Seeking parts list for Speco LP-270 MUT

[Dana St. Amand]

Hey Y'all,

I'm helping a small theater get their 35mm system back up and running, but they're missing their MUT for their Speco LP-270 platter. They haven't been able to find one for sale so I'm helping rebuild one from the ground up. I'm armed with the schematics from the original manual, but they're not as detailed as I would like. Does anyone have either the original parts list PDF that I saw linked on the Speco website (Wayback Machine) or could anyone help me out by looking at their MUT and taking down the parts numbers? The big ones I need are the motor, variable transformer, and gearbox if that's not a custom Speco part.

[Ryan Gallagher]

The obvious question to ask is what is their intended use of a restored 35mm capacity (what type of bookings)? If they want to do anything other than exclusively brand new release prints, the platter project is not worth the effort in my mind. Pretty much any back-catalog print you can book is going to prohibit you from building it up and breaking it down for platter.

And first run release prints (of which there are a tiny smattering) can be specified in standard 15" and 24" changeover reels.

[Dana St. Amand]

Full disclosure, I'm not a projectionist. I'm just someone who makes things. Forgive me if I get something wrong here and for transparency's sake, it's in my favor if the MUT rebuild goes forward.

That being said, the theater is a small single-screen theater that primarily shows older films. It's not near any major metropolitan area if that changes how reels get shipped. If they wanted to forgo the platter system, what would you suggest for sending the film through the projector? Wouldn't there still need to be a beefy system for the reels to spin on? It's a Simplex X-L if that changes your answer at all.

As far as the MUT is concerned, I know from the schematics how things are put together and I can build out a new table pretty quickly if I can find the part specifics.

[Frank Cox]

There are two main transport mechanisms for showing movies using a film projector.

The first (original and oldest) method is reel to reel. You mount a payout reel above the projector and a takeup reel below the projector, and the film winds from the top reel to the bottom as the movie plays. You can have a second (changeover) projector beside the first one and then you set up the second reel of the movie on the second projector and have it ready to start as soon as the first reel hits the end. There's a bit of an art to doing this in a way that's invisible to the audience.

The other method is with a platter system where you splice all of the reels together end-to-end on the platter table so you have what amounts to one big reel of movie sitting horizontally on the table, and then run the whole movie through a single projector from start to finish without stopping. This is what the Speco platter you're looking at is for.

For platter systems you have to build up and tear down the film, cutting the leaders off and splicing the reels together and then undoing your splices and winding the film back onto the shipping reels after your presentation is over.

For reel to reel systems you can (usually) just run the movie as-is -- pull the reels out of the cans, rewind them if needed and then thread up and start playing the movie.

Google will show you many pictures of projectors using both of these transport methods.

[Ryan Gallagher]

Full disclosure, I'm not a projectionist. I'm just someone who makes things. Forgive me if I get something wrong here and for transparency's sake, it's in my favor if the MUT rebuild goes forward.

That being said, the theater is a small single-screen theater that primarily shows older films. It's not near any major metropolitan area if that changes how reels get shipped. If they wanted to forgo the platter system, what would you suggest for sending the film through the projector? Wouldn't there still need to be a beefy system for the reels to spin on? It's a Simplex X-L if that changes your answer at all.

As far as the MUT is concerned, I know from the schematics how things are put together and I can build out a new table pretty quickly if I can find the part specifics.

If their booth has space, there is no "harm" in continuing to revive their platter system and having it be available in tandem with a two projector reel-to-reel option. But the current reality of back-catalog prints is that the distributors or archives will REQUIRE reel-to-reel two projector change over systems. If there is only one projector at that venue they have bigger obstacles than restoring the platter drive.

If they were aiming for exclusively first run 35mm, priorities might be different relative to the platter. Or if they had access to a large personal collection of prints with permissions to platter them. They might also aim for owning a print or two that they can do whatever with and show them annually on 35mm via the platter. Rights purchase are still required but at least there would be no restrictions on the projection methods. But to be serious about showing existing prints these days you at minimum need the two projectors and associated accessories for change-over operation.

[Dana St. Amand]

Ah, there's the rub. It's such a small both they have the theater's original 35mm projector and platter system minus MUT and where a second projector for reel-to-reel could go they have their digital projector, and they're not about to stop showing DCPs.

How do you mean they "require" reel-to-reel? couldn't any reel be transferred to the platter, spliced or not, assuming you had room to spin it?

[Dana St. Amand]

There are two main transport mechanisms for showing movies using a film projector.

The first (original and oldest) method is reel to reel. You mount a payout reel above the projector and a takeup reel below the projector, and the film winds from the top reel to the bottom as the movie plays. You can have a second (changeover) projector beside the first one and then you set up the second reel of the movie on the second projector and have it ready to start as soon as the first reel hits the end. There's a bit of an art to doing this in a way that's invisible to the audience.

The other method is with a platter system where you splice all of the reels together end-to-end on the platter table so you have what amounts to one big reel of movie sitting horizontally on the table, and then run the whole movie through a single projector from start to finish without stopping. This is what the Speco platter you're looking at is for.

For platter systems you have to build up and tear down the film, cutting the leaders off and splicing the reels together and then undoing your splices and winding the film back onto the shipping reels after your presentation is over.

For reel to reel systems you can (usually) just run the movie as-is -- pull the reels out of the cans, rewind them if needed and then thread up and start playing the movie.

Google will show you many pictures of projectors using both of these transport methods.

Sorry, I forgot to add the context in my original reply of this theater only having one projector and speculating about a non-platter single projector solution. I have at least done my research enough to have seen these two methods!

[Ryan Gallagher]

Ah, there's the rub. It's such a small both they have the theater's original 35mm projector and platter system minus MUT and where a second projector for reel-to-reel could go they have their digital projector, and they're not about to stop showing DCPs.

How do you mean they "require" reel-to-reel? couldn't any reel be transferred to the platter, spliced or not, assuming you had room to spin it?

Physically yes. But it has to do with the permissions the source of the print gives you. Platters are known to cause more damage to prints over time, as is the extra handling of building them up and breaking them down, among other reasons, as such most sources of 35mm prints these days explicitly forbid the modifications you would require to platter a film that is shipped on reels or cores.

Plattering a film when you were instructed not to is a great way to never be allowed to book a print from that source again, and it's a small industry these days, might get blacklisted across multiple distributors until they change their systems and get assurances about print handling and exhibition practices.

Maybe there is a chance they put their 2nd projector into storage? But yeah a bit of booth re-design would perhaps be in order. Getting rid of the platter saves a ton of space, but it if wasn't located on the front wall where an additional porthole can be added, then doesn't really gain the needed projector space.

[Ryan Gallagher]

I should add there are other "valid" reasons to revive a single projector and platter other than explicitly for showing films. If this is a historical venue and a non-profit, there is lots of "value" in giving donors booth tours and showing people how it "used to be done". A working projector and platter combination with a venue owned print or whack of trailers spliced together is a great demonstration/education/outreach tool, even if you never sell a single ticket for a 35mm feature length print again.

[Dana St. Amand]

Gotcha, that all makes sense. I've been emailing back and forth with a few theaters that still use Christie platters so I can direct the theater I'm working with to them for when they start trying to book prints as well as bring this up. There's physically no room in the booth for a second projector. The theaters original platter system is behind both the 35mm and digital projector. It's a really small space.

In the meantime, I'm still under contract to do my full diligence and build out a MUT plan to be looked over, so any help on that front is greatly appreciated.