my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Film Handlers' Forum   » Making New Parts For Older Projectors (Page 1)

This topic comprises 3 pages: 1  2  3

Author Topic: Making New Parts For Older Projectors Will Kutler Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1506 From: Tucson, AZ, USA Registered: Feb 2001 posted 10-17-2006 01:16 AM                     Hi All! Knowing how scarce gears and what not are becomming for Standards, Supers, E-7s, etc rapid prototyping might be a good option for manufacturing new parts and gears. In browsing through some model railroading web-sites I stumbled upon Pacific Locomotive Works www.pacificlocomotive.com who specialize in making wax investment patterns from 3-D Printer Rapid Prototyping Systems for the model hobby. So, what it would take is for someone to compose an appropriate CAD 3-D Solid Model of the needed gear, then a rapid prototype wax model could be created and subsequently investment cast. The nice thing about investment casting is that properly done, little to no secondary machining operations arre required. This might be a good option considering the real pain in setting up specialized gear cutting machine tools. Cheers Kutler  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 10-17-2006 08:53 AM                       Why go through the trouble and expense to keep clunkers running, when there are plenty of good late-model machines just sitting around at any Carmike theatre?  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-17-2006 09:07 AM                     quote: Tim Reed Why go through the trouble and expense to keep clunkers running, when there are plenty of good late-model machines just sitting around at any Carmike theatre? Tim, If you go to Carmikes web site and read the Christie/AIX contract you will discover that Christie has actually had to buy 1000 projectors from Carmike as part of "the deal". So you are actually VERY unlikely to find any projectors sitting at a Carmike Theater. Some of those clunkers are far better than alot of the new stuff being made today. Producing parts for older projectors is only profitable if there are enough of those older projectors still around. The close to 100 DP-70's that I maintain are a good example of having enough machines around to have our own parts made. 35mm Sprockets, gate bands, lateral guides, curved runners, even the xenon lamphouse table are all new parts that we had made and keep in stock. Mark  |  IP: Logged Marin Zorica Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 671 From: Biograd na Moru, Croatia Registered: May 2003 posted 10-17-2006 02:10 PM                     I also made some spare parts which I can't find in specialized shop's. But sometimes that in expensive because from bad part a new one must be created, and specially if is only just one or two spares needed!  |  IP: Logged Will Kutler Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1506 From: Tucson, AZ, USA Registered: Feb 2001 posted 10-17-2006 10:09 PM                     Tim You need to really explain your assessment of older Simplexes. Performance wise they'll beat the out of most of the stuff built today. And those older Simplexes werenoted for rock steady images that would put Christie and others to shame! The only thing about those older Simplexes is that they are meant to be run by experienced, professional projectionists. Older Simplexes would be destroyed in a heartbeat if left in the hands of todays popcorn/concession "shredders". Kutler  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-17-2006 11:42 PM                     quote: Will Kutler Performance wise they'll beat the out of most of the stuff built today. Will, I couldn't agree more! All the parts in those old machines also last longer. We have at least a dozen sites relying on Supers and E-7's that are run by popcorn shredders and they have absolutely no trouble with them. The fact that all thee old clunkers as some around here call em have made it this far in life speaks volumes about how good they actually are. Mark  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 10-18-2006 02:36 AM                  Sorry Mark and Will, I disagree. It's NOT worth ANY $$$ investment to "make" rare parts to support those obsolete POSs. With the wave of change to "TV" (D-Cinema) in commercial theatres in MOST of the world, there will be a surplus of 35mm mechanical projectors that will hauled off to the junk yard, traded-in for credit towards TV projectors, and/or picked up very cheaply by die-hard "film collectors" for their personal use...or sold to 3rd-world countries that STILL use film. Bottom Line: Mark, even your prized DP-70's WILL be junked! Sad, I know.  |  IP: Logged Marin Zorica Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 671 From: Biograd na Moru, Croatia Registered: May 2003 posted 10-18-2006 04:03 AM                     quote: Phil Hill even your prized DP-70's WILL be junked! Sad, I know. This is coming in nearly future, sadly....  |  IP: Logged Richard Fowler Film God Posts: 2392 From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA Registered: Jun 2001 posted 10-18-2006 08:23 AM                     Phil, you are missing the point. Supers and E-7's = job security for Mark I trained on a Super when I was a teenager. I own one of the "rescued" heads, which sits on the shop floor so my shipping guy can trip over it weekly and cuss at it RIP  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-18-2006 08:57 AM                     I absolutely agree that its not worth producing any Super or E-7 parts. Its a different case for the DP-70's though, we have to many to maintain not to have parts on the shelf. There are still enough NOS Simplex parts still on dealers shelves that if one scrounges one can find the part... usually with in an hour or two. I agree Digital is comming fast and I probably more than any here have already embraced it... I look foreword to not having to deal with oily messy projectors in the very near future. Mark  |  IP: Logged Dave Macaulay Film God Posts: 2321 From: Toronto, Canada Registered: Apr 2001 posted 10-18-2006 09:10 AM                     So when do you predict that 35mm film will die in North America? Specifically when will new "films" no longer be available as a film print here? Much like with digital TV broadcasting, the old system has to have an expiry date. Keeping print factories and film exchanges open to serve the holdouts who won't or can't convert to a video system makes no sense. Charging what it actually costs to support them has same effect as shutting down the infrastructure - the uncompetitive ones will close and the rest will be forced to convert. And Mark et al (me too!) will be in the same position as the horse dung sweepers after cars and trucks replaced the horses. A good time to be in the scrap metal business? <edit> Rereading I see Mark has embraced the future, so he is a bad example for the horse dung analogy. Apologies.  |  IP: Logged Floyd Justin Newton Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 559 From: Phoenix, Arizona, USA Registered: Jun 2002 posted 10-18-2006 09:25 AM                     Dave-- In answer to your question... DCinema will here before you and I are 'Pushing Up Dasies'. This whole thing is driven by GREED ! Now is the time to open up a scrap yard!  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 10-18-2006 07:08 PM                     ,..by the time 35mm completely dies for the cinema business, we'll be all pushing up dandilions for digital driven lawnmowers to mow down operated by the slave robots for the digital infected generations ahead of us have whom have finally invented and NEARLY perfected such a microcosm society... In the meantime - Mark,I and others are well secured in taking care of film projectors and sound systems. -Monte  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 10-18-2006 07:15 PM                  YA know, Monte, at least Mark has a handle on, and is preparing for the future unlike many others here and in "the biz"...  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 10-18-2006 07:18 PM                       quote: Mark Gulbrandsen So you are actually VERY unlikely to find any projectors sitting at a Carmike Theater. There are 16 here in Allentown, in the theatre I service, just sitting around the booth (well, 4 are still in occasional operation, in tandem with DC machines, but you get the idea). And 8 more coming in Reading, in just a few weeks. quote: Will Kutler You need to really explain your assessment of older Simplexes. quote: Will Kutler Older Simplexes would be destroyed in a heartbeat if left in the hands of todays popcorn/concession "shredders". Will, that is precisely my point. I've always been practical and a realist. Most existing installations of Supers that I've encountered in the last 10-15 years have declined to the point where "clunkers" is the operative term. As you know, real projectionists are few and far between these days. Engineered better? I never said they weren't.  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 3 pages: 1  2  3

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.