Opening compact cassette case

[HowardKennitby]

Hello all

I have some very old cassettes that I need to open so I can fix breaks and transfer to new cases.
Does anyone know a sure-fire way to easily and safely open cases so that no more damage is caused to the insides?

thanks

Howie

[MarkRae]

A perhaps better solution, though much more costly, might be to send them to a specialist data recovery shop who can fix the tapes and save them on digital media...

[HowardKennitby]

Thanks both

Obviously all the ones I need to open are welded. I will start on the one I value least and use that as the learning experience.

[gingejbee]

Very best of luck with that! Having tried in the past to "save" tapes this way......never worked!

[ChuckFickens]

I agree with the ginger one.... It's really not easy to repair tapes at the best of times and without the proper equipment it's near on impossible to do at home.

[theprof]

Well I used a Weller soldering gun for this purpose many years ago. The model I owned had a thin, flat circular disc tip, about 1cm diameter, that I think was intended for some sort of craft purpose - these kits were sold as being suitable for burning your name etc into wood, polystyrene cutting, bag sealing and many other uses as well as soldering.

I found that quickly running the heated disc tip around the seam of the screwless cassette melted it loose in no time at all.

It's also possible that something similar could be fashioned for any type of soldering iron with some careful thought.