1) be careful! The magnetic coating will flake off and you will lose the data. Research a bit: this is a solved problem. There are chemical treatments to rende

1) be careful! The magnetic coating will flake off and you will lose the data. Research a bit: this is a solved problem. There are chemical treatments to render the oxide coating more flexible for an attempt at reading it. 2) is there a way to avoid forcing physical contact with rubber capstans as you attempt to pass it over a magnetic play head? Is there an alternative magnetic sensing technology you can use to extract the data vs a proximity based typical tape playback head?