[GreenKeys] Help for brittle paper tape?

[Chris Fandt]

Hey John,

One thing that comes to mind is to spray a light coat of clear lacquer 
or such on the tape. Or possibly use clear polyurethane spray which 
itself may be a little more pliable. Once it dries it should act as a 
binder of the paper fiber to help make the paper structure less prone to 
breaking apart. Keeping the coating rather light should not make the 
tape brittle, which you don't want either. The tape will just be 
somewhat stiffer. Experimenting with chunks of unrecoverable tape could 
give you some feedback on that method.

I fear using oil may either not do anything to help or, worse, cause the 
paper fibers to break bonds more readily even if it was originally 
oiled. The lighter fractions of the original oil, if the type of tape 
you're using was pre-oiled, have obviously evaporated over time.

Back in a previous life (late 70s and early 80s) I maintained numerical 
control (NC) machine tool controls at our company which used Friden 
Flexowriter machines to create and duplicate punched tape programs 
(Dang! Those things were heavy!) We didn't use that typical 1" oiled 
paper tape like we are all familiar with our Teletype gear nor the more 
bulletproof Mylar tape, but used a less flexible, somewhat thicker paper 
tape which could withstand weeks of daily multiple usages. It was 
basically paper, medium to dark grey in color, yet still flexible enough 
to allow repeated use in the feeders and was easy to handle (except when 
an operator fumbled a roll containing a large program - talk about 
haywire!), but the added stiffness and increased durability made the 
lifetime much longer.

That is approximately the result I'm thinking you may obtain using the 
lacquer or polyurethane spray. I don't think I have any samples of that 
NC tape left in my collection of stuff to help illustrate my thinking. I 
still have one of the 60-year-old Friden readers, however, stashed 
somewhere around this rather chaotic piece of real estate.

Hope this helps!

Best regards and good luck,
    -Chris F.

On 9/16/2025 7:10 PM, JOHN MCCARTY wrote:
> Green Keys;
>
>   I am planning to run my 2-B paper tape printer this weekend at a 
> vintage show in Lisle Ill. Problem is the tape
> itself is getting brittle with age and is prone to breaking. This tape 
> is slightly more that 1/4 inch wide but not quite
> 5/16". Is there anything I can do (lightly spray it with oil?) that 
> will make it less breakable?
>
> Thanks
>
>
> John n9hrt
>
>
-- 
================================================================
Christian R Fandt
Jamestown, NY 14701
   >  Electrical/Electronic Collector & Historian: Radios, Early Computers, Test Equipment
   >  Radio restorations:  Pre-1970s Automotive & Home radios
   >  Retired engineer/consultant on electrical/electronic contact physics



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