If you are new to the world of reel to reel you might not to be too familiar with this. The big 10.5″ reels are made out of 4 parts. The aluminium sides plus the tape itself that sits on an NAB hub:
All this is kept together with the help of three nuts and bolts. Most of the time you will find Philips head screws and barrel nuts on the other side. So if you got some old reels with tape on it, you can turn them into new ones by just buying a “Pancake”.
So all left to do is to undo these three screws in the center. Take out the old center HUB (NAB Hub) with the tape on it and bin it. Place the new Pancake on top of one of the sides (ideally the ones with the barrel nuts) and then place the other back on it. Screw it all back together and you are done.
You got a brand new reel for under $65!