Re: [AV Media Matters] tape baking

[smolians@erols.com]

The sticky feel is for tapes with advanced cases of sticky shed.  I've had a
significant number where the problem shows up in inside 1/4 or 1/8th of the
reel.  These were tapes exposed to the evaporation from a flood but not
immersed in it.

I spent many hours exploring this issue with 3M's Del Eilers (who lurks, I
believe), the moderator of this list and some of his associates, folks from
AGFA, BASF, etc.  At one time I explored the idea of using spectrographs and
other scientific instruments- rubbing measurers, stretching devices, etc.,
but I was told none discolosed the problem- one factory lab or another had
already tried it with no measurable result.  One difficulty (by no means the
only one) was finding a tape identical to the infected one to compare a bad
one with, one which would eventually develop sticky shed but hadn't yet done
so.

The practical answer for audiotapes with known sticky shed propensity or
those where the product ID is questionable:  don't check, just bake 'em.

Steve Smolian

-----Original Message-----
From: joe salerno <jsalerno@dcnet2000.com>
To: AV-Media-Matters@topica.com <AV-Media-Matters@topica.com>
Date: Monday, January 03, 2000 3:55 PM
Subject: Re: [AV Media Matters] tape baking

>Actually I usually find the sticky shed tapes have a distinctly sticky feel
>to them if you just try to rub your finger along a small portion of it.
>
>It may also leave a slight residue on your skin. I hope it is not toxic...
>
>Joe Salerno-A Battery is Always on Charge!
>Video Production & Post Production
>PO Box 273405 - Houston TX 77277-3405
>http://joe.salerno.com
>Fax: 603-415-7616
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <smolians@erols.com>
>To: <AV-Media-Matters@topica.com>
>Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 1999 6:15 PM
>Subject: Re: [AV Media Matters] tape baking
>
>
>> Heck.  We still have no way of identifying what tape has sticky shed
>> problems until it is played- or did I miss something.
>>
>> Steve Smolian
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: RealW@CarnegieMuseums.Org <RealW@CarnegieMuseums.Org>
>> To: AV-Media-Matters@topica.com <AV-Media-Matters@topica.com>
>> Date: Wednesday, December 22, 1999 2:04 PM
>> Subject: RE: [AV Media Matters] tape baking
>>
>>
>>>Jim Lindner wrote:
>>>"Most often we are concerned about the material that is recorded on the tape
>>>but not about the artifact itself - but that is not always the case. In some
>>>cases there is great value to the original artifact - and baking any
>>>artifact or doing other types of things like this is a major issue in the
>>>conservatorial world.  I had the fortune of working on Andy Warhol's
>>>original videotapes.... if there were nothing on them - they still had
>>>artifact value.  Is it appropriate to bake tapes such as these?  That is an
>>>open question and I would be interested in hearing what people think."
>>>
>>>Readers of this list might be interested to know that many conservators
>>>refer to a document, the AIC Code of Ethics, for guidance in making sound
>>>decisions about how to treat the objects entrusted to them. The document can
>>>be found at http://conservation-us.org/pubs/ethics.html
>>>
>>>Readers might also be interested to know that conservators often employ
>>>methods that, in untrained hands, could indeed be disastrous, but are not
>> in themselves necessarily inappropriate conservation techniques. These
>> include, for example, heating and humidifying paintings, washing works of
>>>art on paper, and cleaning sculptures with lasers.
>>>
>>>An overriding principle in the conservation profession is that there are no
>>>individual techniques that are appropriate in every instance. The decision
>>>about what method to use is guided by careful judgement based on the
>>>characteristics of the object to be treated, the goals of the treatment, and
>>>the experience and ability of the conservator.
>>>
>>>In the case of baking polyester recording media vs. other treatment methods,
>>>it would be interesting to have some quantifiable information to supplement
>>>the useful empirical and anecdotal information that has so far been shared
>>>on this list. It should be possible, for example, to articulate how baking
>>>alters, if at all, the other materials (besides the signal and the binder)
>>>present in the physical "artifact" that might have some cultural value of
>>>its own.
>>>
>>>William Real