8mm Forum: Looking for info on making an endless loop projector

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Topic: Looking for info on making an endless loop projector

Kirkamus Anderson
Film Handler

Posts: 99
From: hoenberg
Registered: Feb 2011

posted February 06, 2011 10:43 AM

Hello!

I'm curious if anyone here as made an endless loop attachment for a super 8 projector? I know they used to use them for business meetings in the 70s and 80s. I think it would be really cool to be able to loop a film for a party atmosphere and not have to be constantly rewinding and restarting.

Thanks!
Kirk

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Douglas Meltzer
Moderator

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

posted February 06, 2011 10:56 AM

Kirk,

Welcome to the 8mm Forum! Elmo actually sold a continuous loop unit. Here's a short thread about the ELMO EF400.

Many businesses and schools used the cartridge projectors manufactured by Technicolor and Fairchild.

It would be fairly easy to assemble a loop of a few feet for your projector, but anything longer would require a number of rollers. How much film are you planning to loop?

Doug

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

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Kirkamus Anderson
Film Handler

Posts: 99
From: hoenberg
Registered: Feb 2011

posted February 06, 2011 11:20 AM

Hey Doug!
I would probably want to do somewhere between 25-50ft. I'm actually considering this for a burning man project. I thought about just making a PVC pole that goes up like 8 feet in the air and running the film up and over that. I also was reading about making a little box and just letting the film collect in it?
That makes me kind of nervous.

Off topic - I'm new to this forum, but post a lot over at cinematography.com. I've been shooting super8 with my canon 814XLS for a few years now. Just curious how the buy and sell works. Is it mostly shipped? Seems like a lot of people are from all over the world! I bet shipping costs get high!

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Douglas Meltzer
Moderator

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

posted February 06, 2011 11:38 AM

Kirk,

While this clip from Forum member Marty Pinkerman is of his long play unit, you may get some useful ideas from it.
I would think two poles with rollers would work fine, just be careful of straining the projector motor since the film transport system would be doing all the work while the take up reel is taking a nap.

The buy/sell sections are fairly straightforward. Just post a reply or email the seller (if they use the email link). Yes, there's quite a bit of international shipping going on, but unless it's for a heavy item such as a projector, the costs aren't bad.

Doug

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

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Wayne Tuell
Master Film Handler

Posts: 488
From: Minden, NV
Registered: Jul 2009

posted February 06, 2011 12:24 PM

Hope you plan on showing the film inside a tent. One of the famous wind/dust storms at Burning man and your projector is finished.

Instead of a PVC pole, maybe try using a sheet of plywood with rollers at top and bottom in a few locations. A 2' X 2' piece with enough rollers is easy enough to cart around and would give you plenty enough room of travel for 25' - 50' of film if constructed properly.

What do you plan on using for rollers? Do you have a handful of old projector roller?

If you plan on using old small reels, try placing a couple o-rings on the inside edges. You would decrease the chances of scratching the film from dragging over the reels since the film would only come into contact on the sound and sprocket edges using o-rings.

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www.16mmDrive-InFilms.com

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Kirkamus Anderson
Film Handler

Posts: 99
From: hoenberg
Registered: Feb 2011

posted February 06, 2011 05:10 PM

Hey Wayne,
Unfortunately the projector I end up using will be a sacrifice. Probably loop a 50ft King Kong movie and using an old projector. I haven't thought about rollers yet, but I like the plywood idea.
hmmmm still have to think about power as well. I initially was thinking about using a gas generator...

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 525
From: Dallas, TX, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted February 08, 2011 02:02 AM

Making an endless loop system for only 50 feet of 8mm film would be pretty easy. The trick here is to remember the larger the hub, the easier it is. For example, if you were to take a 6000 foot reel and split it in half (only one flange), then attach a hub to that flange (say, the equivalent of a 5000 foot reel) and wrap the hub in felt, you could probably get away with mounting that half of a reel with felt hub horizontally on a free-spinning shaft of some sort. So long as the reel could turn effortlessly, the slight drag of the film against the felt would keep it turning enough to take up the film from the projector, just like an 8-Track tape cartridge. As long as you make sure the base side is inward that would rub gently on the felt, it would work just fine. By using such a large hub, the splice would probably wear out before you had any sort of tangle.

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