TAPE TOPICS - HUB-LOCK REELS.  

Question

Why did Ferrograph specifically recommend Hub-lock spools for their machines if they weren't intended for vertical operation ?

When Ferrograph first produced tape recorders incorporating the "Wearite" deck.  It was one of very few tape recorders with a three motor mechanism.  One to drive the take-up spool, one for the rewind spool and the third driving the capstan flywheel, via an idler pulley arrangement. 

Many domestic machines used a single motor mechanism that transferred the drive to the spool carriers and capstan, via a series of belts, pulleys and clutches; in an effort to keep costs down.  But this approach did make the mechanics of those machines quite complicated.

Ferrograph spool carriers were mounted directly on the motor shaft, which extended above the deck plate slightly.  The drawback of this design was that after a period of sustained use, the heat, particularly from the take - up motor was transmitted up this shaft, into the spool carrier and hence in turn transferred to the tape reel and tape.

In fact after a long period of use they could become hot enough to make you jump if you accidentally touched it.

This build up of heat resulted in plastic spools warping, which in turn led to the flanges of the spool catching on the tape and increasing the problems of dropout.  As well as the noise being recorded.  

The heat if transferred to the tape, a possibility if the tape was held in the pause mode for any length of time, increased the likelihood of print - through occurring.

Because they were in effect clamped into contact with the spool carrier, hub-lock reels acted like a rotary heat sink, dissipating the heat more efficiently.  They were not affected in the way that plastic reels were, and more importantly they sat down fully on the spool carrier, allowing proper height alignment of the tape without excessive adjustment of the bobbin guides.  Metal spools were also very much quieter in operation and provided they were hub-lock type weren't prone to chatter like unclamped plastic spools.

Finally, the speed of wind and rewind on these machines could cause normal plastic spools to lift off like helicopter rotor blades, disastrous if it was a once in lifetime recording you had just done, since the tape was often damaged beyond repair. 

HUB-LOCK MAINTENANCE.

Although metal reels were not prone to warping due to heat, they nevertheless could have their flanges distorted by poor handling e.g. pulling the flanges without releasing the hublock.  In the event that any of your hub-lock reels do have out of true flanges, the beauty of the design makes it possible to repair them.

Unscrew the screws holding both halves of the spools together, and remove each flange, then place the flanges between two boards or a flat surface, and pile some weights or books on them and leave them overnight, you will find that after that the flanges will be flat and now run true, just re-assembly them.