A wind up

My local library (I'm in Denmark) had an automatic tape winder in the eigthies that they used for audio books if people forgot to rewind the tapes. It didn't have a lid and I think it just started automatically when a tapped was popped in. Other devices, perhaps a bit more sturdy, must exist.

You definitely succeed Mat, and LGR. It was interesting, informative and amusing 15 mins. I’d all but forgotten about the tape twirling winding method and its attendant risks - must be a sign of age.

The puns! The specificity! And boy, I had the hugest grin watching the man versus machine bit at the end. A fantastic and satisfying look into audio tech of yesteryear. I'd only ever seen those videocassette rewinders that looked like race cars.

When I was old enough to spend my allowance on music, I collected CDs from the mail order BMG music warehouse. I'd occasionally record a tape with a dedicated tape deck I had on my stereo, so never had to worry about batteries or being too slow to rewind. A note about rechargeable batteries: they've actually gotten quite good now. I solely ni-mh batteries with my speedlite flashes (which I'm using regularly for staff portraits). With a flash, you worry about battery duration and power for quickly recharging the flash output. I guess the only main drawback is that they do have a lifespan. Eneloop has a pretty good write up of some of the tech: <a href="https://www.panasonic.com/global/consumer/battery/eneloop/technologies.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.panasonic.com/global/consumer/battery/eneloop/technologies.html</a>

Watching this again on Youtube (yes, I watch them all at least twice - don't you?) I realized that I'm old enough that I missed the "rewinding with a pen on the school bus" era! Of course, we had compact cassettes Back In My Day but most were either part of the Hi-Fi or in the car (8-tracks were already considered kind of out-of-date by the time I was in high school). But we didn't have the Walkman. Just missed that in HS. So "portable music" for us was usually a radio if it was a thing at all. More likely it was Danny's car because he had a stereo setup in his. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ So I missed the whole spinning-a-tape-on-a-BIC-pen-on-the-bus thing though I am certainly familiar with the technique.

If you ever make a video about a DVD rewinder, I, um, would still watch it. Just to hear your commentary. Do you make any April 1st episodes?

No race using the ballpoint pen!? I certainly remember using pens and not pencils, and I am guilty of doing the wild spinning the tape around method at times. Not recommended as aside from flying off, I'm sure I broke the tape itself doing that. Nothing a bit of Sellotape couldn't fix (sort of).

Btw: I was using a pencil to "reload" (missing a better word) a hanging out tape, because BICs weren't too common here in schools, but I never tried to rewind a tape with it. And yes, it had to be angled as much as possible.

Oh please, don't delete the video with the mystery device, the answer was so mind blowing. :D (or make also a short video about it)

I use to offer a Cassette and 8-track repair service for local record shops (back in 72-80) and made extensive use of a hand rewinder - the Tandy one you showed was a re-brand - it was designed by the accessories manufacturer Bib who were big in head cleaners and carry cases. Tandy got them to male their own version but apart from different coloured plastic, were identical! As for the pencil/Bic debate - as you found, this is revisionism by those who thought them one and the same, forgetting about the size. Bic reigned supreme!

“Be Kind, Rewind” seems appropriate here :-) It turned out a fun video, particularly with the diversion into “history vs memes”! Ewen

I kept a stack of bic pens JUST FOR THIS PURPOSE!

Bic worked best, but angled pencil was better than using the ol’pinky. Great video guys!

Israeli here. While I do remember using pencils to wind tapes, I don't remember ever doing that for an entire length of the tape. It was always just to pull back some loose tape if the player had a fault. P.S. Tried a pencil with a tape just now. Yep, a bit too thin (works, but not efficiently).

I made a tape reminder from Lego when I was really young, years before I saw the manual winder. I bought exactly the same one in the end. Despite only being about 5, I didn’t use all cogs. 1 section of the step up gearbox ran a rubber band so it wouldn’t pull the tape when it got to the end. This was way before Lego motors so manual was the only option.

Yeah, rechargeable batteries in the NiCad era were terrible, even if you could afford them. They never lasted long, the chargers usually weren't automatic so you had to time charging manually, and they took 12-15 hours so it required careful planning. I also remember they got phenomenally hot so it always felt like you were doing something you shouldn't be.

Awesome video. You and Clint have a way of making videos interesting. I remember using a pen/pencil or my pinky finger to wind tapes such that the magnetic tape was just past the sponge in an effort to get the most tape available for recording (the idea being you take record off pause and it's good to go). I remember pencils not working too well and did what Clint did using the metal bit of the pencil most often. But I never really cared. It was just what we had laying around. And I remember the Radioshack batteries!!! We had some gold ones, and the purple rechargeable ones but I don't remember what exactly for. My challenge was finding enough batteries to keep my gameboy going.

I was using rechargeable batteries in my Sanyo cassette player in 1986. The battery life wasn't great and I think recharging took 16 hours. An even bigger issue was that it took three batteries but my charger could only charge pairs.

How much time does it take for your Hi-Fi cassette deck (Sony TC-K333ESJ) to rewind a tape? I think you should compare that with the Sony rewinder and the hand rewinder.

Funny video Mat, thank you! However... I still think the "Bic Cristal system" is the best option for winding a tape... at least if you don't need the erasing feature! :-)

I´m nearly as old as the rocks. But i never ran into one of the devices, you showed. So thanks a lot for showing (at least me) something new. I love this channel. It is a large world, and there are so much interesting devices....

Well, it was pretty interesting, actually. I've had people tell me before that I could make a video about paint-drying and it would be interesting. But I don't think I'm ready to accept that challenge! I would also mention I felt Clint's audio was a bit louder than yours. I'm not sure how it looks on the meter in the editing software, so it may just be a difference in the loudness of certain frequencies. But either way, I'd probably turn that down a bit if you plan to re-upload it. I'm not sure I'd bother for a re-upload just for that one thing, though.

Hi, Mat, Re your mystery object, when it's closed, the pins will project through the holes on the opposite side. If you were to clamp a sheet of paper between the halves, the pins would puncture it. Spinning the wheels would widen the holes to the size of the holes on the non-winding side. My theory is it is designed to do exactly that. It makes two specific sized and spaced holes in ... something ... maybe something paper-like. (It must be thin.) This theory is sustained by the fact the green clamps would be there to stop the "paper" moving, and there is no overlapping lip on the two halves, (like a box might have) they meet flush. Admittedly holes made in paper by this gadget would be ragged, which is odd, but I can't escape the idea that it's made to do something of that nature. I really hope you find out! Cheers, S.

In the states here, and used a pencil growing up. The reason mainly was that as a youth I didn't have access to a bic pen, only cheaper ones with smooth bodies. So a #2 pencil held at an angle did the trick wonderfully!

I was entertained for 16 minutes about an obsolete accessory for an obsolete media. I've always been vaguely mystified about the pencil-meme; in my experience, they never really worked as well as a Bic pen, as you and Clint demonstrated. Good job!

If that tape winder came out in 1990 for 6,000 yen, that works out to something like $80-90USD in today's money, which is a ridiculous amount of money for something so frivolous.

Loved the video and loved the LGR cameo.

x

I was having the cost of batteries argument with some millennial d-bag who was telling me that batteries, and in particular rechargeable batteries, were not that expensive in the 80s. The dummy wasn't even alive in the 80s and he was telling me that I was wrong about the pricing. Well this video 100% backs up what I remember, thanks for making it. The next time I see this d-bag millennial I'm gonna punch him in the mouth - well not really since I'd go to jail, but I will tell him to watch this video - then I'll figure out how to trip him so he falls on his face, but do it in a way that I don't go to jail. Thanks!

The answer is... Absolutely. Great job, Mat. Loved the BIC pen segment... I worked in retail record and tape sales in the '80's, and we always kept a supply of BICs on hand for that reason. Could never get pencils to work.

As far as the pencil goes from what I remember, it depended on the tape more than the pencil. In fact, I have a Dixon Oricle pencil sitting right here. It grabs the teeth on an old Sony CD-IT type II, barely catches the teeth on a Maxell MX 90, and slips on an old prerecorded cassette. A Bic or a mechanical pencil worked better than a #2.

Entertaining video on an unlikely topic! Great to see LGR helping out too. I owned a set of those Tandy rechargeable batteries in the catalogue - they got the job done. The snippet about the radio frequency change was interesting too.

In my experience (US), the pencil thing was hit-and-miss. Some worked, some didn't.

I wonder if the erase "head" of that Sony gadget is an actual erase head or just a magnet. If it's a magnet, it doesn't actually erase the tape but it saturates it instead. If it's an actual head, I wonder if they bothered to change the frequency of the AC current to compensate for the high speed, and I wonder how well it erases chrome and metal tapes. Either way, I wonder how well it really works.

You may want to drop the volume a little on the LGR clip, it’s noticeably louder than your segments and I had to adjust my stereo. Otherwise a great little video

I remember being told that fast forwarding or rewinding through a tape cost much more electricity than playing. Not true. The motor runs at the same speed regardless of the function (play or wind), and in the somewhat smarter players, the amplifier might even be turned off during winding so it uses LESS electricity than playing.

Very interesting indeed! I suspect pencils back in the day were thicker than they are now? If you end up re-editing this video, please adjust the audio-levels of LGR because he is a lot louder than your voice-over.

I always used a Bic pen. I also remember we had the RS charger and batteries in the catalogue...I am old or something.

Hadn't seen one of those hand rewinders before! Reminds me of one of those wind-up radio/flashlight emergency devices. And thanks for having me on, always happy to help!

Fun watching at 2x speed ;-)

I remember the pencils worked the same as the bic pen ... this was in Romania in 90s. Also, the meme makers are very often from India or that part of the world

You did it. :-) It was interesting. Really a joy to see LGR in your video. I hope You and of course 8bit Guy will find more projects You can collaborate with. Thanks. Peter Jensen, Denmark.

Thanks Mat. I always made sure the biro cap was on tight so the tape would not fly off if I got the angle wrong while rewinding.

I have one of those hand winders somewhere (no I don't mean the pen). Possibly a Tandy purchase but can't remember. Used to use it when I used to splice cassettes to length required.

Well that was probably the niche-est video I've seen in a while. That thing is so beautiful... I love that Sony minimalism from the late 80s-early 90s. I'm very satisfied, thanks Matt!

Razor-blade sharpener!

So what are these Japanese auction sites?

Achievement unlocked! That *was* entertaining! Nice work. With a bonus at the end AND a cameo!

I tilted my US pencils in the 80s. It was a skill, and I got good at it, as I imagine others did as well.