8mm Forum: New (very old) toy!

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Topic: New (very old) toy!

Chris Bird
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 218
From: Kingston upon Thames, UK
Registered: Jul 2013

posted May 20, 2018 03:49 AM

Yesterday I collected my 1911 Pathe 35mm projector after a lengthy restoration.

I acquired the machine back in 2011, and my friend Martyn Stevens did some of the early work on it, replacing the damaged sprockets from another machine, and making a new front shutter. Then the main work was done by Nigel Lister, who made a new lamp house from scratch.

It has a 36v 400w cooled lamp in there. He also did a great deal of work stripping and cleaning the machine, so it now sparkles like new. It's all working - we ran a test film (not nitrate!) on it yesterday.

I'm hoping to do a few shows with it this year at the Cinema Museum and elsewhere. It's very humbling to be able to still crank film through a 107 year old machine. And it predates even 28mm, let alone 9.5mm, 16mm etc!

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Dominique De Bast
Film God

Posts: 4486
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jun 2013

posted May 20, 2018 03:55 AM

Great !

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Dominique

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Tom Photiou
Film God

Posts: 4837
From: Plymouth U.K
Registered: Dec 2003

posted May 20, 2018 03:57 AM

Wow Chris, that looks fantastic. A fews years of work by many has certainly paid off. That is impressive. [Cool]

[ May 20, 2018, 06:50 AM: Message edited by: Tom Photiou ]

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David Hardy
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 955
From: Johnshaven Village , Montrose, Scotland
Registered: Jan 2015

posted May 20, 2018 04:33 AM

That is an excellent piece of restoration and a real labour of love there Chris. Absolutely brilliant i would like one of those.

You should do a few more of those if you can find them and maybe open up the world's first Multiplex Silent Cinema.

I will come out of retirement and work for you as a projectionist. [Wink]

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" My equipment's more important than your rats. "

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Mark Mander
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1236
From: Dunstable ,Bedfordshire.
Registered: Jan 2005

posted May 20, 2018 05:47 AM

Looks great Chris,it looks very similar to the one on Jeff Randalls desk in Randall and Hopkirk deceased tv series,Mark

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Elmo GS1200 1.0 lens
Elmo ST1200HD 1.1 lens
Sankyo 800 1.0 lens
Elmo 16CL
Elf NT1

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Panayotis A. Carayannis
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 969
From: Athens,Greece
Registered: Jul 2008

posted May 20, 2018 02:38 PM

It's a beauty! Congratulations1

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Chris Bird
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 218
From: Kingston upon Thames, UK
Registered: Jul 2013

posted May 20, 2018 02:43 PM

Thanks so much gents, your enthusiasm is much appreciated. I love that our hobby can encompass everything from a GS1200 Xenon right back to this pioneering era. I feel so privileged not only to have found this machine, but also the skilled people capable of brining it back to life.

David, actually it's not as far fetched as you might think, I have a total of 5 silent era 35mm machines in various states of completeness and restoration! Two are fully restored to working order, one is too incomplete to even think about. And I am pondering the future of this Gaumont machine from 1913 - it's missing quite a lot, and I am thinking of donating it to a new museum that has just opened, if they want it.

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Graham Ritchie
Film God

Posts: 4001
From: New Zealand
Registered: Feb 2006

posted May 20, 2018 03:28 PM

Looks fantastic Chris, hope one day you can post a short video of the projector on Vimeo or you-tube [Smile]

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Janice Glesser
Film Goddess

Posts: 3468
From: Sunnyvale, CA USA
Registered: Sep 2011

posted May 20, 2018 03:33 PM

Absolutely beautiful projector and kudos to the restoration. You should be proud to own it.

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Janice

"I'm having a very good day!"
Richard Dreyfuss - Let It Ride (1989).

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David Hardy
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 955
From: Johnshaven Village , Montrose, Scotland
Registered: Jan 2015

posted May 21, 2018 04:20 PM

Chris that's just brilliant. You should maybe do an article for Projections or Film Collector magazines here in the UK.

I am sure Pete and Phil and the readers would love this.

Good luck with your restoration projects. [Smile]

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" My equipment's more important than your rats. "

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Steven J Kirk
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 873
From: Southern England
Registered: Apr 2008

posted May 22, 2018 10:12 AM

Fantastic! A great achievement.

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VistaVision
Motion Picture High-Fidelity

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Chris Bird
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 218
From: Kingston upon Thames, UK
Registered: Jul 2013

posted May 24, 2018 03:00 AM

Thanks so much everyone! Yes, really thrilled to own it, and I'm busy lining up a few shows for it.

If anyone has any silent (i.e. full aperture) material on 35mm, safety stock, get in touch! I have about four reels worth of material, but will certainly be on the look out for more.

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