8mm Forum: Blow yourself up!

This is topic Blow yourself up! in forum General Yak at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Steven J Kirk (Member # 1135) on May 13, 2016, 07:15 AM:

Blow yourself up, a bargain at £650...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/old-Nitrate-cinema-films-35mm-JOB-LOT-/162066287141

Posted by Paul Spinks (Member # 573) on May 13, 2016, 07:55 AM:

Crikey!! [Eek!]

Posted by William Olson (Member # 2083) on May 13, 2016, 08:20 AM:

I really doubt that shipping these anywhere would be allowed. It would be like shipping dynamite.

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on May 13, 2016, 11:59 AM:

It says collection only.
The trouble with steel cans is they go rusty if not kept in good storage conditions.
It would be interesting to see what the contents look like.

Posted by Pasquale DAlessio (Member # 2052) on May 13, 2016, 12:31 PM:

Or what they smell like! [Confused]

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on May 13, 2016, 12:50 PM:

I think I'd like about 100 feet...

-maybe save it for the 4th of July!

Posted by Brian Fretwell (Member # 4302) on May 13, 2016, 01:31 PM:

It says may have minor damage, does he mean the films or the cabinet offered?
I don't know about smell (does nitrate smell) but as not acetate I doubt if it could get vinegar syndrome (acetic acid smell).

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on May 15, 2016, 03:00 AM:

Mack Sennett's Keystone company in 1912 took over a studio built in 1909 for Bison at Edendale, Los Angeles.
In 1928 Sennett built a new studio called Studio City at Ventura Boulevard.
In 1930 the old studio fell into disrepair and many children used to play there staging pyrotechnic displays by setting fire to discarded reels of nitrate film found in an abandoned vault on the property and then rolling them down a hill.
(Mack Sennett's Fun Factory - Volume 1)

Posted by Bill Phelps (Member # 1431) on May 15, 2016, 08:53 AM:

Don't you wish we could have some of those films back!

Bill [Smile]

Posted by Chris Bird (Member # 3839) on May 16, 2016, 02:09 AM:

Dino's really the man to comment here, but I'll pitch in meanwhile as I worked in film restoration for 6 years. Nitrate isn't that dangerous if properly stored. That said, I went through a collection of 110 reels that had been stored in disastrous conditions - tightly sealed rusty cans in a shed with wildly fluctuating temperatures. Yet only about 10 reels had decomposed, the rest were OK.

It can be shipped using special couriers - I sent the 2000' of rare bits and pieces I'd acquired over the years to Dino for preservation, and used a specialist company near Heathrow. Not cheap though!

Nitrate can't get vinegar syndrome, but often gives off an acrid smell, which is I believe nitric acid.

I have to say that the eBay seller is asking a fortune for some relatively unexciting titles, and even if you won them, what would you do with them? It just shows that this stuff is still lurking out there, in some cases prints over a century old.

Posted by Bill Brandenstein (Member # 892) on May 17, 2016, 03:36 PM:

Good points, Chris.

How silly of the seller to not specify a shipping method to the USA! Well, that's what the auction says, anyway.

Posted by Terry Sills (Member # 3309) on May 18, 2016, 02:11 AM:

Mitchell Dvoskin posted interesting information about the decomposition of nitrate film. It apparently gives off a flammable gas which requires a flame or spark to ignite and that the build up of gas in a can could explode given a method of ignition. I suppose trying to open a rusty can, or even one in good order, could produce a spark sufficient to cause just that. I do have some small cans of nitrate film and as a precaution I grease the lids and rims of the cans and they are kept in cool conditions. I have to say that they show absolutely no sign of decomposing but I do make a regular check.

Posted by William Olson (Member # 2083) on May 18, 2016, 08:12 AM:

On second look, the listing says BUYER COLLECTS in red text. So, it appears the seller won't ship.

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on May 18, 2016, 08:57 AM:

Some carriers these days want to know what is to be carried by them.
It would be a complete no-go when they learn "Nitrate Movie Film."

Posted by Bill Brandenstein (Member # 892) on May 20, 2016, 04:16 PM:

So I guess the seller has no liability once the buyer collects, loads the vehicle, leaves, turns the corner onto another street, hits a bump, and BOOM it all goes up...

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