Tape Drive & Tape Archival questions...

[Tony Duell]

> 
> > True, but they cannot do 1-off custom. I have a handful of much-beloved 
> > reel-to-reel audio tape decks and turntables in need of replacement 
> > rubber.  Is there anyone in the world tooled up for custom belts and 
> > rollers anymore?
> 
> Are you sure your needs are "custom"?  Flat/toothed belts
> tend to be hard to find "in variety"... but I have been able
> to find almost *any* of the round or "square" (cross sectional)
> belts used in most consumer gear.

Can you recomend any places to start looking (usual disclaimers, of 
course). I collect names of companies that sell useful stuff for 
hacking/restoration.

> 
> Do you have an existing belt to use as a template?
> Or, barring that, the diameters of the pulleys and
> their center-to-center distances (from which
> computing belt size is straightforward...)

FWIW, there's a program in the HP67 Mechanical Engineering Pac (which 
will also run on the HP41 series with a card reader) that calculates belt 
length given the diameters of the pulleys and the coordinates of their 
shafts. It assumes the belt goes round the outside of all the pulleys, it 
gets the wrong answer if one pulley is outside the belt (which would be 
done if that pulley needs to turn the opposite way)[1].

[1] The thermal printer in muy HP9845B has a toothed (timing) belt with 
teeth on both sides. Yes, one sprocket is outside the belt and turns 
'backwards'.

> 
> Typically, these belts run $1 - $2 ... which is outrageous
> when you consider you're buying a glorified "rubber band"
> but a *steal* when you consider it's actual VALUE!!

Oh, indeed. Remember you're restoring a valuable (to you) computer or 
whatever. 

-tony