage but only with scissors and a steady hand. I enjoyed the day as we made a University Challenge "Mock Up" video recording but I didn't actually do a Media Studies uni pathway course until 1996.

There I was admonished for not being able to handle the "roll on roll off" duel video editing Super VHS suite with expensive reel to reel machines automatically spooling backwards and forwards but I knew that it was all out of date already-despite being hopeless with computers myself. "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows" A few years later I saw some of this kit sell for very little at auction!

Dave

[emeritus]

In the 1960's I used to use the plastic Emicase that their 3" spools came in, which had parallel lines 1/4" apart moulded on the outside. I later got some 7" spools in plastic cans , made by Premier, where the plastic cans incorporate guides for splicing super 8 and standard 8 cine film and 1/4" tape.

[Tractorfan]

Hi,
I now have my parent's Grundig TK120. But when they bought it back in 1967 I used to muck about with tapes, and discovered that there was a handy 1/4" groove on the head cover for, I assume, repairing snapped tapes. A nice touch, I thought. I also used the EMItape 3" tape boxes too!
Cheers, Pete.

[Vinylrecords]

I know 'sellotape' is frowned upon, but I have always used it, and playing back a tape from 1973 as I write, with 1973 sellotape splices I made, many in rapid succession to edit speech,and no problems at all.

[paulsherwin]

Sellotape is just a brand and has been used for a range of adhesive tape formulations over the years. Some of these will indeed have good long term stability, as with Scotch Magic Tape, but others will leak adhesive after a while causing the spooled tape to stick together. Some adhesives also lose adhesion after a few years, though some proper splicing tape also fails in this way too.

[Restoration73]

For fast working, the BASF pre-cut splicing tabs were an excellent aid, blue for standard
play, white for long play. What was formerly marketed as Agfa splicing tape is still made:
https://www.canford.co.uk/Products/5...TAPE-33-micron