8mm Forum: Is this curl, dry? Can both be fixed?

This is topic Is this curl, dry? Can both be fixed? in forum 8mm Forum at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Pete Holzmann (Member # 889) on March 02, 2014, 10:58 PM:

I'm digitizing a big pile of R8 and S8 film for my family and a few friends. One friend handed me half a dozen very old R8 reels that sadly were not properly stored (since mid-late 1940's to 1950's.) Rubber bands that once held the film/leader in place had dried and/or melted into the outer layers, destroying the leader.

For five of the six films I have been able to clean and splice them together, using fresh leader between each length (for some reason, regular film solvent / Bolex splicer doesn't work on the old films?!) However, several of the films are badly curled along the length (curled toward the middle of the reel) and also slightly shorter lengthwise so they don't exactly fit the pins on a splicer.

The sixth one is really bad. The film is curled, plus so dry it cracks if I attempt to bend it much at all. There's no way it will run through a projector or capture unit in this state.

I've been using Urbanski's Solvon for general cleaning, and have read here about FilmRenew.

My questions:

1) [Perhaps urgent? [Smile]

] Is it safe to soak film in a heavy duty ziplock bag? The solvent doesn't seem to immediately attack the ziplock plastic but given the warnings about sticking to plastic reels, I'm a bit leery.

2) Is it safe to soak film in a metal can that has the typical blue coloring on the metal? I'm again concerned about solvents attacking coatings over time.

3) Do any of these solvents actually cure the kind of curl I'm describing? How long a soak is necessary to "release" the curl?

4) Is there any hope for a reel that is soooo dry? I *was* able to gently unspool the reel and hand-loop it into a pancake with no reel, so it can be soaked as just film. (If dry/cracking can be cured, again how long is that likely to take?)

Anyone have experience with whether Solvon can do this and/or FilmRenew?

Thanks SOooo much. I really want to do whatever I can for my friend's family... he's the one who introduced me to the lady who has now been my wife for almost 35 years [Smile]

Blessings,
Pete

Posted by Dino Everette (Member # 1378) on March 02, 2014, 11:40 PM:

Pete I think that reel is not going to get any better. I have some reels that I have worked on for years.. I soaked one in Film Renew for a year straight and, I fear that once they reach this curled/dry state, where simply touching them can cause them to crack, they are not going to get any better. That being said your best chance is to transfer them one by one in small roughly 1 foot sections. I have had some success doing this. Granted it is extremely time consuming but it is better than never transferring the material. One other thing to keep in mind is you will have some focus issues because of the curl

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