Making holes in magnetic tape

From: Joe <rigdonj_at_cfl.rr.com>
Date: Sat Jun 21 21:46:00 2003

At 05:53 PM 6/21/03 -0700, you wrote:
>On Sat, 21 Jun 2003, Joe wrote:
>> At 08:15 PM 6/21/03 +0100, you wrote:
>
>> > So any tips please on making suitable holes in the tape, my attempts
>> > so far with a pin have not been a great success.....
>
>> I would try making a hole with a heated pin or something like that.
>> Or you might try punching a hole with a piece of small diameter hollow
>> tubing after sharpening the end of the tubing. Alternatively you might
>> try blacking out the clear spot with a magic marker or something like
>> that. That way you could use the original holes. Let me know what you
>> find out. I'v ehad the same problems and I've been meaning to try some
>> different things but never got around to it.
>
>What's the diameter of holes being talked about? I think the hollow
>tube approach is a good one, if you can find a small enough diameter
>tube.

   The holes are about 1/16" IIRC. Check the hobby shops, they used to
carry many sizes of brass tubing. Brass is soft and wouldn't last long but
it should last long enough to fix a good number of tapes. You might also be
able to use a large size hypoderic needle but the end of them is cut at
angle so you'd have to cut the end of to make it square and then sharpen
it. I think the needles are stainless steel so they'd hold up longer but
they'd be harder to sharpen.

> Another approach might be to use a solid rod with a flat head.

   You could do that but only if you have an outer piece (a die) with a
close fitting hole for the punch rod to go into. Otherwise the tape would
simple bunch up around the punch. Die making is a real ART. Not only do
they have to be a very close fit but you'd also have to have something to
guide the punch to make sure that it went into the hole in the die without
hitting the die. All in all I think it would be a lot easier to sharpen the
end of a hollow tube and use it on a piece semi-hard material (wood) like a
cookie cutter.

   Joe

>Ideally, I think you'd want the end of the rod to have a slightly
>concave surface like that of a three-ring-binder hole punch, but a flat
>surface might work if the edges are sharp and the applied "thwack" is
>very swift.
>
>-brian.
Received on Sat Jun 21 2003 - 21:46:00 BST