save tape from a reel to be converted as take-up reel

[Sonarcade]

I have half a reel of tape remaining on this one reel and am in need of a take-up reel. Now, I was wondering how I could salvage the tape. I had already unscrewed it and removed the core part holding the tape. Is there a way of removing the tape from this core part while salvaging a good portion of it? I'm not aiming for salvaging all of it and am willing to lose a bit for the greater good. Thanks.

[trancedental]

Do a search for pancake on here & you should find details about doing this task

[Sonarcade]

I did one and still can't figure out what's meant by pancake just through context. Is the pancake the core part that's left after the flanges(the metal parts?) are removed? I did a google search and it yielded not much more light on the matter. And if the pancake is what I suspect it is, the thread most relevant to my situation that I found involved transferring the pancake either from one reel to another--which is not what I'm trying to do right now. I'm trying to "empty" out a pancake that's 1/2 full so that I can use the empty pancake as a take-up reel. Hope this helps clarify what I'm aiming to do. Thanks.

[trancedental]

You've got it exactly right & that thread is the best advice on how to transfer pancakes from one reel to another.

[Sonarcade]

unfortunately, as mentioned above, "transferring pancakes" wasn't the topic of this thread.

[jpmorris]

Originally Posted by trancedental

You've got it exactly right & that thread is the best advice on how to transfer pancakes from one reel to another.

As I understand it, he's trying to take the tape off the spool and still have the whole spool.
I'm not sure I'd want to try that myself. Not very helpful as an answer to his question, I know, but personally I always keep a set of empty 7" spools around to hold spare lengths of tape during editing and so forth. If it can wait, that might be the better option. Studiospares is selling them for 50p each, and two of them will hold an entire 10.5" reel's worth of tape.

[Sonarcade]

you nailed it on the head, jpmorris! I want to keep a good portion of the tape intact while rebuilding the emptied spool to the flanges to use as a take-up reel. The main goal is to somehow get a take-up reel out of the reels I do have without having to buy a new one. If I could even buy a new spool in Los Angeles, CA, I'd imagine it to be considerably less than what I can get a take up reel for (~$10). Perhaps this is me being a bit too frugal, but I have everything I need...it's now just a matter of using them in a way that would work with my goals in mind.

[TheReeler]

You can make a DIY reel with cardboard. I've seen it and it works. Just make a copy of your plastic / metal reel using that material and transfer the tape from the plastic / metal reel to the cardboard reel.

You just need a cutter, enough cardboard and glue.

[trancedental]

Ok I got the reply messed up, still you should be able to get hold of a cheap plastic reel on EBay maybe?

[Sonarcade]

np. i hope i didn't come off as too snappy with my comment. i was just a bit confused and thought that i was misreading your advice. but yeah, it may do me well to look on ebay, but for now, i've been using my half full reel as a take-up reel -- with the tape still on it. I think I can get by doing this until I come across a good deal. Thanks.