8mm Forum: Tape Splice or Cement Splice, What do you Guys Recomend?

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Topic: Tape Splice or Cement Splice, What do you Guys Recomend?

Pablo Alvarez Roth
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 129
From: Chile
Registered: Aug 2006

posted August 16, 2006 06:47 PM

Hi there,

I need some help, Some of the film digests I have bought are cut, old tape splices have come apart, so I need to join them together.

What do you guys recomend, Should i get from ebay a tape splicer o a cement splicer. And which brand should get kodak or what, all this is new for me.

and what type of splicer should I get a universal?, one that cuts and guides, or scaper or what (need some recomendation).

thanks guys.

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Steve Klare
Film Guy

Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted August 16, 2006 07:03 PM

Splicers are like golf clubs: different ones are better for different things.

Where I can get away with it (ie: acetate) I do cement splices with a Bolex Bevel cement splicer. The flat splices are friendly to sound striping and they are very hard to see up on the screen.

Otherwise I do tape splices. I haven't found a really favorite tape splicer yet, so I really can't recommend one. (I'll leave that to other members.)

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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

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Mike Peckham
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1461
From: West Sussex, UK.
Registered: Jun 2003

posted August 17, 2006 03:07 AM

Hi Pablo

It seems to me that in the 8mm orld there are advocates of tape splicers and advocates of cement splicers and never the two shall agree! [Big Grin]

I personally always use tape splices, I've tried cement splicing but never really got on with them, my experience of older films which have been cement spliced has generally been that the splices all seem to come apart during projection; a couple of years ago I undertook to transfer to video a huge pile of 8mm and super 8 home movies that belong to a friend of my parents, the job took probably ten times as long as it should because almost every cement splice came apart in the projector, the tape splices however remained sound. The ensuing frustration really put me off cement splicing but I'm sure others will vouch for cement splices being longer lasting and less obtrusive during projection, I guess it's all down to your own personal experience.

Mike [Cool]

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Auntie Em must have stopped wondering where I am by now...

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Steve Klare
Film Guy

Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted August 17, 2006 08:21 AM

That's interesting, Mike! My experience has been exactly the opposite! I find that given enough time tape splices spread and fail, but once properly made a cement splice is as strong as the film itself, and stays that way permanently. Perhaps in both of our cases it was the quality of the materials we were using.

We need to be careful here though: discussions of politics and religion have been banned from the board so as not to inflame passions. Discussions of cement splices vs. tape can get just as heated!

Hey! Whatever works!

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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

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Marc Marti
Film Handler

Posts: 66
From: La Vall d'Uixo (Spain)
Registered: Jun 2005

posted August 17, 2006 08:22 AM

As I said on the other post:

I don't recommend tape splices except for an urgency in the middle of a projection.

Cement splicing is less noticiable (tape gets dirty around the edges and sometimes makes a little flash on the screen) and it will last forever. So for me there's no better option.

Hammann cutters are the best, but a Bolex splicer is second to none.

And remember: in the professional world, tape is for eventual or temporal splice (workprint cuts, etc...) and cement is for the definitive splice. Again: Cement is forever.

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Marc

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Jan Bister
Darth 8mm

Posts: 2629
From: Ohio, USA
Registered: Jan 2005

posted August 17, 2006 01:17 PM

I prefer cement splices for their durability... but one does have to invest more care and attention into making them to get good results. Tape splices, on the other hand, are fairly easy (depending on the splicer used). I also find they can be made very cleanly and near-invisibly if you keep your work area and the film ends to be spliced meticulously clean of dust and grime/fingerprints. A quick dab of Goo-Gone on the film ends, followed by wiping them dry, then tape-splicing them does the trick for me. Also, I recommend you avoid the wrap-around splices that are designed for films with one magnetic stripe only. Instead, use the dual-stripe splices; these come with two separate tapes for either side of the film and run more smoothly and less noticeably through the projector.

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Call me Phoenix. *dusts off the ashes*

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Craig Hamilton
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 501
From: Luton
Registered: Sep 2004

posted August 17, 2006 02:01 PM

I personally use tape for Super 8. Cement for Standard 8.

I don’t mind repairing broken splices, I tend to make a better job myself on the repairs & it’s all part of the hobby.

Has anyone ever noticed that after filling your lungs full of film cement a few times, life feels good [Big Grin]

Craig

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I dream of becoming a dealer!!!!!!
Is Perry's Movies for Sale.

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Graham Ritchie
Film God

Posts: 4001
From: New Zealand
Registered: Feb 2006

posted August 17, 2006 03:40 PM

Hi Pablo
I would recomend the Wurker S 8 tape splicer ideal for stereo sound tracks, the splices I use are Wurker type : Duoplay 4 sound, reference number 3770 hope this is of some help.
Graham.

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Pablo Alvarez Roth
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 129
From: Chile
Registered: Aug 2006

posted August 17, 2006 07:05 PM

Thanks guys,

It seems to me that Tape vs cement, is the same as asking, star wars or star trek, beta or vhs, pc vs mac etc, etc, etc...

I understand it depens on the user and quility of the product, I guess since I´m a newbie I´ll start with tape and see how it goes.

Thanks guys I´ll look in ebay and see what I´ll get.

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Winbert Hutahaean
Film God

Posts: 5468
From: Nouméa, New Caledonia
Registered: Jun 2003

posted August 22, 2006 12:23 AM

Warning: not to be followed if you really care your films.

When I was running out the tape, in an emergency situation, I use a tip (very tiny) of super glue. I left a bit more space above the sprocket then using Fuji Film splicing machine (only to measure the space between the sprockets), I glued it.

It's running OK with the machine.

cheers,

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Winbert

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Kevin Faulkner
Film God

Posts: 4071
From: Essex UK
Registered: Jun 2003

posted August 22, 2006 08:10 AM

Winbert, There was an item in Movie Maker many years a go about using super glue and they said it worked very well indeed.

I use the Wurker patches and have had no problems with them at all not even falling apart after using FilmRenew. I allways clean the film ends with isoprop to degrease the area before applying the patches.

I used to cement splice acetate films years a go but found that as they dried out they fell apart on my early GS1200. The ver 1 GS's have a forward loop under the lens and a small rubber roller before the sound head. This puts too much strain on cement joins and is one of the reasons that Elmo changed the design to the more gentle layout of the ST600/180. [Smile]

Kev.

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GS1200 Xenon with Elmo 1.0...great combo along with a 16-CL Xenon for that super bright white light.

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David Brooks
Junior
Posts: 16
From: League City, TX, USA
Registered: Jun 2006

posted August 22, 2006 11:46 AM

I started to use tape when I got into Super8mm back in the mid 1960s. I have thousands of feet of film I shot and spiced using those Kodak press on tapes. I have checked those reels and have no problem with the splices. I have though of redoing them as those horrible Kodak splicers with that awful "s" type cut they made are annoying.

Bottom line, tape is durable and lasts the test of time (so far). I only use cement splicing on a few acetate 16mm films, otherwise, everything, is tape now (Super8, 16mm and 35mm).

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Dave Brooks

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