8mm Forum: WTB: 800' take up reel

This is topic WTB: 800' take up reel in forum 8mm equipment for sale/trade at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Vidar Olavesen (Member # 3354) on February 15, 2015, 10:53 AM:

Anyone have a proper take up reel for sale? All my 800' reels are a hassle to use.

Posted by John Capazzo (Member # 157) on February 16, 2015, 07:21 PM:

What is a proper take up reel? They all have slots in case they don't take the film on their own. I've always had success with Elmo 800'. Bonham and Goldberg may need effort at times.

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on February 16, 2015, 07:27 PM:

Vidar, I have loads of the Elmo ones if you want one. They are just about the best take up reel that exists in 800ft Super 8mm format.

Btw John means Bonum which are also very good spools but for take up activity, Elmo 800's are second to none.

Beaulieu always used Posso 800ft spools to sell their projectors with, they don't tend to get much wrong do Beaulieu for the most part. On this one however, they did as the Elmo spool is far superior and far more reliable when it comes to actually having an ability to take up Super 8 film from any angle thrown at it, and of course avoiding the dreaded reel screech.

To this end, the Elmo 800 spool wins hands down every time!

[ February 17, 2015, 02:45 PM: Message edited by: Andrew Woodcock ]

Posted by Vincent Zabbia (Member # 2453) on February 16, 2015, 09:45 PM:

The Elmo 800' reel is great until it cracks... Handle With Care

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on February 17, 2015, 04:01 AM:

Yes that is a good point there raised by Vincent.
The Elmo reels whilst being superior at their job to any other 800ft spool, are made of harder and slightly more brittle plastic.
As a result, they do crack and shatter easier than most in transit and if not handled or stored correctly.

I find the Kodak gold professional film cans fit these perfectly and as they are made of metal, give these reels good protection inbeteen use.

Posted by Vidar Olavesen (Member # 3354) on February 17, 2015, 04:04 AM:

Yes, that's the type I like. I have some white Elmo reels, which is hell to get the film onto. If you have any of those 800's, I'd love to buy one or two if possible.

I do have reels that I just swear and swear and the film just not want to stay on it. And I do not want to use the small cracks as they will then bend the film a bit

Thanks

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on February 17, 2015, 04:19 AM:

Sorry Vidar, I don't understand the first line of your statement as it appears to contradict what you say by the end, unless you are referring to different, smaller than 800ft sized Elmo reels when you describe them as hell to get the film onto???

Here's another tip for anyone who's having trouble getting film back onto a reel due to slippage after projecting the film and prior to rewinding;

Place a snug fitting elastic band onto the inner core or hub of the reel, make it lie flat and not twisted by using a long thin bladed screwdriver or knife and as the elastic band is made of rubber, it's grips the film far easier than just the bare shiny plastic of the reels core or inner hub.

I find this tip particularly useful on the grasso 600ft reels that were used by Derann in the 80's and 90's especially if you use filmguard. These reels are unbelievably difficult to re thread after use as there are no slots to place the tip of the films tail in and the slots on the sides of the reels are so narrow you simply cannot get an averaged sized man's finger anywhere inside the reel to assist the films tail.

Try it, it really does work a treat!

Posted by Vidar Olavesen (Member # 3354) on February 17, 2015, 06:32 AM:

What I mean is the metal Elmo spools are great and the ones I want, easy to use. The white plastic Elmo ones are really crap and they might be more than 800', as it doesn't fit in a 800' cardboard box and is smaller than the 1200'

If that is what you meant was unclear.

It's the same type as the one on this picture.

I do not like those

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on February 17, 2015, 06:54 AM:

Oh ok Vidar, so now I am even more confused, which particular 800ft reels do you like and are therefore seeking?

Posted by Vidar Olavesen (Member # 3354) on February 17, 2015, 07:03 AM:

Found this picture of the metal 1200' one, just 800' instead, so it'll fit on the Sankyo Stereo 800

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on February 17, 2015, 07:05 AM:

There isn't an Elmo aluminium 800ft reel like that 1200ft one pictured there Vidar.

The only 800ft Elmo ones are those you sent a photograph of above.in other words the ones you don't like.

Goldberg made some steel ones but they weigh an absolute ton, won't fit many Super 8 projector hubs and also are not auto threading and would also most likely cause premature wear to your projectors drive mechanism including your motor.

All 800ft machines are designed to be used with plastic reels.

Posted by Vidar Olavesen (Member # 3354) on February 17, 2015, 07:13 AM:

Are you sure? I thought there was, as I have one with a fix done to it. Seems like a 50' core or something. I'll take a picture of it. Maybe it's not Elmo, but a home made one

Edit : Here's my 1200' and this 800'

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on February 17, 2015, 07:18 AM:

Yes they are modified unofficial reels as once issued by Paul Foster. They are actually reel to reel tape deck reels with a 50ft Kodak type reel bonded to the centre. These usually sell very cheaply as they are a home made reel.

Nothing like them exists in the professional cine manufacturing world unless from a specialist like Wittners but beware of placing anything heavy on your Sankyo for the reasons stated above.

Posted by Vidar Olavesen (Member # 3354) on February 17, 2015, 07:23 AM:

Okay, just looked so similiar that I thought it was Elmo reels.

The white plastic ones, I can't hold the film towards the core due to the edges beeing higher than the actual core. If I use my small finger, I might be able to do it, but it's a hassle. I use 400' take up reel for my Sankyo now, so looks like I have to use the Elmo 1200's for bigger than 400' then

Thanks for the info, I know I don't need to look for one anymore then :-)

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on February 17, 2015, 07:27 AM:

No worries Vidar and do try the elastic band treatment as described above to your plastic reels, especially those 600ft Grasso type issued by Derann. It really will make things a whole lot easier with far less hassle for you. [Wink]

Posted by Jim Schrader (Member # 9) on February 17, 2015, 07:57 AM:

George reels are nice reels too.

Posted by Zechariah Sporre (Member # 2358) on February 17, 2015, 08:40 AM:

I love the Gepe reels for a take up reel. They seem to catch the film better than anything I've tried. The very best one I have is a little bit older white Gepe reel. However, their new grey ones are pretty good as well. In all fairness I should mentionthat I have only used the 400' &600' Gepe reels.

Posted by Vidar Olavesen (Member # 3354) on February 17, 2015, 10:21 AM:

Where can I find Gepe 800' and George 800' reels? I will try that tip on the white reels, thanks

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on February 17, 2015, 11:05 AM:

Vidar, if you're not satisfied with the Elmo type, I doubt you will find any other type of 800ft plastic reel any better.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the Elmo ones are by far the most reliable acting as a take up spool, make the least noise in run and are about as easy as any other if not easier to gain access to the film after threading.

Even the Sankyo ones which are similar are not quite as good.
Apart from the Schneider/ Bauer type, all the rest are intended
for keeping film on for storage rather than as a dedicated take up spool apart from Posso, therefore they simply do not work as well as the ones that were actually designed for that purpose.

BTW the Bell & Howell dedicated take up reels are about as good as the Sankyo's.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on February 17, 2015, 01:23 PM:

It's also worth noting that the Elmo 800 foot reel and the Gepe 800 foot reel are pretty much identical twins. The Elmo is white, the Gepe is dark gray. I think the Gepe has some footage markings molded in that the Elmo doesn't. Obviously the Gepe doesn't have "ELMO" molded into it.

Other than that the geometry is identical.

-Then again there is that nice Gepe hard case. It's kind of handy considering the 800 Footer doesn't fit in the Elmo ST carrying case (You would think it would!). All I'd need is a suitcase getting dropped on this reel to have a pretty sour day on the way to CineSea!

I think Gepe bought Elmo's design since it's the one reel in the series that doesn't look like the rest of them.

-So if you don't like Elmo's 800 footer, this one probably won't be any better for you.

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on February 17, 2015, 01:51 PM:

Good point Steve. They are as you say almost identical in geometry.
I think what Vidar would actually like which is a miniature Elmo 1200 reel, doesn't exist sadly.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on February 17, 2015, 01:56 PM:

That would be nice!

The mark of a film perfectionist would be an entire collection on Elmo style metal reels: all the way from 50 feet on up!

I could do it, but there wouldn't be money left over to buy films!

-a company I worked for a couple of years ago cut aluminum sheet with a laser. A case of beer for the guy that operated the machine could have done wonders here!

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on February 17, 2015, 02:29 PM:

Steve you really could do us all a favour with that one. There is a huge shortage and therefore demand for that standard of reel amongst us collectors.

I would gladly throw my Taylor reels into the ground as landfill if I could purchase affordable Elmo replicas.

The hubs themselves might prove a bit tricky though as it appears the originals were cast.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on February 17, 2015, 02:50 PM:

Unfortunately that ship has sailed: I'm out of that job almost six years now and I never knew the guys in the metal shop even then!

If the machine could handle 1cm aluminum (I don't know.) I could see the hub also being cut on this machine.

-a disk with a spindle hole in the middle, a slot (or several) for the film tail and rivet holes to mount the flanges.

(I checked: these can cut acrylic materials: wouldn't that look nice as a hub?!)

Then again there is 3d printing...

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on February 17, 2015, 03:38 PM:

3D is the perfect solution Steve, but it's quite a slow process I believe and relatively expensive. At the end of the day we would all want these at around the $50 mark tops, so unless you can sell around 5000 of these relatively quickly, its a difficult business model to achieve I would have thought.

I doubt there would be takers of these to sell even 500 quickly so unfortunately all we are left with are the second hand ones that are out there but of course everyone holds on them, or the stunning 1200ft reels that Wittners offer but cost more than the film that is on them in many cases.

Posted by Lee Panton (Member # 4443) on February 18, 2015, 06:02 AM:

Clever you Andrew…The elastic band method worked brilliant for me.

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on February 18, 2015, 07:16 AM:

Yes it is a simple effective method I have found Lee.
Even better for me as our postman drops just the right sized ones all over our outside pavement regularly. Put them in a bowl of hot soapy water for 30 minutes. Leave to drain for an hour and hey presto....another 4 Derann features taken care of!

I find the 50mm long x 5mm wide ones work the best for the Grasso 600ft reels

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on February 18, 2015, 08:08 AM:

The shame of it is if we were people with the skills and access to equipment making fake Elmo reels would actually be easy.

-as soon as you hire people with the skills and access to equipment it gets awfully pricey!

I have access to a billion dollar electron accelerator...is there anything we can do with this?

(-and not get me fired/imprisoned/irradiated?)

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on February 18, 2015, 10:37 AM:

Sooner you than me Steve, its bad enough living alongside a 50ft diameter Yankee for 40hrs a week!

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on February 18, 2015, 12:22 PM:

I'm guessing you aren't talking about either a gigantic Civil War soldier or baseball player.

Please explain!

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on February 18, 2015, 12:41 PM:

Ha ha ha, no sir, a gigantic cast iron rotating steam drum used in the paper making industry.

Fabulous safety record at our plant though it has to be said. No LTA's for 10 years!

[ February 19, 2015, 04:48 AM: Message edited by: Andrew Woodcock ]

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