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I bought this years ago as a non runner , broken take off arm , belts shot ,paint flaking etc. it was cheap , got it running and a lick of paint extended front arm to take up to 2000 ft spools , considering the hard life it must have had it runs so sweetly. I only have one feature and a couple of shorts , so now the hunt is on for more super 8 !!
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Nice work, John. I'm sure your ST is very grateful that you brought it back to life! -
John, well done it shows what can be done in the right hands to get things going, I just noticed, but that looks like its a Elmo 1.1 lens in there, if so that lens is good one
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Graham, unfortunately it’s the standard lens, but with a Zenophot lamp the picture is really bright and sharp. I was thinking about fitting a 2 blade shutter, but to be honest it really is bright enough for me. Ready now for a new project, always love tinkering with projectors keeps the brain active!!
JohnComment
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The black side cover on the silver frame looks a little unusual to me. That black paint-job makes me think "ST-600" or "ST-800" and my own ST-1200HD is silver on silver.
Is there some interesting history going on here?Comment
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Sounds like John painted it.
BTW, what is the best paint to use on an Elmo? I have an ST-800 that could use some touch-ups of paint, but obviously spray-paint would be very inconvenient to use without disassembling the whole machine. I assume something like Rustoleoum, but with a paint brush would it look decent? I have pretty much zero experience painting anything.
BTW, I have the ST-1200HD model, but Van-eck no longer sells the green lower film guide. What's the solution since after many years mine has started to scratch films.
I've long wanted to get a GS-1200, too, despite its reputation as being a maintenance nightmare, and Van-eck discontinued most of the green parts for that one, too -- I think he might still sell one where it used to be three.
I've thought about 2-bladed shutters, and it will be easier to do the 800 than the 1200. The 800 with my 1.1 lens is already very bright and I can't tell much difference between it and the 1200 with both fitted with the same lens.
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Brian, yes the original paint had flaked and was green, I rubbed it down ,had some black paint to spare so used that. It looks tidy enough and did the job.
JohnComment
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I'm impressed with how well you preserved the model label, John!
It's like this: years ago we had a room painted upstairs: paid a guy. We bought new outlet cover plates. Did he mask off the electrical outlets and change the plates afterwards?...nnnooo! He just brushed over the whole thing before he changed the plates, gave us room-color matching outlets and made plugging in that first time a little bit of a challenge!
Of course the next time we painted the walls the outlets stuck out like a sore thumb and I had to change them all.
I've heard it said that anything worth doing is worth doing well, so attention to detail like this is worthy of respect!Comment
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That's par for the course with painters!Originally posted by Steve Klare View Post
I was curious how John managed to not obscure the labels and still make everything look smooth and even -- that's why I've ruled out using spray paint, which would make everything look nice and even but obscure the labels, not to mention making in hard to avoid getting paint on other parts of the machine.
Then I think to myself, no one but me watches my films, let alone looks at my projectors!Comment
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Brian , I used a half inch brush to apply the paint and actually used Matt black as a finish. I thought about using a rattle can spray but it meant removing the panel and masking off the Elmo badge.
JohnComment
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Thanks John. I don't want to attempt to remove the panel either. When I got it a few years ago I filled in the white marks on the chassis with a black Sharpie! I need to muster up the courage to try real paint!
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Brian regarding the ST1200 lower sprocket guide, what I did was to remove it and with a small file set cut a new center groove leaving the worn extreme edges alone to still support the edge of the film itself, my thinking was to make sure the actual image area, cannot make contact with the guide.Comment
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Graham,
Thanks, I'll try that. How do you smoothe out the part you file so it's not rough? Are there other parts to watch out for? Any idea why Van Eck discontinued their parts? He actually has 2 parts for the GS but I think he used to have a 3rd.
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Hi Brian
I use some wet and dry paper, start with a bit of coarse eg 240, then finish with something around 400 to 600 to polish it up a bit, the main thing is to just leave the far edges of the guides alone. When you finish with the part and before fitting sit some film in it and look that there is no way the image area can touch. Wet and dry can give you a nice smooth finish.
Regarding the GS1200 well the main culprit is the top feed guide, I fitted a small roller plus went through those other guides as well. It took me a while to get around to doing this work but in the end was worth the effort.
Between the ST1200M the early one I still have. I regard that projector as old reliable compared to the GS1200 which I tend to think every time I switch it on use as a minor miracle that it goes
Its been a while since I worked on the ST1200 I did take some phots at the time but can't find them at the moment, regarding other areas, I cant remember exactly, but follow the film path through those guides. I am trying to think back at the moment but will have a look at my ST1200 to see if that can jog my memory
Extra roller fitted on the top middle guide
plus a few others
the old parts before modifying
end result
One last thing I did was to replace that little black film tensioner with an old roller from a ST1200.
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I am so used to manual threading I decided to make my ST a manual thread projector. I’ve never liked the idea of auto it’s a bit hit and miss and can damage precious film, I can now thread mine up knowing all is fine and can take film out mid projection no problem. I just removed the push down green button ahead of feed sprocket and also the guide below the sound head.
JohnComment
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