8mm Forum: My new Baby

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Topic: My new Baby

Paul Adsett
Film God

Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted March 24, 2007 04:59 PM

Well I have finally completed the restoration and motor upgrade of my Pathe Baby. This machine was a Christmas gift from my daughter a couple of years ago. She got it off ebay and the machine is cosmetically in great shape. You could hardly turned the handle on it when we unpacked it, so I stripped it down and cleaned and lubed the whole mechanism. Then I converted the lighting system to 12 volt 20 watt halogen, stripping out the old resistance matt in the base and inserting a very small 12 volt transformer. The final work was to motorise the projector, and thanks to Tony Reypert at Buckingham Films for the motor, Grahame Newnham for the motor pulley, and Wharton Parfitt for the belts, the projector now runs like a Swiss watch while I relax in my easy chair! So here she is, in all her glory, a beautiful piece of cinema history which I find very satisfying to have restored, and now display and run for friends and family.

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The best of all worlds- 8mm, super 8mm, 9.5mm, and HD Digital Projection,
Elmo GS1200 f1.0 2-blade
Eumig S938 Stereo f1.0 Ektar
Panasonic PT-AE4000U digital pj

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Douglas Meltzer
Moderator

Posts: 4554
From: New York, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted March 24, 2007 10:42 PM

Nothing like Baby pictures from a proud father....er, owner.

Doug

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I think there's room for just one more film.....

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Jean-Marc Toussaint
Film God

Posts: 2392
From: France
Registered: Oct 2004

posted March 25, 2007 03:10 AM

Very nice, Paul. Does it let you sleep at night?

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The Grindcave Cinema Website

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David Pannell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1072
From: Horsham, West Sussex, UK
Registered: Nov 2004

posted March 25, 2007 04:48 AM

What a beautiful piece of history, Paul.

Well done!!

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Dave.

Valves and celluloid - a great combination!
Early technology rules OK!

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Trevor Adams
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 763
From: Auckland,New Zealand
Registered: Jun 2003

posted March 25, 2007 07:01 AM

Nice one Paul.Sometimes it is just nice watching the mechanism turn over [Smile]

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Trevor

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Philippe Cuypers
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 214
From: 7318 Carnival Lane New Port Richey florida 34653
Registered: Jun 2003

posted March 25, 2007 12:20 PM

thats a nice baby paul!! just think you dont have to worry that one day ,she or him will gett married !! enjoy very nice piece of film history to share with us! [Smile]

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Philippe Cuypers

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Craig Hamilton
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 501
From: Luton
Registered: Sep 2004

posted March 26, 2007 12:40 PM

Nice one Paul, let’s hope Jacob is not to upset that his hand cranked projector is missing its cranking handle.

Interesting to see that you have removed the entire take up mechanism from the glass cover chamber. I tried removing mine but found that the auto brake arm was being lifted to high and this caused a bit of gate movement. By just replacing the 1st guide arm I cured this problem as it is sprung loaded.

Craig

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I dream of becoming a dealer!!!!!!
Is Perry's Movies for Sale.

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Paul Adsett
Film God

Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted March 26, 2007 03:19 PM

Hi Craig,
Well Jacob still gets to use the hand cranked Pathe Ace! [Wink]

Looking at the photo of your machine I see that it differs a little from mine. The Baby that I got did not come with those two little arms inside the take up chamber, which are used to help wind up the small 30ft cassette films. Possibly mine is an earlier machine (Model A), or the previous owner lost these parts. Anyway, referring to Gerald McKee's fantastic book The Home Cinema , the take up arrangement on the Baby varied quite a lot during its 13 year production run.
The 30ft cassettes are quaint but annoying. By the time you thread them up, the film is over! And the severe curl on the film makes them difficult to thread. The super attachment solves all these problems. I have seen 9.5mm films advertised with 12 parts, each in a cassette! Talk about reel changes! [Big Grin]

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The best of all worlds- 8mm, super 8mm, 9.5mm, and HD Digital Projection,
Elmo GS1200 f1.0 2-blade
Eumig S938 Stereo f1.0 Ektar
Panasonic PT-AE4000U digital pj

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Jim Schrader
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1628
From: Savage, MN, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted March 26, 2007 07:56 PM

I bet that uis one baby that does notkeep you up at night [Cool]

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jim schrader
"Let's see “do I have that title already?"

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Rod Stone
Junior
Posts: 4
From: Doylestown, PA US
Registered: Mar 2008

posted March 31, 2008 04:48 PM

Hi Paul - the restored Baby is quite impressive. I have a Pathe Baby that I am using for old family and some commerical films. I am having trouble with the automatic stop feature. The film will stop at the notch and the traveller will move across and snap the engagement arm but the mechanism to "catch" the arm and hold the teeth in the engaged positon does not seem to hold it and the fim does not advance past that point. Any ideas on a repair for this? Also, where did you purchase the 12 volt halogen bulb? Many thanks for your help.

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Martyn Stevens
Film Handler

Posts: 36
From: Leighton Buzzard, UK
Registered: Jul 2007

posted April 07, 2008 04:33 PM

I recently acquired a copy of Michael Strogoff in 20 x 60ft cassettes. This is why early and home projectionists tend to have one arm bigger than the other, like some crabs.
As to this matter of the curl, it was quite deliberate and you will find that a cassette will not in effect auto-thread and take up properly without it. Pathe used some form of heat treatment to make the permanent curl and actually took out a patent on this. If curl is a problem with Super Reels, add leader until you have enough to thread before you get to the curly bit.

Martyn Stevens

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Paul Adsett
Film God

Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted April 07, 2008 07:18 PM

I think the film has more than a curl Martyn, it seems to have memory! I notice that when I leave a film threaded up in my little Pathe Ace, that the film temporarily retains the curl induced by the three little rollers at the bottom of the gate. There are now modern Titanium metal alloys that remember their shape, but apparently Pathe had a high tech solution for memory in plastic Cellulose Acetate way back in 1920!
Personally though, I find the curl on the little 30ft Pathex cassettes so extreme that it hinders threading up the projector.

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The best of all worlds- 8mm, super 8mm, 9.5mm, and HD Digital Projection,
Elmo GS1200 f1.0 2-blade
Eumig S938 Stereo f1.0 Ektar
Panasonic PT-AE4000U digital pj

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