In the MMD of December 19th, Dee Kavouras asks if anyone remembers where
there is a source of tape for re-bridging torn chain perforations.
I don't know if it's what you are thinking of, Dee, but I mentioned
in my original description of my roll-repair table that I make my own
bridging tape.

It is made from Filmoplast P paper conservation tape and comes in strips
about 3" or 75 mm long.  The hole and bridge arrangement is designed for
Ampico rolls, although I have yet to actually repair an Ampico with it!
When I was originally designing a punch for making the tape I looked at a
lot of different makes of rolls under the microscope and discovered that
almost every make had its own hole-bridge arrangement and there was no way
in which I could produce something that would fit all rolls.

The punch was made for me by the man in charge of our workshop in the
Physics Dept. at the University of Tasmania.  (Only during lunchtimes,
of course!)  He told me he likes a challenge and I'm sure it was.

Making the tape is very fiddley and slow, because the Filmoplast P
is already sticky.  After only a few lengths of tape are made it is
necessary to take the punch apart and remove all the punched-out
circular wads, because, being sticky. they don't fall out.

On rolls with a different chaining arrangement from Ampico rolls (i.e.,
all other rolls) I just use a lot of short lengths of the tape.  Then the
original holes and bridges don't get too far out of step with the tape.
On rolls that never were chain-perforated the tape can be used in any
length, although I find that lengths of much more than 1 cm are hard to
get on straight.

When I have finished repairing a section I turn the roll over and rub
talcum powder into all the exposed sticky areas.  This sort of works,
but as I said in my roll-table description, when the roll is played it
is possible to hear the tape letting go of the next turn of paper as the
roll unwinds.

This tape is far from ideal but probably beats cutting tiny little
slivers of tape and sticking them across a perforation one by one.
Ideally bridging tape would have adhesive only along the edges and
none where the bridges cross a perforation.  Now there's a challenge!

Dee, I would be happy to mail you a sample of this tape if you send
me your address.

John Phillips.