Hello MMD.  Noel Butler is looking for roll repair tape (MMD 09.01.25).
It is available in Australia, Noel, from Hughes Mouldings in Queensland.
Their address, according to White Pages, is 120 Compton Road, Underwood,
QLD 4119.  Telephone is 07 3808 5550.  (They seem to have moved since
last I ordered tape from them.)

They sell Filmoplast Archival Tape which is made in Germany by
Neschen AG.  They have (or had) Filmoplast P, which is a thin, fairly
transparent, pressure sensitive tape, 2 cm wide and useful for edge
repairs, and also Filmoplast P90, which is also pressure sensitive
and the same width, but thicker and an opaque white.  It is good for
repairs to the underside of a roll leader, especially around the tag,
where rips often occur.

However, in recent years I have mostly used Filmoplast R.  This is
an iron-on tape, also 2 cm wide, although other dimensions are
manufactured.  I like using it because it is simple to move a piece of
this tape around on the roll surface until it is exactly where you want
it. Once you touch the roll surface with a piece of pressure sensitive
tape, that's where the tape is going to stay.  It is removable on the
application of water, but that's a pain, and sloshing water around on
a piano roll is fraught with dangers.

When I enquired about Filmoplast R, several years ago, Hughes did not
regularly stock it, but they got me in a box of twenty 2 cm rolls.  That
cost me plenty, but I then had a lifetime supply -- I still haven't got
through half of the rolls.  Hughes may well keep it in stock nowadays.

If you decide to try Filmoplast R, I suggest that you also buy two of
the Teflon ironing sheets that are used in mysterious ways by sewing
enthusiasts.  Use one sheet underneath the roll and the other between
the tape and the iron, especially if it is your wife's or girlfriend's
iron.  The tape adhesive can bleed through the tape and get onto the
sole plate of the iron.  This is guaranteed to irritate the owner of
the iron immensely.

My technique is to tack a length of tape in place by dabbing it here
and there with the tip of the iron before adding the top Teflon sheet.
This enables me to see what is going on.  Then I lay down the sheet and
iron the whole area properly.  I tend to use sections of tape about 10
cm long for edge repairs and leave tiny gaps between successive lengths.
When repairing a damaged edge, I'm always careful to put an equal
length of tape along the opposite side, so as to avoid uneven buildup
on the take-up spool or the roll spool.

Good luck,
John Phillips in Hobart, Tasmania