8mm Forum: 9.5 film problem

This is topic 9.5 film problem in forum 9.5mm Forum at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Brian Collins (Member # 761) on March 19, 2009, 01:35 PM:

I have about 50 small reels of early 9.5 film but when it comes off the reel it is curled up very tight, is there any way that it could be made more flexable so that it does not spring back into a curl so tightly when trying to load it. [Confused]

Does anyone know what I am talking about or do I need to be more explicit?

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on March 19, 2009, 04:47 PM:

Hi Brian,
Sounds like what you have are the small Pathe Baby casettes. Pathe treated these small films with a special heating process that deliberately imparted a very tight curl to the film so that it would wind up easily on the take-up core of the Pathe Baby projector. They seem to have done a very good job of perfecting that process because, like you, I have 80 year old Baby casettes which still are impossible to uncurl! And yes, it does make threding them onto a projector a real pain!
..........Just one more unique joy of 9.5mm projection! [Big Grin]

Posted by Brian Collins (Member # 761) on March 21, 2009, 05:36 AM:

Thanks for the info Paul.

Posted by Graham Sinden (Member # 431) on March 23, 2009, 06:17 PM:

Well there is good news because there is a cure for these tightly curled films.

The answer is to drop them into a large washing up bowl partly filled with slightly warm water and add a few drops of washing up liquid. (In real film processing, washing up liquid doubles as the fancy 'wetting agent' which was usually suggested to be added to the intermediate wash baths). After a couple of hours the films should lose all of its curl and be quite supple. Then just rinse under the tap and carefully allow it to dry on a frame before winding back onto a normal reel. Care must be taken not to use hot water or leave it in the bowl for too long as the emulsion may become soft and come away from the film. Best to experiment with a test piece before trying it on a rare favourite film.

I dont want to take the credit for this as all the information above came from Grahame Newnham.

Long live 9.5 [Smile]

Posted by Dino Everette (Member # 1378) on March 24, 2009, 01:05 AM:

Yes be very careful as I have tried this out many times and have yet to reach the proper washing liquid/temperature/length formula to get the desired results that Grahame achieved as described in the Group 9.5 journal....Made a lot of clear leader though [Frown]

Posted by Hugh McCullough (Member # 696) on March 24, 2009, 06:23 AM:

The correct temperature for washing black & white film is no hotter than 68F/20C.
Anything above this and you may well just get a lovely clean piece of clear leader.

Instead of using washing up liquid, that will leave some chemical residue on the film, and probably water marks, go to a photography shop and buy some proper Wetting Agent. This is a specially designed formulae for adding to the water when washing films.

Posted by Simon Wyss (Member # 1569) on May 19, 2009, 03:33 AM:

If I may tread in, I've done some film washing. Please, friends, note that films should be dryed correctly after any water contact, i. e. be swept over to remove all droplets and wound onto a drum, emulsion out of course.

It is almost impossible to bring back any water into a dry film. The very best one can do to work against curl is to wind it rather loosely onto large cores (4" diameter) and keep it in a rather humid climate. This conditioning may take time, weeks, months. But the chemical alterations due to ageing are irreversible.

On the other hand, the plastic actually likes to be moved, little first, more and more run after run. So it is a clever move to give a film some runs through the projector, lamp off, without rewinding it. Simply run it also backwards. First run slowly, second a little faster. You might notice that it comes back to more flexibility by winding it to and fro with hand rewinds. Be careful not to scratch it: clean your film first with a nylon velvet cloth damped with isopropyl alcohol.

In case you have some money lose it's worth to consider duplication. An internegative can be valuable for fresh polyester positives to be struck from. These will serve you finely in many shows.

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