Details

Category: 16mm

Zeiss 16mm

 

ZEISS 16mm 

I have a Zeiss Icon machine with the two spools side by side under the mech. One problem is the finish like so many machines, there is a sort of lacquer over the black paint. This has deteriorated with time and is now patchy, dulled and vaguely sticky and impossible to get to look good. That Loffler man (again) suggested methylated spirits; this does seem to remove the lacquer, but also some paint. Whether this is the meths or just paint that has over time drifted away from its partner metal so that this new challenge has broken the remaining bonds, revealing the shallowness of their residual commitment to each other and so leading to divorce (poetic metaphor, eh?) is unclear. Still experimenting. Can anyone contribute experience? Update. Have now finished stripping the lacquer off the Zeiss, using both meths and surgical spirit. On the main casting, paint is not affected; some effect on the parts that are just painted steel, but it does seem limited to areas of poor finish. A note of warning, however; on Bolex machines the top lacquer coat is the colour coat. The meths will remove it, leaving you with a very odd looking beast. As with anything like this, test on a small out-of-sight bit first. (The other thing about the Bolex PA/DA is, even if some twit hasn't over-lamped it at some point, the lamphouse discolours and/or rusts. Does anyone know a colour match for that strange Bolex shade?)

Some pictures now of the Zeiss. I had to take it apart as it would not go, so did a bit of rewiring as well.

Reading from left to right, we have before and after pix re lacquer. The dull finish is before any polishing; actually not bad in its own right. You can see I worked round a little arrow transfer - the meths would no doubt have removed it. Cotton buds were a blessing in this job. Then motor/lamp/switch wires, using the new heat resist stuff I mentioned. The fault lay in the switch. In the off position, it comes to rest against part of the fibre body of the switch, with some force. Over time, this had worn a slight dent into the fibre, which was stopping the contact from moving when the switch was operated. The switch seemed to work from the outside, but on the inside nothing happened. Then we have the motor itself, the motor resistance, again re-wired, and finally a view of the innards from the back with the motor removed. At back right, in the hole where the motor was, you can just see a little device, which links thru to a button on the outside. It appears to be a commutator cleaner; there is a pad of felt which can be brought into contact with the commutator by pressing on the button outside. You can also see at the bottom of the main shutter a gauze centrifugally-operated heat filter. Not sure I understand why you want a filter to come into operation only when the machine is running, as appears to be the case. Maybe I'm getting something wrong.

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Here now is a picture of the machine as finally re-assembled. I have also included a pic to show an irritating design fault (left). If you look closely

at the lower sprocket guard, you can see a little tab for opening the guard for threading. You can also see a slot that leaves only a tiny point of connection at each end of the curved section to which the tab is attached, to join to the rest of the guard. What is maybe less obvious is that this little piece has broken off and is just placed in situ for the pic. The spring on the guard is quite strong and it seems absolutely inevitable that the tab should break off (I've seen another just the same). It's not terribly serious, just an irritation. Pic 3 I have borrowed  from the Curzon website to show the improvement made to the poorly-designed lower sprocket guard on my machine.

However, investigating this gave me a small piece of new info. If you look at the main pic, you can see a small tag above the lens, attached to a sort of not-exactly-round ring that fits very loosely round the lens and slides up and down. I could not figure out what on earth it was for. I discovered that if you fully open the sprocket guard referred to above, it engages with this ring thing and is held up while you thread. Pulling the tag up releases the guard.

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I've processed another Zeiss into my collection, a Kinox N. It had, I fear, been rather neglected by being exposed to damp. In consequence, much of the brightwork was quite badly rusted, requiring sanding while rotating at speed in a drill. The worst bit, a curved guard round the back of the lamphouse, had unfortunately to be done by hand. My experience of some early nickel plate is pretty negative - either there was nothing better or they simply didn't put it on thick enough. It detracts from what is otherwise high quality engineering.

First is the highly complex claw mechanism. It's a 3-pin claw and is one of those that does a skip between each pull-down. I don't really know why this approach was ever used - it must increase wear. (Someone has now told me - it means the claw mech is moving twice as fast and so gives a quicker pull-down. I think this means smaller shutter blades and so more light thru to the screen.) The bronze circle at the back is the centrifugal heat shutter. Top left is a little reservoir with a felt pad, which you can fill with oil from the outside thru a little sliding porthole. Second is the partly spherical prism that turns the light from the lamp thru the necessary right angle. Rather better than a tatty bit of mirror. Third is a general view form the back. The back, top and sides of the projector all hinge back in one piece in the direction of the camera to provide excellent access. The odd contraption centre right above the motor is a resistance controlling the brightness of the lamp. This has a mechanical linkage from a knob on the front of the machine, and is also mechanically interlinked with the main switch, so that it is impossible to operate the switch unless the lamp is set at minimum brightness. You can also see the pulley arrangement for the top spool arm, which can be pushed down until the spindle is only just above the top of the machine.

Pic 4 is the unusual two-part front gate. The non-aperture plate is mounted on three springs and has a tension adjustment. I don't know what this is supposed to do. Then the complete machine (lens out for cleaning). Like I said, lots of bits suggesting high quality engineering, but that nickel.... ACW reviewed the machine in December 1937; an ad and the review are the final pix.

This looks like a Zeiss 16, too.

 

 

Details

Category: 16mm

GB L516

 

GB L516

Most of the pix on this page are old-type, that is to say that they are not linked and you have to use the back button after each pic to go back and then click on the next. Sorry; will try to do a pdf.

 

This is a bit of a rush scan; sorry re quality. I also have a much more comprehensive service manual, running to something like 60 pages or more, and another 30+ pages of a spares list. I'm happy to provide copies at cost of photocopying.

 

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Here we have a circuit diagram for an L516 amp. The pre-war review and ad are interesting, as I have never seen a K or S version, and the H is obviously what we would call a Bell & Howell. Apart from the wattage of the lamp (and maybe of the amp?), I'm not sure what the difference is from the L516, for whichI have a soft spot. I have acquired a number of them, partly for spares but mostly because I really dislike the thought of such superb machinery just going to the tip. They can be a bit noisy, but that's not really the point, is it?

I have 2 GB L516 machines that have been adapted in the same manner. Either can be connected to this box (left) which contains the necessary circuitry and transformers for the lamp and the speaker. One lead plugs into what was originally the resistance socket on the side of the machine, to connect the lamp and its transformer. To avoid trying to shoe-horn additional stuff into the main body of the machine, the original speaker lead is used as far as the box, where various gubbins sort things out, so that a normal speaker can just be plugged into the box. This limits the high voltages to a short stretch between projector and box.

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John Fisher has sent me some pages from ACW about the L516.

 

 

 

Details

Category: 16mm

Various 16

 

16MM SOUND

 

This page covers machines about which I have only very basic info. If I know more, there is an individual page for the make/manufacturer. Click on the links below for specific machines. 

Ampro, Bauer, BTH, Carpenter, Debrie, Danson, GBL516, Precisvox,Victor, Phillips, B&H

Bolex

                

First you get a leaflet, then the real thing.

I don't know much about these. Whenever I have been tempted, it is the way the back spool is partly integrated into the body of the machine that has put me off. It seems such a waste of space. But it looks good and has a good reputation, tho' I have heard in recent times (this decade) that there may be a weakness in some of the plastic gears.


Eiki (Elf)

               

This one is early and I've never seen one - maybe they didn't come tor the UK. Below are two later models, both originally 16mm but converted to 9.5mm, thanks to Tony Reypert of Buckingham films These are both recognisably part of a series of models derived from an original design that  Elf used for many years. I am not sure whether the Slim Line was a final fling or just an addtion to the range. Early Xenon versions used the old-style separate power packs but the later versions, such as the Elf-Lite shown here, were one-case switched mode types but still very much part of the basic style.

                         

 

EARLY SOUND-ON-FILM

Here are what I believe are some of the very first sound-on-film narrow gauge machines, dating from around1933-35.

                              

As you can see, things are already getting a bit complicated with the post-war L516 in the market while the early BTH (the colour pic is I think the same machine as in the ads) continues. So I spose  De Vry can go in here too.

 

DeVry

Until DeVry has it's own page, here are some other, definitely later, pix. And one I saw at the PPT.

 

                     

 

Buisse Botazzi

 Found some on French eBay, some at Argenteuil. Make is stated as Buisse-Botazzi. I know little of this maker, but have gained the impression from discussions at the fair in Argenteuil that they are very much the Rolls Roce of narrow-gauge machines (and accordingly expensive and rare). There was even a 9.5 model, even rarer. Note the huge reels in pic 2 - must have had to nail the back down.

          

 

RCA Clone

                          

In the late 1960's or early 1970's, Dixons started advertising what was obviously a somewhat updated copy (made in India, as it happened) of the well-known RCA Hollywood. The main changes were the switch to a transistor amp and a tungsten halogen lamp. The pricipal attraction of the machine was a very low price by then standards. Even so, I could not at that time afford one. As it happened, I managed to acquire one a around 2018 and found its performance excellent.

 

Movie Mite

There is a page on the Danson, but there seem to have been one or two other machines of a somewhat similar design; here is the Movie Mite. One assumes the arms slotted into the body as per Danson.

               

 

Micron

Another similar to Danson.

               

 Cinéric

 

          

 

 

Pathé Pax

               

The Pax-like machine above is in fact the penultimate flowering of the long Pax line of post-war Pathé projectors. The very final model, of which I have a 9.5 version, used piano-key type controls instead of the switches seen in pic 2. It has some interesting features going by my 9.5 one; a variable speed control, forward and reverse on either  110v 0r 220v and, in the magnetic version, the nearest Pathé ever came to something like the B&H double-arm sound smoothing.

 

Oemichen

          

 

ETM? (I know only that my pic titles say etm - I don't know the meaning.)

          

 

 

16mm Vox

               

I would be surprised if anyone had ever seen one of these Hatton clones of a Vox, only uglier. It was, I suspect, one of a number of proposals after the war that never came to anything or, if they did, had a very short life. Pathé France did properly convert the Vox, however, and here is the evidence. The first of them looks very odd because it was taken deep in the stacks of the Cinémathèque Français and I have had to cut out the non-Vox areas of the image. 

Graflex

Got this Graflex. Here are a couple if inside shots; gotta re-do the outside pic. It's got piano-key type controls and a threading lever

      

to help set the loop I think. Problem with this is the motor seems busted - it turns, but with no power and it seems a major winding has gone. Problematic to find a new motor. It's from Bodine Electrical of Chicago, 230v, 1/30 HP, 1425 rpm, 1.5MFD capacitor. To their credit, Bodine responded promptly to my email but, as I had expected, they made it specially for the Graflex long ago and have nothing like it now. It seems to me we need a source of small, capacitor-run induction motors. Anyone got any ideas? I spose one could try cannibalising a B&H for a rather different type of motor......I have a vague idea there were other projectors like the Graflex, with a different badge. I know there were a number of different badged versions of the Bauer P7 type.

 

Miscellaneous

                         

 

                    

The first is a Carpenter, a left-hander that didn't last long.I have one in very good shape but it needs time spending to bring it fully back into operation.  Paul Schimmel tells me it was closely based on the American Natco. Somewhat more long-lived was the Marshall, a B&H mech with a proprietary sound head. The Ericsson is one that belongs in my book of shame. As you can see, it originally had only short "arms" but grew bigger ones later. I was beguiled by the fascinating shape and not put off by the lack of an amp or the super arms. I should never have bought it. I know nothing of this Fumeo - it might never have reached this country. The Hortson is another that hardly if ever can be seen here, but there have been some converted to 9.5. 

Elmo F16

       

 

Courtesy Pat Moules, here is a proper projector of the good old-fashioned type. The 250 HL name is presumably a reference to the unusual mirror used for the lamp. Not sure if this was a lamp with an A1 or ANSI designation or something Elmo did themselves.

 Kodak Pageant

 

 This is a not very good image of a not very good projector. I have one, but it ent working. I tried taking it apart - it's sort of built into a wooden case and once removed is difficult to deal with. This is because it's a weird shape and has no flat side on which it will stand and it keeps falling over. It is a very similar basic design to the Kodak Sound 8, which I also have and which I also took apart. I didn't like the design then and I don't now. I don't know which came first. No doubt it can produce good results when fixed up, but I found nothing within my competence to fix. 

Oh alright. Here are some proper pix. Followed by a couple of a Kodascope sound, which I assume is similar to the one reportedly sold to Noah.