just arrived - 10 pack of sealed Eagle c-15 reel cassettes

[djetaine]

Never heard of the manufacturer but for 2 bucks a pop I figured what the hell. Also, at that price I may end up buying another box to take apart and spray the reels different colors.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... EF:GB:1123
More than 10 available is what it says on the bay.

 

[Fatdog]

Yep those tapes are cool!! Here's an old post about them.

viewtopic.php?f=26&t=4073

 

[blu_fuz]

Question for you guys..... can I open these cases and wind up a different cassettes tape onto these reels and close it back up and have it play properly?

 

[Fatdog]

Question for you guys..... can I open these cases and wind up a different cassettes tape onto these reels and close it back up and have it play properly?

Well, the cases are indeed screwed together - not glued. However, aluminum reels are really fragile and bend quite easily. I've ruined my share trying to do what you want to do.

 

[blu_fuz]

Hmmm. I ordered the 10 and I will give it a try on one. If it doesn't work out, oh well, at least I gave it a shot.

 

[djetaine]

Question for you guys..... can I open these cases and wind up a different cassettes tape onto these reels and close it back up and have it play properly?

I have successfully performed this operation, so it IS possible. It took me about 45 minutes though. It was my first time reeling tape so someone with some experience might be able to do it easier.

Here is how i went about doing it.

Grabbed both the tapes, a new TDK SA60 and the Eagle C-15. Removed the the joiner from the reel and attached one end of the TDK tape to the eagle reel. Put the joiner back in and placed the reel itself into an open tape deck on my sanyo. I then put the TDK tape back together with the tape coming out and onto the eagle reel. I hit the FF button on my tape deck and let it reel itself up. removed the joiner from the now empty TDK reel and placed into the c15 reel and put it all back together.

Two problems presented themselves during the process, both due to the same thing. I had initially wanted to just swap the eagle reel into the TDK tape or vice versa to do the FF process but the reels on the c15 are too large. They butt up against the metal reel and will not budge. This is why i had to FF with the reel itself on the deck. Also had to cut probably 10 minutes of tape out to get it onto the c15 and play.

Here is a picture of before I removed some of the tape. You can see the issue.

Here is a picture of the completed tape after removal of some of the extra bit.

The only problem I forsee is the fact that the lead in on magnetic tape is of a much more durable and thicker plastic. Since I had to remove that bit, I had to join it to the reel by using part of the thinner tape. This could eventually cause a slippage problem, mainly when FF, especially with the powerful tape decks on a few of the boxes.

All in all, I believe it was worth it and plan on doing it to the other 9 tapes.

 

[jaetee]

Good work! Congrats on your results!

FYI: C-60 tape stock is really quite thick conpared to the tape used in a C-90, C-100, C-110 or C-120.

With that in mind, if you want to stick to type II tapes, maybe consider the possiblity of trying a TDK CD Power C-110, or maybe a Maxell XLII C-110 instead of a 60 minute donor tape. (I don't think I ever saw a 110 minute TDK SA). C-120's can be readily found in TDK D formulation, which is a pretty mediocre type I. But, using a thinner tape you'd probably end up with longer tape and maybe even do some splicing and be able to use the leaders...?

Good luck!

Reel tapes are the best to look at in a boomer, without a doubt.

Your thread has inspired me to consider doing this with one of those Reel Cleer tapes. Would love to put some metal tape into a few of those. And I just recently found a Maxell MX C-110 in a thrift store for a quarter...

Take care,

JT

 

[blu_fuz]

Very cool!

So how many minutes do you end up with after the trimming? So the higher the minutes the thinner the tape is meaning you could get more minutes out of your tape swap than starting with a 60 min tape which is thicker.....?

Are METAL tapes that much better? I am a cassette newbe, sorry .


I would like the original leaders from the donor cassette if possible, but we will see.

 

[djetaine]

Good work! Congrats on your results!

FYI: C-60 tape stock is really quite thick conpared to the tape used in a C-90, C-100, C-110 or C-120.

With that in mind, if you want to stick to type II tapes, maybe consider the possiblity of trying a TDK CD Power C-110, or maybe a Maxell XLII C-110 instead of a 60 minute donor tape. (I don't think I ever saw a 110 minute TDK SA). C-120's can be readily found in TDK D formulation, which is a pretty mediocre type I. But, using a thinner tape you'd probably end up with longer tape and maybe even do some splicing and be able to use the leaders...?

Good luck!

Reel tapes are the best to look at in a boomer, without a doubt.

Your thread has inspired me to consider doing this with one of those Reel Cleer tapes. Would love to put some metal tape into a few of those. And I just recently found a Maxell MX C-110 in a thrift store for a quarter...

Take care,

JT

How would one go about splicing a lead in? I'm just worried about it pulling apart.
I plan on painting the rest of these reels in various colors and would love to get some more time in there. As far as getting more minutes out of it I would definitely have to splice because im pretty sure it would just pull right out of the joiner without.

@ Blu, as for how long the tape is now... I'm not sure, havent timed it out but I can tell you that the tape originally counted at 420 per side and now counts at 384 per side.
I just did a test and my counter counts out 20 for each 60 seconds.
420 - 384 = 36. So I've lost just under 2 minutes of tape per side if my counter is close to accurate.

 

[Fatdog]

How would one go about splicing a lead in? I plan on painting the rest of these reels in various colors and would love to get some more time in there.

The thing with reels is you are limited to around 54 minutes of tape. Anything more than that and you run the risk of stuff messing up - primarily the overflow tape from the take up reel fitting perfectly into the other reel.

 

[jaetee]

So the higher the minutes the thinner the tape is meaning you could get more minutes out of your tape swap than starting with a 60 min tape which is thicker.....? Are METAL tapes that much better? I am a cassette newbe, sorry

Yes, I think you might be able to get more time in those tapes by using stock from a C-110 or C-120. Especially versus what you'd get from a TDK SA 60, which is a relatively thick tape.

And about metal tapes, the performance from them can be very, very good if you have a well tuned tape deck capable of bringing the best out in them. Think of the best metals out there (TDK MA-X, MA-R, MA-XG, Maxell MX, Sony Metal Master) as being capable of A+ recordings on the right deck. But..., for all intents and purposes, the performance you can get out of the likes a TDK SA and Maxell XLII tapes (especially the late 80's to mid 90's forumulations) are more than good enough for any boombox and most mid-fi home stereo systems. If top metals are capable of an A+ recording, then let's call the SA and XLII capable of B+ quality tapes. And the really top flight chromes like Maxell XLII-S, TDK SA-X and Fuji ZII can pull off an A-, comparable with some lesser quality metals, even... And like we talk boomboxes, there are websites and forums dedicated to talking about the quality of tapes and recorders....

How would one go about splicing a lead in? I'm just worried about it pulling apart.

Splicing tape is probably the best to use, but it's kind of expensive. [ebay]250619536960[/ebay] For splicing leader to magnetic tape, you could do a test on one of your tapes with Scotch tape on both sides of the splice and see how it holds up to your strongest deck motor... It's not the most "recommended" method, but the cheapest. I've done it before and had good enough results, but those splices were mid-tape where there's no real torque like you get at the end of a tape and winding. Still, I think scotch tape on both sides will suffice.

The thing with reels is you are limited to around 54 minutes of tape. Anything more than that and you run the risk of stuff messing up - primarily the overflow tape from the take up reel fitting perfectly into the other reel.

Bobby, it is possible, but you have to use thinner tape. There are some of those Reel Cleer tapes in C-90 length. I was surprised when I first saw them on ebay, but I picked up two of the gold color CRMII's in C-90 length. There aren't any like mine listed right now but here's a silver C-90 here [ebay]200388078348[/ebay]. I know the tape must be incredibly thin for them to get away with it (for the exact reason you specify) but they seem to play fine in my boxes.

 

[djetaine]

So the higher the minutes the thinner the tape is meaning you could get more minutes out of your tape swap than starting with a 60 min tape which is thicker.....? Are METAL tapes that much better? I am a cassette newbe, sorry

Yes, I think you might be able to get more time in those tapes by using stock from a C-110 or C-120. Especially versus what you'd get from a TDK SA 60, which is a relatively thick tape.

And about metal tapes, the performance from them can be very, very good if you have a well tuned tape deck capable of bringing the best out in them. Think of the best metals out there (TDK MA-X, MA-R, MA-XG, Maxell MX, Sony Metal Master) as being capable of A+ recordings on the right deck. But..., for all intents and purposes, the performance you can get out of the likes a TDK SA and Maxell XLII tapes (especially the late 80's to mid 90's forumulations) are more than good enough for any boombox and most mid-fi home stereo systems. If top metals are capable of an A+ recording, then let's call the SA and XLII capable of B+ quality tapes. And the really top flight chromes like Maxell XLII-S, TDK SA-X and Fuji ZII can pull off an A-, comparable with some lesser quality metals, even... And like we talk boomboxes, there are websites and forums dedicated to talking about the quality of tapes and recorders....

How would one go about splicing a lead in? I'm just worried about it pulling apart.

Splicing tape is probably the best to use, but it's kind of expensive. [ebay]250619536960[/ebay] For splicing leader to magnetic tape, you could do a test on one of your tapes with Scotch tape on both sides of the splice and see how it holds up to your strongest deck motor... It's not the most "recommended" method, but the cheapest. I've done it before and had good enough results, but those splices were mid-tape where there's no real torque like you get at the end of a tape and winding. Still, I think scotch tape on both sides will suffice.

The thing with reels is you are limited to around 54 minutes of tape. Anything more than that and you run the risk of stuff messing up - primarily the overflow tape from the take up reel fitting perfectly into the other reel.

Bobby, it is possible, but you have to use thinner tape. There are some of those Reel Cleer tapes in C-90 length. I was surprised when I first saw them on ebay, but I picked up two of the gold color CRMII's in C-90 length. There aren't any like mine listed right now but here's a silver C-90 here [ebay]200388078348[/ebay]. I know the tape must be incredibly thin for them to get away with it (for the exact reason you specify) but they seem to play fine in my boxes.

Thanks for all the advice! If I can get this process down I think I'm going to start buying up these c15 reels and swapping em out. With a bit of paint I can get some really great looking unique tapes. And at the price for the c15's plus the donor tapes I'm still saving a HUGE bundle when compared to ONE reel clear for 30 bucks.
I might even start selling em on here for a couple bucks if that wouldnt be against any sort of rules.