Wolverine-Hawkeye Telecine

[Stan Jelavic]

No problem Jacek. You can try getting a 2 Amp power adapter. May be a cheap fix.

[Jacek Kropinski]

No problem Jacek. You can try getting a 2 Amp power adapter. May be a cheap fix.

I have ordered one, but what does that actually do to the transport mechanism?

While waiting for that, I stripped the gears down again, and the cam is definitely binding on the back end of the claw travel - against the stop.
I can't see any reason for this. I have posted photos; maybe you can see something amiss in the cam? The rotating cam is very loose on the shaft, but it looks to be designed like that unless something is missing.

I have uploaded photos of the cam as well as the stop you refer to - it seems to affect the height of the claw.
There is also a gear on the other side, presumably to adjust it during assembly since it has no other function that I can see.
Loosening this crew has certainly made the claw cam travel easier there is still some binding at the end, against the stop.
It was fully screwed in - what is the setting for this?



Or do you mean the stopper at the end of the claw travel?
I can't see any adjustment on that.

[Stan Jelavic]

Good work Jacek.
The new power supply has higher current rating and can push the motor harder so that it does not stutter. I have a test unit with the same issue and the new power adapter helps.
The stop at the end used to be adjustable with a set screw. Try to take the stopper out. That could increase the jitter but may fix your main issue. Possibly print out one a bit smaller. Looks like you do have some wear on the cam but don't think that is the cause of the problem. Probably shoddy factory inspection that never caught this issue.
BTW - you do not show the cam retaining spring? Do you still have it?

[Jacek Kropinski]

Good work Jacek.
The new power supply has higher current rating and can push the motor harder so that it does not stutter. I have a test unit with the same issue and the new power adapter helps.
The stop at the end used to be adjustable with a set screw. Try to take the stopper out. That could increase the jitter but may fix your main issue. Possibly print out one a bit smaller. Looks like you do have some wear on the cam but don't think that is the cause of the problem. Probably shoddy factory inspection that never caught this issue.
BTW - you do not show the cam retaining spring? Do you still have it?

Thank you, Stan, for all your advice!
Hopefully, the higher amp power supply helps, but there is a definite binding of the cam. I can't rotate it without really putting force into it.
But it is much easier now that I untightened the claw 'lifter' - the grey plastic thing next to the main gear shaft in the 2nd to last photograph.
That was screwed in tight and seems to control how far the claw goes up and down by the circular orbital cam. I have no idea where it is supposed to be set, but it was screwed all the way in tight.

The cam gets hard to rotate when the claw is against the stopper, so I'll undo that and see if it helps.
It seems to me that they assemble the unit and then use the chamfered gear on the outside of the gearbox to rotate the claw and set the stoppers.
When I assemble it I will do that as well.

Yes, I have the thin spring and clear plastic washers from the cam - I put them away for safekeeping - they are virtually invisible!
Thanks so much, again!

[Stan Jelavic]

Looks like you made some progress Jacek. The chamfered gear was use in the older units to drive takeup belt pulley. That created many issues with the belt getting loose and deteriorating. So they switched to a geared motor drive. No sure what the setting is for the cam height adjustment. Too low may not catch the film perforations and too high may have issues releasing the film.

[Jacek Kropinski]

Looks like you made some progress Jacek. The chamfered gear was use in the older units to drive takeup belt pulley. That created many issues with the belt getting loose and deteriorating. So they switched to a geared motor drive. No sure what the setting is for the cam height adjustment. Too low may not catch the film perforations and too high may have issues releasing the film.

You're such an incredible wealth of knowledge! Thank you.
One last question - the backstop on the claw, what function does it serve? The extent of travel of the claw would be determined by the rotating cam wouldn't it?

[Stan Jelavic]

Thank you Jacek. Just learned it the hard way by testing, testing and testing
The stop I believe is used to make the point where the film stops a bit more stable. The cam has some play in it and without the stopper it will increase the film play (jitter, shake). But then again, setting the stop too close could cause jamming.

[Jacek Kropinski]

The stop I believe is used to make the point where the film stops a bit more stable. The cam has some play in it and without the stopper, it will increase the film play (jitter, shake). But then again, setting the stop too close could cause jamming.

So after assembling everything, using SuperLube on every moving part and gear, with the new 2 amp power supply, it was still knocking but now only intermittently and randomly, once every second or two, seemingly not on a claw pull.

I had pushed back and hot-glued the backstop as far as possible with the tab in place.
So I disassembled again and removed a tab glued behind the back stopper - it has a '1' stamped on it so maybe there are different sizes?
In any case - this stopped the knocking completely. It now ticks like a Swiss cuckoo clock while scanning.

But, now the scans don't seem as sharp as the original scans, so maybe I moved the camera out of focus?
I've checked the guide rails are keeping the film flat, but I would have thought the camera had enough depth of field to compensate for a slight misalignment of mounting. Is this something you have encountered? Nudging it doesn't seem to affect the focus - is there anything else that controls focus? I've read older posts here about adjusting focus so I'm going to do that next and see if it helps.

[Stan Jelavic]

Good going Jacek. Yes the focus may need readjusting. You have to remove the front bezel and break the lens seal with small vise grips by turning it in and out to make it lose enough so that it can be tuned by hand. Then adjust the focus. I do not put the glue on it. Not really needed.

[Jacek Kropinski]

Good going Jacek. Yes the focus may need readjusting. You have to remove the front bezel and break the lens seal with small vise grips by turning it in and out to make it loose enough so that it can be tuned by hand. Then adjust the focus. I do not put the glue on it. Not really needed.

The glue has gone into all the ridges of the mount and absolutely doesn't want to come off, I even tried melting it with a glue gun. I'm scared of snapping the lens off, so I'm going to leave it.
The manufacturer may defocus the lens a little to help with the poor quality of the scan. It's just within the rear circles of confusion within the range of the focus, and I found that Sharpen Edges and Sharpen in Resolve make the focus look acceptable.
These machines are a great idea, but very badly executed.

Thanks to you and all your incredibly generous help and advice, Stan. Greatly appreciated.
This has given me a lot of experience in how these machines work.
Now, onto making the 'proper' film scanner!

[Stan Jelavic]

No problem Jacek. We can trade the lens and the lens mount. I can send you the one that is loosened. It is not too hard to remove the controller. You have to label the cables first because a few of them are interchangeable. Specifically the two cables with 4 pin connectors. Also two cables with 2 pin connectors coming out of the power supply board. These latter two are dangerous. Swapping them will burn the board. Once the cables are off remove the 4 screws holding the controller and the 3 screws holding the power supply and the whole thing comes out the controller and the power supply. One of the power supply screws is a bit hard to reach but you can move the feed reel arm tot get more room there or use a smaller screwdriver. Then undo the 2 screws holding the display an move the display a bit to the side to get you access to the lens screws. Remove those and the lens assembly will come out. Once out it will be easier tot loosen the lens or just send it to me.
Anyways, good luck with your next project.

[Jacek Kropinski]

Thank you so much, Stan! Whereas I appreciate your offer immensely, I am done restoring/evolving the Wolverine.
The transport mechanism is just too crude for old and valuable film.

I have two protectors that I will strip for parts and try to make a flatbed, capstan-driven system based around a still camera.
I have a wide regimen of cameras and lenses I can adapt for that. I previously had success even projecting onto the sensor of my camera but the set-up and hassle in-between film roll changes was a real pain.
I would like to make something very light, simple and elegant, like this (but capstan-driven):
https://youtu.be/O39vKnWzB_s?si=SgAyrsz8k-uqjNF9

[Stan Jelavic]

Good luck with the project Jacek. Interesting video with precision mechanics. Reminds me of watchmaker fixing old watches. Pretty fascinating.

[Jacek Kropinski]

Good luck with the project Jacek. Interesting video with precision mechanics. Reminds me of watchmaker fixing old watches. Pretty fascinating.

Yes. I really like the simplicity of the rotating cam being separate from the gear and simultaneously driving the contact switch. So simple compared to the Wolverine. Don't know which projector that movement came from but it's very elegant.

[Stan Jelavic]

from the youtube video comments this is the camera where the transport is from:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/125716551280?_skw