8mm Forum: Bolex M8 Rotary Switch

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Posted by Eric Shepherd (Member # 4326) on June 21, 2014, 02:55 PM:

I have acquired an early Bolex M8, (olive drab with silver & black name plate) The rotary power switch is faulty & needs to be removed for attention. However, I can't for the life of me remove the black composite actuation knob. There is no grub screw or any visible means of holding it on. I have tried easing it off but don't want to break it. Any suggestions welcomed.

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on June 21, 2014, 02:58 PM:

If you have a small gear puller that will provide equal pressure on all sides of the knob, This should allow you to pull it off with out breakage. At least I hope so!

Good luck!

PatD

Posted by Eric Shepherd (Member # 4326) on June 21, 2014, 04:39 PM:

Hi Patd the only gear puller I know of requires that you apply pressure from a central plunger while the legs locate at the edges of the knob. In this cases the knob looks solid, knowhere to locate the central plunger.
Eric

Posted by James E. Stubbs (Member # 817) on June 21, 2014, 08:52 PM:

If it doesn't unscrew or come off easily you might try good old fashioned WD-40. It should be safe.
Cheers,

Posted by Eric Shepherd (Member # 4326) on June 22, 2014, 01:34 AM:

I cannot envisage that this item is held on by friction alone. This switch is quite a chunky affair, which it needs to be to overcome the force needed to operate it. My assumption is that the center portion is a cover for a fixing screw & at sometime in its life someone has glued it in place.

If I break the knob removing it, I did think of replacing it with a 3 way automotive toggle switch, however up to now I haven't found one capable of taking the current through the contacts. I would like to hear from someone who has actually done what I want to do.
Eric.

Posted by Josef Grassmann (Member # 378) on June 30, 2014, 04:08 PM:

Take care automotive switches are often designed for up to 30V DC and not for high voltage 120/240V AC

As far as I remember the knob is moulded to axle!!
But switch gets very, very seldom defective. There is a tricky mechanism. If you push knob inwards and turn,inside a plate with pin rotates and slides into 3 or 4 different slots. It depends on slot, so it might happen, that you can turn on motor but no turn on of bulb.
Solution: Push knob and turn fully clockwise until it rest into a slot (inside, not visible) again. Now turn knob fully counterclockwise without pushing in. Now switch should work normaly as expected.
If still in doubt remove cover plate from foot (6 or 7 screws) and watch mechanical movement when you do as mentioned before.
Than you will understand how it works.
3 sets of contacts are direct visible and you can inspect and clean them if required, too.
There are 2 screws on backside of switch. When you remove them you can dismantle switch, spring, plate with slots and axle with knob. I guess, will not be neccessary.
regards
Josef

Posted by Eric Shepherd (Member # 4326) on July 01, 2014, 12:59 AM:

Hi Joseph.
Thank you for your reply.
However, things have moved on now & I'd better explain more my reasons for needing to remove the switch. The projector is being stripped of all the original electrical & mechanical components & converted to a lamp. I did this last year with a redundant later model M8, see attached picture. I needed to remove the original switch to give me a bare casting so it could be sprayed a different colour, (olive drab isn't lamp friendly.) I eventually bit the bullet with this one & broke the switch knob, which look as if it had been pressed onto the knurled portion of the switch actuation shaft. On last years model, the colour was ok so the problem didn't arise & I used the original switch, with one pole to power a mains voltage lamp & a second pole to power an LED driver for 3 auxiliary LED lamps, which could be switched independently. The current M8 project has been set to one side after I found the cost of spraying would take the overall costs of the project above what I consider a reasonable price for a lamp. Currently I have just finished converting a Kodascope L from 1935, you can see it on Youtube at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn1jVFil6yw
You will probably frown on my actions, however I look at it this way, when an article is past its best, do we throw it on the scrap heap or, put it to a new use, in my opinion I am preserving our past so it will not be forgotten.
Regards Eric.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on July 01, 2014, 09:03 AM:

Hi Eric,
I doubt that you will get much appreciation for your project on this forum. Most people here believe there is no projector anywhere that cannot be repaired and brought back into useful service, and I am sure that is true of the iconic Bolex M8 that you have turned into a room lamp. It may be a novelty, and is surely a conversation piece, but how much more interesting would a fully restored and working projector be. [Frown]

Rather than ruining an incredible piece of high precision film equipment, do as I did, and buy a piece of Chinese junk ( modelled after the 9.5mm Pathe Lux) for $19.95:

Posted by Eric Shepherd (Member # 4326) on July 01, 2014, 09:58 AM:

No thanks, there's no substitute for the real thing, those eastern junk models make me cringe.
Eric.

Posted by Vidar Olavesen (Member # 3354) on July 01, 2014, 10:10 AM:

I agree that it's quite sad to see a possibly salvageable projector turned into a lamp and also that plastic doesn't look quite as good

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on July 01, 2014, 10:16 AM:

Blast from the Past:

It slices, it dices and it SPLICES! The amazing projectorbasket!

I like that lamp, Paul. It's still on the Cracker-Barrel site but unpriced, and I've never seen one in the store when we stop by for chicken fried steak fried pork with gravy. (Didn't plan on living forever anyway...)

Posted by Eric Shepherd (Member # 4326) on July 01, 2014, 10:44 AM:

This is the add for the Kodascope on Ebay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111395218396?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1558.l2649
& this is the link to the Youtube stock list from last years production, all sold.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0To6z-f4zE
Eric.

Posted by Paul Mason (Member # 4015) on July 01, 2014, 11:08 AM:

While I'm sure most us who post on the forum would prefer to see old projectors repaired sympathetically to working condition, there is a real problem with increasingly scarce obsolete lamps and deteriorated electrical wiring. Using low voltage lamps is tricky and requires an internal transformer if there is room. An external transformer is clumsy but at least doesn't alter the projector itself. Mains voltage halogen lamps can sometimes be fitted but probably require undamaged condenser lenses and an untarnished parabolic mirror. Conversion and restoration should avoid external body alterations and be reversible so that future generations who may have different views don't lose original looking projectors.

Posted by Eric Shepherd (Member # 4326) on July 01, 2014, 11:37 AM:

At the moment I have 5 projects awaiting conversion, No1 is the Bolex H16 cine camera, (gasps of horror) unfortunately it has been dropped & twisted the chassis & backplate, letting in light, so IMO un-repairable. The second is the M8 which started this thread, the third is a B&H 613 16mm with burned out innards, a Bencini Comet 111 cine camera which I had never heard of but thought would make a good art deco style lamp & finally a B&H Filmo Sportster which I spotted on Ebay just before I went to bed last night for £5, couldn't resist it. There is one more projector which is a must have, if I get it I'll report back.
Eric
Bencini pictured.

Posted by John Last (Member # 3414) on July 03, 2014, 02:07 PM:

Eric, I subscribe to International Movie Maker magazine which is published quarterly and I have described how to fit a 12v 100watt lamp into an M8 with great results. Did you know that spare Bolex belts for the M8 are available from Netherlands?

Posted by Rob Watson (Member # 382) on July 18, 2014, 07:23 AM:

John, I don't subscribe to International Movie Maker but I do have an M8. Any info on that conversion?

Rob

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