8mm Forum: What to do about brittle 8mm film.

This is topic What to do about brittle 8mm film. in forum 8mm Forum at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Alejandro Olivera (Member # 4725) on April 11, 2019, 04:48 PM:

Hello everybody.... greetings from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
A while back I inherented my father’s collection of home movies.
In the 1960's my father was shooting silent 8mm film.
After the film was developed he would add sound by putting a brown liquid on the side of the film. I don't remember how it worked but you could put sound to the silent film. My father would add music, dialog or funny noises. But with time the brown liquid made the film very brittle.Now I want to transfer it to a digital format.
Does anybody have a suggestion on how to deal with this?. I don’t care about the audio, just want to recover the film.
Many thanks, I love this forum.

Posted by Joe Taffis (Member # 4) on April 12, 2019, 09:16 AM:

Treating the film with a lubricant/cleaner like Filmguard would help; if you can get it shipped to where you are...

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on April 12, 2019, 09:23 AM:

Alejandro,

I agree with Joe. Take a test section and soak it for a few days in a lubricating solution (such as FilmGuard). That could soften it up enough for one attempt at digitizing before it reverts back to its brittle state.

I've asked a Forum member who specializes in archiving and preservation to check out your question.

Doug

Posted by Alejandro Olivera (Member # 4725) on April 12, 2019, 10:23 AM:

Thank you both to Joe and Douglas for the quick response.
I have to look into getting my hands on that FilmGuard liquid.
Thanks again.
Alex.

Posted by David Michael Leugers (Member # 166) on April 16, 2019, 11:20 PM:

I have had good results putting the film on a metal reel and soaking it submerged inside a metal film can containing FilmRenew for at least two weeks time. Really bad film I first try the same type of technic but instead of liquid FilmRenew, I place Camphor crystals inside the can. I use stainless steel washers or something similar to raise the reel up slightly from the bottom of the can so that the vapors of the camphor can rise up through the film. This process makes the film pliable again. Be very careful using camphor and follow all precautions. I follow up with treatment with FilmRenew. Good luck.

Posted by Alejandro Olivera (Member # 4725) on April 17, 2019, 10:33 AM:

Thank you very much David for that info.
I will keep that in mind when it comes to do the actual “restoration”job.
All the best.
Alex

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on April 17, 2019, 11:22 AM:

Mix it with peanut butter ...

... and make peanut "brittle".

(I'm in a silly mood) [Smile]

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