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8mm Magnetic film striping at home

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  • 8mm Magnetic film striping at home

    First started doing my own 8mm Magnetic sound film striping at home in the 70's. For those new to 8mm sound film you need a magnetic stripe glued to the film to enable sound recording to it.

    My first film striper was was a Rexette made by Balfour in London. These were economy units built to suit the film makers pocket and if used correctly they worked very well indeed. They were produced at a time when our UK phone numbers had far less digits than today and have certainly stood the test of time....

    Looking back I was a boy when I got my exciting machine to add a sound track to my silent machines and the joy of getting the stripe to stick to the film was quite a achievement. Around the film clubs of the day many bemoaned home film striping but problems were largely due to not cleaning the films prior to striping or not reading the instruction manual.

    2021
    Just finished another batch of 3000ft home movies and thought it worth mentioning a little how to when adding the physical side to your 8mm films.
    My old stock of adhesive to stick mag stripe to film ran out and some friends who also do home striping at home wanted some more. I started looking into how to make a good 'GOOP' to stick the track and here are the results.

    Its very important to clean the film really well so that to assure a clean surface for any adhesive to work no 1. Miss that key point and the mag track will drop off guaranteed.

    The old Rexette was basic but worked using a projector to transport the film thru the machine offering a constant transport at 18fps.. Well maintained it works well and guess you can say mine stood the test of time very well.

    Having been a performing musician sound it important to me even with film and good striping is key to a good show for your audience. I've been messing with various adhesives and now have one to stick laminate stripe to Extachrome 100D which is flexible enough for film.

    Anyway here are a few snaps of home film striping using the old Rexette..

    Click image for larger version  Name:	LM2021 copyright 6.jpg Views:	0 Size:	86.2 KB ID:	37424

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    Click image for larger version  Name:	LM2021 copyright 8.jpg Views:	0 Size:	150.2 KB ID:	37426UM photos don't seem to want to upload at the moment I shall return to this when we can. :-)


    Got some of the pictures up phew. Anyway that's film striping and what good quality stripe looks like!! Cough Cough 😁
    Last edited by Lee Mannering; July 03, 2021, 12:20 PM.

  • #2
    Congratulations, Lee. It's not as easy to do as one think. I tried to strip 9.5 films but unsuccessfully. I know four ninefivers who can do it (three in France, one in Spain) but on an artisanal way. I was hoping Alberto in Italy could strip 9.5 as he does for 8, super 8 and 16 but I have no idea if it's easy to modify the machine for this niche gauge.

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    • #3
      I did a few on a Supersound striper I got from a neighbour. I soon found that too much adhesive would buckle the film and found the right technique later.
      I went to Balfour at their Balfour Mews address for stripe and adhesive once, they seemed to be a small engineering company in a railway arch or two. I wonder if they still exist as such.

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      • #4
        That's it Brian and believe it or not they still had new stripers and accessories up until a decade or so ago. I wrote to then asking for a supply of striping wheels and they sent me a parcel of bits and pieces.
        The majority of my fast approaching 50 years 8mm film making have been home striped on the old Rexette either mono or stereo applying the balance stripe which is a little more tricky but can be done.

        Something very rewarding being a complete film maker winding up with a end product that can actually entertain. I guess its a extension of my childhood in show business.

        The top photo also includes my 1984 GS1200 which I converted to HID lighting. Looking at the 70's striper and that Elmo does make me very nostalgic and what inroads many have made in this hobby improving old tech and sustaining machines.
        Wonderful fun film....

        Click image for larger version  Name:	LM2021 copyright 7.jpg Views:	0 Size:	29.8 KB ID:	37482

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        • #5
          I used a Rexette back in the 1970s and it was excellent to use, all the stripe that I had done with it then, is still good to this day

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          • #6
            What Formula did you come up with to adhere the magnetic stripe? I see those machines frequently but thought it would be a waste of time since no one makes the cement anymore. I may have to reconsider after reading your post.​​​​​​

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            • #7
              Joseph, cement is still availaible : http://www.ffr-film.de/index.php?page=band&language=eng

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              • #8
                I really tried to master film striping, but wasn't able to. All the parts were vintage, a full glue bottle, but no luck. I ended up selling it on. On retrospect, I wonder if the glue went bad, or the machine didn't allow a steady drip or flow of the glue. At any rate, congratulations to those that are successful.

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                • #9
                  I respect the courage of you guys for doing this: if it goes wrong you may ruin a film, maybe even a unique one you've made. (It's always struck me more as an art than a science.)

                  Tim Christian, an original Forum member and good friend of mine, used a Bolex striper. When it came time to stripe a couple of mine he told he wouldn't do them: he said he'd feel terrible messing up films I'd been working on for months.

                  He did check them over after EVT Magnetics did the striping. He and his wife watched them before he sent them here.

                  -this was my UK Premier! (-even if they were still silent!)

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                  • #10
                    Where can we get the magnetic strip today? any company still produce it? or can we slit the normal cassette tape or reel-to-reel tape for this purpose?

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                    • #11
                      Winbert, same link as above : http://www.ffr-film.de/index.php?page=band&language=eng

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                      • #12
                        In the UK more people are home striping than you may think most using the Bolex. As a youngster I couldn't afford that so got into the Rexette economy machine but used correctly its good.

                        Cresta Electronics here did the finest service also offering material to home stripe. In the end they were slitting Agfa reel to reel tape and when my stock runs out I'll probably come up with something similar.

                        Will pop a clip up on YouTube so you can hear for yourselves when I get time what the results are like.

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                        • #13
                          I use a Bolex Weberling 2S. It's a wonderful machine. I normally just apply the main stripe (0.8mm) since the thin balance stripe (0.45mm) is hard to come by.

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                          • #14
                            A nice machine. I need to tool up a new part for mine as its missing the mag stripe feed. As I'm making a workshop for spares with lathe it's shouldn't be a great problem.
                            I like the simplicity of the rexette tho and its stood the test of time. Elmo could have learned something from English engineering.

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                            • #15
                              Hats off to you guys. it's certainly a HUGE accomplishment to be able to mag stripe your films at home and you should be justly proud of your excellent results.
                              I never made my own films, but have been an avid collector of commercial Super 8 films for over 45 years now (unbelievable how that time has passed so quickly!!).
                              Just wanted to mention Alberto Vangelisti of Movie Magnetic again, whom I think most Forum members have heard about regarding the services he provides in treating colour faded prints. As Dominique has already mentioned in an earlier post on this topic, Alberto also provides a professional mag striping service using magnetic paste for both Acetate and Poly films for both Super 8 and 16mm.
                              I had two Super 8 Optical features mag striped (inc balance stripe) by Alberto following colour fade treatment. He also did a stereo re-record for me on both, which for one wasn't easy as there was no English language DVD source, so he had to lift the sound from the Optical track. Great results and films that I'll always keep in my collection.
                              I believe Alberto also does the magnetic striping for all the Andec prints like Godzilla/ Jurassic Park etc. The most recent new print I bought was Skyfall and the stereo sound is really awesome.
                              For any fellow collector daunted by the thought of mag striping their own films, Alberto's prices are I think very reasonable. His up to date prices show from 60-480 metres it's 50 Euros and 480-720 metres 60 Euros, plus 10 Euros to first wash the film.
                              Not taking anything away from anyone who is already, or may wish to try mag striping at home, but for amateurs like me, I'm more than happy to outsource my mag striping to Alberto.

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