Consolidating 2 dozen 3" reels

[Starbond]

Not long ago I posted about my late fathers' 250+ cassette tape collection, now I'm dealing with his less daunting reel to reel tapes. He had about 20-30 3" reels, all 1/2 track mono recorded (i think that is the right description--mono on each side, if put in stereo mode one channel plays forward mono, other plays backwards audio). All that tapes are just recorded tv shows when he was a kid, so you end up with part 1, part 5, etc across the tapes. Since each tape is about 15 minute both sides, all recorded at 3 3/4 IPS. I'd like to record them all to one large 1800' 7" reel.
I have :
1)Webcor 1960s tube deck and
2)Sears/Silvertone portable 2 speed late 60s deck.
Would the best method be Sears > Webcor then? I figure I will lose a few seconds and the begginning of each side, but none of these are voice recordings, I just like the idea of 1 reel instead of 30 small ones.

 

[Chip Chester]

Have you auditioned these reels on the Sears (I'm guessing that's the only one that will do 3.75ips)? The reason I ask is, when I was a kid, I had a cheapie 3" open reel recorder that was was not capstan drive -- rather, it was driven by the rim of the takeup reel. So the tape speed was 'variable' across the tape pack's diameter. (It had both macro and micro speed issues, of course...) If you play those back at constant speed, you may get 'variable' results.

If that's the case, consider using some software as an intermediate step, with adjustable speed/pitch capabilities. (Don't have one in mind, but folks will chime in on whether a specific one will do the job.) Then transfer to the final continuous reel for future playback.

If they're constant speed, or recorded on either of the decks you have, then use the deck they were recorded on for (probable) best results. You can also spool them off and splice them together for a continuous transfer with no lost material. (Use a real splicing block, and real splicing tape, too.)

 

[Starbond]

Neither deck that i have currently was the one used to record these originally. Both decks will play 3.75, (sears 2 speed 3.75 and 7.5, and webcore 1 7/8 3.75 and 7.5) so I would use whichever one would be the higher quality deck as the recorder unit. I have listende to a handful on the Webcor. A few reels were audio recordings of the Batman 1966 TV show and when I played the episode on my computer concurrently with the reel tape, it was roughly the same speed.
Ive considered spicing them together, but I cant seem to wrap my head around how to do it:
I have reel 1, left side hanging, Side A
I have reel 2, same as above, Side A
How to tack reel 2 start to reel 1 end so it plays in the right way? Am i thinking too hard? Do I just tape end to end and roll up the tape into a larger wheel? I would also need splicing tape too..

 

[62vauxhall]

You would have better reproduction playing the original tapes so splice them together. Re-record them and you'll loose "fidelity". It's not difficult and there are undoubtedly YouTube (or whatever) "how to" videos online.

Get a splicing block or not. If you've not spliced magnetic tape before, maybe endure the expese and get one. I have one and they seem a logical thing to use but for my splicing projects, I abandoned it and line up the ends to be spliced by eye, I found "without" to be easier and faster. But each to their own.

A caveat is to place the splicing tape on the backside of the tape, not the topside that the head(s) come in contact with. Also, a tape with that many splices, FF & REW should be used carefully. . .

 

[Chip Chester]

I have reel 1, left side hanging, Side A
I have reel 2, same as above, Side A

Sounds like heads-out, or tails-out. You'll need an extra reel or two, but arrange things so that they're all 'heads out', ready to play when the supply reel is on the left, and empty reel is on the right. Once they're all confirmed in that orientation, then the splicing can begin.

Get your large empty reel on the takeup/right side, and your first victim on the left. Thread and spool it over ("Play" should result in more even tape pack than FF). When done, load the next heads-out source on the supply/left side, splice, then Play thru it. Continue until takeup reel is full, or task is complete.

Might want to make one reel for Batman, one for Superman, etc. Or organize however you wish.

Splicing: Block, fresh single-edge razor blade, alcohol (to clean with, for now) and splicing tape. Use your head demagnetizer to demag your razor blade. This will avoid 'thumps' at every cut. Block will be aluminum, so no demag needed. Use the alcohol to clean the blade of its shipping/packing oil, and to clean your fingertips of oil as well. (Lemon juice or soap & water work also.) Fresh cut on each end, and use about an inch to inch and a half of splicing tape, centered, to join. Make sure to burnish it down (watch for change of color) for good adhesion. Re-thread machine, and proceed to next splice.

If you want to edit also, then get your white china marker/grease pencil, and figure out how to have tape against heads, but able to be rocked back and forth by hand. (Cue position on transport if available.) Not all consumer decks can do this safely... Mark your edit point on the playback head (verification required) and edit away.

 

[Starbond]

Sounds like heads-out, or tails-out. You'll need an extra reel or two, but arrange things so that they're all 'heads out', ready to play when the supply reel is on the left, and empty reel is on the right. Once they're all confirmed in that orientation, then the splicing can begin.

Get your large empty reel on the takeup/right side, and your first victim on the left. Thread and spool it over ("Play" should result in more even tape pack than FF). When done, load the next heads-out source on the supply/left side, splice, then Play thru it. Continue until takeup reel is full, or task is complete.

Might want to make one reel for Batman, one for Superman, etc. Or organize however you wish.

Splicing: Block, fresh single-edge razor blade, alcohol (to clean with, for now) and splicing tape. Use your head demagnetizer to demag your razor blade. This will avoid 'thumps' at every cut. Block will be aluminum, so no demag needed. Use the alcohol to clean the blade of its shipping/packing oil, and to clean your fingertips of oil as well. (Lemon juice or soap & water work also.) Fresh cut on each end, and use about an inch to inch and a half of splicing tape, centered, to join. Make sure to burnish it down (watch for change of color) for good adhesion. Re-thread machine, and proceed to next splice.

If you want to edit also, then get your white china marker/grease pencil, and figure out how to have tape against heads, but able to be rocked back and forth by hand. (Cue position on transport if available.) Not all consumer decks can do this safely... Mark your edit point on the playback head (verification required) and edit away.

Thanks Chip! This is exactly the help I needed