Hi. I've posted about the fact that I'm going through all the dozens of cartons of old tapes that I have in storage, and transferring them to digital so that I can (as the case may be) donate the originals or, for the most part, discard them. Many of the tapes are open-reel recordings that I made in the 1970s and early 80s on Ampex 406 and 407 tape. Those types of tape are at the epicenter of the "sticky shed syndrome"--the tapes are permanently ruined if you try to play them, unless they're gently baked in a convection oven at a controlled, low temperature first. See attached photo for some tragic results from this afternoon--remnants of the oxide layer of part of a tape; it separated from the backing when I pressed "stop" while winding the tape.
Since I have so many of these tapes, I decided to get my own oven, rather than to bring tapes by the dozens to a transfer engineer who does this baking as a side service. I'll only need it for maybe six months, but it takes me over an hour each way to get to and from his shop, so it makes relative sense for me. I plan to practice on a tape that's already badly damaged; then once I get the hang of it, I'll bake all Ampex tapes pre-emptively before trying to transfer them. My current understanding is that the temperature should be around 130 degrees Fahrenheit and the baking time should be maybe 4 to 6 or 8 hours. I sure hope this works ...
--best regards