8mm Forum: WANTED - Super 8 reel 13 3/4" Diameter

This is topic WANTED - Super 8 reel 13 3/4" Diameter in forum 8mm equipment for sale/trade at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by David Evans (Member # 482) on June 05, 2006, 11:32 PM:

Hi

I need a Super 8 reel 13 3/4" diameter, not sure of the capacity, but it is the largest size that will fit on an Elmo ST 1200. If it were 16mm it would be 2000 ft, but not quite sure in 8mm film. One would do, but if anyone has a superfluity of them, would be pleased to buy 2 or 3.

Can anyone help?

Thanks in anticipation.

David Evans in Canada

Posted by Jean-Marc Toussaint (Member # 270) on June 06, 2006, 01:31 AM:

Hi David. As the name of your projector suggests, you're looking for a 1200ft capacity reel (360 meters).

Posted by Yanis Tzortzis (Member # 434) on June 06, 2006, 09:16 AM:

David, I have an ELMO ST 1200 HD in Athens and it can take more than the conventional 1200'reel; I have seen in the past at Derann some considerably bigger reels made by the Italian Grasso. So I'd recommend that you look for them-they'll definitely fit the machine.
Obviously, an alternative is to seek for 1600'reels with small core-like Supaspools.

Posted by David Evans (Member # 482) on June 06, 2006, 11:00 AM:

Hi Jean-Marc & Yanis

After a little extra research I find that the film I have ('Rome Express' - a mystery thriller like a predecessor to Murder on the Orient Express) is mounted on and just about fills a 1600 ft reel (yes, it is a Grasso) which is 13.75 inces/350mm in diameter. This fits nicely on the take up arm of the ST1200 but not on the feed arm! So even if I obtain a 1600 ft reel I still won't be able to show the film unless I split it into two 800 ft reels! I have just acquired but not yet received a GS1200. Would you know if this will take a 1600 ft reel on the feed arm, or am I really going to have to sever the film? If so, I wonder what the guy I bought the film from used to show it...

Thanks for your help and regards from sunny British Columbia!

David

Posted by Jean-Marc Toussaint (Member # 270) on June 06, 2006, 01:28 PM:

Jan? You're needed here... (I'm surprised you haven't replied to this one yet)
David, our friend Doctor Jan Bister (stein) has created an Elmo "ST1600"... Do some research on this forum, you'll see pictures and explanations on how the beast came to be.

Posted by Yanis Tzortzis (Member # 434) on June 06, 2006, 05:30 PM:

I need to do some research on my own Jean-Marc,I must have missed that on Jan's 'creature' [Embarrassed]

!But before starting the research,just a last few words for David: the big Grasso spool can't fit an ELMO GS 1200,I've tried that with my own machine in Britain and failed;still, I'd recommend the Supaspools-they can easily take a feature film like 'Rome Express'and fit both ELMO ST's and GS's.
You're right that the take-up arm of an ST can't take the big Grasso spool,but at least the feed reel one can-better than the conventional GSs. And now I'm off to my own research on Jan's special ELMO [Smile]

Posted by Jan Bister (Member # 332) on June 06, 2006, 08:09 PM:

*grin* well Jean-Marc, I do work for a living, and then there's that thing about living in different time zones [Wink]

Anyway, in lieu of further words... http://8mmforum.film-tech.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=001174#000000
More photos here: http://home.neo.rr.com/taesite/cinema.html

Suffice it to say that unless you're willing to do all the work I did, you're not going to be running 1600ft reels on an ST-1200 - and even the small-core ones (blue plastic Tayloreels or the SupaSpools) don't truly hold 1600ft of film...they max out at about 1400-1450ft at the very most.
As for the GS-1200, Wittner Kinotechnik is now selling an upgrade kit for replacing the reel arms so you can use gigantic reels up to 2400ft of film (like the Beaulieu 708-EL does). It's kind of pricey, though, and the question of whether this will put any undue stress on the reel motors remains open (although they claim that by simply putting more voltage on the motors, they will handle such large reels just fine).

Posted by Kevin Faulkner (Member # 6) on June 08, 2006, 07:46 AM:

Yes...and all the rest of it!!! probably burn the motors out quicker.

Come on guys why not use 2 x 800 or 1200ft spools and have just one break in the feature. Lets face it if you watch a film on TV then you will have loads of breaks [Big Grin]

I'm one for doing anything which will not put any extra strain on these machines as once parts are worn out it will probably be hard to find replacements.

The best 1600ft spools are the blue ones from the US. They are very light in weight and certainly will hold most features but again dont forget that 1600ft of film weighs a lot more than 1200ft. Thats just my own personal thoughts.

Kev.

Posted by Jan Bister (Member # 332) on June 08, 2006, 09:35 PM:

Have to side with Kevin here - although I'm quite happy with (and proud of) my 1600ft machine, remember that I've done all this at my own risk and your mileage may vary. You have been warned [Wink]

Posted by Kevin Faulkner (Member # 6) on June 09, 2006, 01:21 AM:

I have to say Jan that I think you did a superb job with all those cogs.

My worry is the poor GS with 2000 odd foot of film on those poor motors with extra voltage applied to them [Frown]

Posted by Jean-Marc Toussaint (Member # 270) on June 09, 2006, 02:12 AM:

Indeed...
That's why I run two machines side by side when projecting a feature. [Wink]

Posted by Jan Bister (Member # 332) on June 10, 2006, 08:44 AM:

Thanks very much, Kevin! I know you haven't entirely approved of my modifications in the past (for valid reasons) - mind you, I have no problem with that, we can agree to disagree after all and things like that - but I feel very proud and humbled by your words. Thanks again [Smile]

Posted by Kevin Faulkner (Member # 6) on June 10, 2006, 12:58 PM:

Jan, You know me, I like tp preserve these machines so dont really like any thing which may wear parts like motors etc. The GS's motors are all DC and I dont think they really stand up to extra work over what they were intended to do. The ST1200 has a very meaty AC motor and I think is well up for the job. I think that it's probably the rubber drive rollers which you will have to watch.

Once again I think the Job you did was excellent and it's 10 out of 10 for seeing the project through. If those parts were readily available I'm sure you would get requests to do more of them.

Kev.

Posted by Jan Bister (Member # 332) on June 10, 2006, 03:23 PM:

[Smile]

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