8mm Forum: Blow yourself up!

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Topic: Blow yourself up!

Steven J Kirk
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 873
From: Southern England
Registered: Apr 2008

posted 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

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VistaVision
Motion Picture High-Fidelity

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Paul Spinks
Master Film Handler

Posts: 453
From: Barking, Essex, UK
Registered: Mar 2006

posted May 13, 2016 07:55 AM

Crikey!!

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William Olson
Master Film Handler

Posts: 287
From: Poughkeepsie, NY USA
Registered: Jun 2010

posted May 13, 2016 08:20 AM

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

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

posted 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.

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Maurice

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Pasquale DAlessio
Film God

Posts: 3523
From: Bristol,RI, USA
Registered: May 2010

posted May 13, 2016 12:31 PM

Or what they smell like! [Confused]

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Steve Klare
Film Guy

Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted May 13, 2016 12:50 PM

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

-maybe save it for the 4th of July!

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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

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Brian Fretwell
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1785
From: London, UK
Registered: Jun 2014

posted 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).

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

posted 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)

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Maurice

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Bill Phelps
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1482
From: USA
Registered: Jan 2009

posted May 15, 2016 08:53 AM

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

Bill [Smile]

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Chris Bird
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 218
From: Kingston upon Thames, UK
Registered: Jul 2013

posted 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.

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Bill Brandenstein
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1632
From: California
Registered: Aug 2007

posted 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.

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Terry Sills
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1423
From: Weymouth,Dorset,England
Registered: Oct 2012

posted 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.

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William Olson
Master Film Handler

Posts: 287
From: Poughkeepsie, NY USA
Registered: Jun 2010

posted 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.

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

posted 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."

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Maurice

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Bill Brandenstein
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1632
From: California
Registered: Aug 2007

posted 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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