Neumade 35mm film splicer

[Tom Tomlinson]

thanks for the comments-we shall see how things proceed ...gee....will I need a lawyer?---
the sellers latest reply via email--

If you want this returned you will need to pay to ship this back and process it. If the item appears damaged we will contest this. The item was in good working order when we sent it

looking back on this transaction on ebay---https://www.ebay.com/itm/114689791491
the item description--the seller--the expert he claims to be--

Rare NEUTAPER FILM SPLICER W/Splicing Tape Works Fine. Condition is "Used". Shipped with USPS Priority Mail. I believe it’s 35mm could be 16 not sure

they--the seller- didnt even know the diff visually based on the pix in the sale.
I think, visually-- based on my zero experience with the splicer --the rust I see in the guide posts--need to be wd40-ed or something.

[Randy Stankey]

...The item was in good working order when we sent it...

Looking at the pictures on the Ebay listing, the splicer is/was, at minimum, rusty, dirty and in need of a good cleaning and realignment.

It's hard to tell by the pictures but it appears like all the parts are there. Some of the screws are chowdered but that's not a show stopper. I have worked on splicers with screws worse than that. The punch pins and die holes look okay but I can't see everything.

The biggest problem I can see is the rust. Again, not a show stopper but it needs to be dealt with.

If it was my splicer, I'd tear it down, clean it and fix it back up.

For the rust, WD-40 probably won't do it. If it was me, I'd use acid.
Muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid) that you buy at Home Depot for cleaning concrete will work if you dilute it.
4 parts water plus 1 part acid. Use a non-metallic scrub brush. Wear rubber gloves and all the usual protective gear.
Dip the parts for a couple of minutes then take them out and scrub. Don't leave the parts in the solution. Dip them again if they need it.
Rinse well with cool water, not hot. Hot water can cause flash rust to form on bare metal. We just busted our butts to get the rust off. Didn't we?
Dry the parts well then apply a drop of light machine oil.

Do be careful with painted or delicate parts. You ARE using acid, here.

You can clean off the tape adhesive residue with either alcohol or lighter fluid. I often just use 90% isopropyl alcohol from the drug store.
Standard procedure. Scrub with a non-metallic brush and/or swabs but don't use oil on any parts that come into contact with film.

Most of the reassembly is academic. A person who can change the oil in his car should be able to do it.

The "gotchas" come when reassembling the guide posts and the punch/die set. The punch/die are custom fit and only go together one way. We already talked about that. The guide posts are left and right handed. Mark them or keep them separated so that you know which is which. (Thread a screw into the bottom hole of one of them and remember which side it was on.)

After that, the only tricky part left is getting the blade holders lined up right. We can burn that bridge when the water crosses under it.
Let's get the rest of our waterfowl into a linear formation, first.

Would I say that the splicer is in "good working order" as the seller said? Marginal, at best. I wouldn't splice film with it in its current state of repair. No.

On the bright side, unless there is something I missed in the pictures, it does appear like the splicer can be put back into working order if you want to work on it.

If you want to return it and get a refund then buy another splicer in better condition, that's up to you.

[Tom Tomlinson]

thanks again for your input

[Jesse Crooks]

He didn't even know if it was 16mm or 35mm! He's clearly not capable of determining whether it's in good working order. The seller's not acting in good faith.

Don't use WD-40. A light oil would be better. If you want to start simple, take the punch off and wipe the visible rust off the posts with some oil. That might be enough (hard to tell from the photo). If it's more than just light corrosion, some 0000 steel wool would be cheaper and less involved than using acid, and wouldn't require as much disassembly.

[Randy Stankey]

If there is rust, you need to remove all of it or else it will spread and go deeper into the metal. Rust begets more rust. Just wiping the surface won't work for the long term.

If the rust is really bad, there is a mixture of hydrochloric, phosphoric and glacial acetic acids that you can use. We used to use it in the plating shop where I worked but I don't remember the proportions. I'd have to look it up. (or calculate by molar ratios)

In this case, I think that plain, old HCl will work if you dilute it down to 1 or 2 molar.
(Where the 20 Be Muriatic you buy at Home Depot is approx. 10M.)

We used to use HCl to clean steel in the plating shop at 5M but we were cleaning 50-100 lb. of parts at a time and they were only dipped for less than a minute. Then they were dipped in deionized water with a bit of detergent and centrifuged until dry.

The process used in a home workshop is different than the process in an industrial setting but the principle is the same.

[Nantawat Kittiwarakul]

Obviously can't be in good working order at all, with that amount of rust on both columns. However it's probably still in "restorable" condition, provided that if you're dedicated enough.

Once got this splicer "as is" for ridiculously cheap a few years ago from local FB marketplace (label had already fallen off, but presumed to be Japanese-made SHINKO brand). Upon receive It was completely stuck - no movement AT ALL, and with unimaginable amount of gunk/goo around the punch head. Spent about an hour with tons of degreaser/cleaner to unfrozen it, and half a day for disassembly/deep cleaning/reassembly. Plus a few more days for final alignment/tweaking. In the end it still look pathetic, but always gives good, sharp cut every time until today.
Not bad for $30 junk - worth every minute spent on it.

You may consider making some negotiation with the seller using this whole thread as an evidence. Let's see how "expert" the seller can be.

[Jesse Crooks]

If there is rust, you need to remove all of it or else it will spread and go deeper into the metal. Rust begets more rust. Just wiping the surface won't work for the long term.

Once you get it, you should also be maintaining it. If there's light corrosion and you clean it off with oil, then clean and relube it once or twice a year you'll be fine. Again, this only applies to light corrosion. If it's rusted to shit then more aggressive measures must be taken.

[Randy Stankey]

Agreed.

If it's a minor case of surface rust, the treatment would be different and less aggressive than a more severe one.

When I was a kid, my father taught me to get surface rust off guns using plain gun oil and a piece of brown paper.
It only worked on light rust where you didn't want to sand through the bluing, otherwise you'd have to re-blue the whole gun.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

I am appalled at the suggestion in these threads of even having WD-40 around. The stuff is crap and if you have a can of it throw it away. WD-40 was invented to displace moisture in guided missile electrical connectors. It is not a lubricant. There are much better choices. Also, I used to soak the punch and die in solvent for a couple of days to rid them of the last spec of goo before I ever tried aligning them. You can also soak the rusted parts in vinegar for several days to remove the rust, or make a paste out of baking soda.

[Rich Haddard]

I have a Neumade 35SS splicer that works as it should EXCEPT the cutter does not cut easily or completely most of the time and the resulting cut is never really straight. Can these be removed and sharpened similar to what one would do with a kitchen knife or are replacements available? Thanks for your input...

[Steve Guttag]

They can. The whole cutter assembly is held onto the frame with two screws. Note, there will be shims behind the cutter to space it exactly so that you have a perfect butt splice. The moving part of the cutter can also come off easily enough. Loosen the set screw on the color that forms the pivot and ensure that it doesn't go flying when the spring pushes on it. With the moving part of the cutter removed from the assembly, one can sharpen it much easier.

Then it is just a matter of putting it all back together in reverse order. Make sure you get it straight an level with the registration plate (stage) and it should be good to go.

[Randy Stankey]

I have a Neumade 35SS splicer that works as it should EXCEPT the cutter does not cut easily or completely most of the time and the resulting cut is never really straight. Can these be removed and sharpened similar to what one would do with a kitchen knife or are replacements available? Thanks for your input...

First, clean the splicer.

I'm sure that you keep it clean. Not hinting that you don't.
However, whenever you are trying to fix a piece of equipment, it's much harder to do when the thing is dirty.

After cleaning, inspect for broken, worn or misaligned parts then make repairs as necessary.

Once that is done, you can go through the splicer and decide if it needs to be sharpened or have anything else done to it.

I learned, pretty quickly, that it's easier to fix projectors and other things when you know that they are clean.

[Rich Haddard]

All good info Steve and Randy, thanks. The splicer is immaculate and punches and trims the tape with zero issues. When I get some time I will see what I can do to sharpen the film cutter.

[Randy Stankey]

I have had some luck filing the film cutter to get it working again.

Remove the cutter from the splicer and disassemble it down to nuts and bolts or, at least, as far as you can go, safely.

Clamp the cutting parts in a vise and file them straight to get all the nicks out then square them up.
First, use a medium-coarse file then a finer one.

If you have a good quality sharpening stone that is still square, use it to smooth out any burrs or rough edges until they are smooth and shiny.

If the cutter isn't too badly worn, you should be able to get it "good as new" if you are careful.
I've done it a few times but do be careful. You have to use the right touch.

If you know how to file an aperture plate, you should be able to touch up a film cutter.

[Frank Angel]

Did Neumade make a splicer for fox hole prints. I know Griswold did (we chucked ours as soon as we got the Neumade. BAD MOVE because the Griswold had fox hole pins and there are plenty of them for sale online, but which one -- R2 or R3? ...information lost in time.