Digitizing services

[Dwayne Oxford]

Got blessed to get film took in next door neighborhood country grocery in 60s.
Got this https://www.ebay.com/itm/Kalart-Edit...72.m2749.l2649 coming to edit with.
Need to know the best outfits to deal with or avoid.
Also need to know how well superglue splices hold up.
Any other pointers would me much appreciated too.
Just saw this. https://www.just8mm.com/how-it-works. Is this this page's/forum's own service?

[Brad Miller]

That's not this forum's service, no. It sounds like they are using a Retroscan or something along those lines. We do all of our 8mm scanning on a professional Lasergraphics 6.5K HDR system which is light years better in quality, and everything goes through our bank of ultrasonic perchlorethylene cleaning systems first. Inquiries to bmiller@film-tech.com

Superglue splices are definitely something you do not want to do. Tape splices (using real splicing tape) is how you should be editing your films. Anything else is bound to ooze, break and so forth.

[Dwayne Oxford]

Thanx Brad.
Went to http://www.film-tech.com/main.php week or so back, kinda got the impression it was only for pros? Maybe wrong?
Saw mention the Kodak press tape wasn't compatible with old shrunk film. Are you meaning another type? Would you kindly link me to a tutorial using the tape you mean and the splicer needed??
I think the splicer on the old viewer editor I'm getting is the glue type and my editing/splicing, far as I can tell, is only gonna be this one time to get these digitized.
Also wondering how to get email notifications of these posts?

[Tom Photiou]

I had an interesting email sent to me yesterday by a very long term film collector, i thought i would share his thoughts here as it may be interesting to some collectors, i quote,
"Hello TOM, just seen under ‘digitising ‘8mm forum’, folk are advised not to use superglue for splicing film, well, speaking from experience, I have successfully spliced the two
“Star Wars” extracts, including the 200’, which was done by acetate, but the later was a 400’ done on poly stock, fine, but I didn’t have a tape splicer at the time, so resorted to a glue,
it worked, in 40 years, these splices have held, no doubt Superglue has been diluted, but those first years prove how good it was. It should also be accepted that anyone using filmguard cannot have faith in the splice by tape. I had this discussion years back with another long term collector, I stated that the instructions on the splicer said that BOTH sides of the film should be scraped, there is a video that shows only the emulsion side scraped, a folly, BOTH SIDES have to be done, to ensure welding, my 8mm prints of “Jason”, “Sinbad”, done in 1973, are STILL perfect, maybe I’m doing something right, but just simply following instructions on my splicer at the time.
Another long term collector found out that the Australian industry stated that BOTH sides had to be scraped!
I have much experience in film, trust me, both sides of a film need to be scraped, hence the acetate splicers have TWO scrapers, no wonder that splices fail if they fail to follow instructions, film has layers that need to be removed to get to base film, If only one side is done, hence failure in the weld, how many gallons of film cement have been junked over the years!?
It beggars belief with me, this stuff does NOT go off!! It is the element employed, both Surfaces MUST BE present to the cement weld, after the minute or so, a permanent splice is Ignorance on the film fraternity, BOTH SURFACES MUST BE SCRAPED!

[Dwayne Oxford]

Thanx Tom, good info. I'm 67, know from many years of fixing stuff that surface preparation is essential for adhesion. My 1st use of superglue was re-adhering mirrors to windshields.They didn't stay long. Tried scratching glass with https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-8-x-2-Rou....c100005.m1851 and they stayed.

[Tom Photiou]

Your Welcome Dwayne,
the info was supplied by my friend Hugh Scott, as you rightly say, it's all about the prep work, get that right and your home and dry.
The actual gluing/cementing is the easy part .

[Douglas Meltzer]

Dwayne,

To get email notifications of your posts, please go to your User Settings, which appear in the menu underneath your name. Click on Notifications and check the following box:



Make sure you then click on Save Changes.

[Dwayne Oxford]

Thanx Douglas, gotter'dun.

[Maurice Leakey]

With cement splicing it was usual to roughen up the base side on one piece of film, the other piece, of course had its relevant amount of emulsion scraped away.

Maurice

[Brian Fretwell]

I always thought that Kodak's involvement with (Cyanacrylate) Superglue was to splice polyester (Estar) based stock as normal film cement wouldn't work om it.

[Ed Gordon]

Here is more information on film splicing.

Cement splicers join films together by using a chemical called film cement which is made of film base dissolved in a solvent. The photographic emulsion is removed from the area to be joined and the base of the other end is brought into contact with it.

Film editors use a version with a very small overlaps at the top and bottom of the picture frame to edit film negatives, although units with a longer overlap are preferred for projection release prints.

These can only be used with acetate, triacetate and nitrate films. Polyester film, such as that used for currently produced prints, will not bond with standard film cement.

(From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_splicer)



Kodak film cement is only available in large quantities these days. I did find one small bottle of Kodak cement a few years ago. Below are formulas to make your own.

Film Cement Formulas
(From: https://www.filmkorn.org/super8data/...ilm_cement.htm)

Film cement is a special glue to join motion picture film. It can only used with Acetate, Triacetate and Nitrate films. And it cannot be used with polyester film base. Using film cement takes a little practice. A good splice will last many years.

(1) Frank B. Griffin (1923):

1. Collodion ...................................... 3 drams
2. Acetic Ether .................................. 1/2 dram
3. Alcohol ....................................... 1/4 dram
4. Amyl Acetate ................................... 4 drams
5. Ether ......................................... 1/4 dram
6. Acetone ....................................... 10 drops

(2) Kodak film cement I (patented in 1953):

1. Acetone ......................................... 20.5 %
2. Dioxane ........................................... 19 %
3. Methylene Cloride ................................. 55 %
4. Methyl Alcohol ................................... 3.7 %
5. Nitrocellulose ................................... 1.5 %
6. Ethyl Alcohol .................................... 0.3 %

(3) Kodak film cement II:

1. 1,4-Dioxane (Diethylene Dioxide) .................. 50 %
2. Methylene Cloride ................................. 26 %
3. Acetone ........................................ 15-20 %
4. Methyl Alcohol (Methanol) .......................... 3 %
5. Nitrocellulose (Cellulose Nitrate/Collodion) ..... 1-5 %
6. Allyl Isothiocyanate, Inhibited ................... <1 %

(4) General Aniline & Film Corpotation formulas (patented in 1961):

1. Acetone .......................................... 60 mL
2. Cellulose Nitrate ................................ 0.2 g
3. Ethanol .......................................... 10 mL
4. Dimethylformamide ................................. 5 mL
5. Methylene Chloride ............................... 60 mL

1. Methylene Chloride ................................ 60 mL
2. Ethanol ........................................... 10 mL
3. Cellulose Acetate ................................. 2.0 g
4. Acetone ........................................... 10 mL
5. Dimethylformamide .................................. 5 mL
6. Cyclohexane ........................................ 2 mL

1. Methylene Chloride ................................ 60 mL
2. Ethanol ........................................... 10 mL
3. Cellulose Acetate ................................. 2.0 g
4. Dimethylformamide .................................. 5 mL
5. Cyclohexane ........................................ 2 mL

(5) Russian formula:

1. Dioxane ......................................... 48,5 %
2. Acetona ......................................... 48,5 %
3. Acetic Acid (70% solution) ......................... 3 %
4. Film Base .......................................... 2 g

(6) Formula from magazine 'Amateur Cine World' (1950's):

1. Acetone ........................................... 80 mL
2. Chloroform ........................................ 16 mL
3. Glacial Acetic Acid ................................ 8 mL

(7) Formulas published by Pierre Boyer & Pierre Faveau:

1. Acetone ........................................... 50 mL
2. Acetic Acid ........................................ 5 mL
3. Film Base .......................................... 1 gr

1. Ethyl Acetate .................................... 200 mL
2. Acetone .......................................... 200 mL
3. Amyl Acetate ....................................... 3 mL
4. Acetic Acid ....................................... 60 mL
5. Film Base .......................................... 3 g

(8) Formula for film splicer 'Eumig Chemo Splicer':

1. Methhylene Chloride (Dichloromethane) ............ 95 %
2. Ethyl Alcohol (Ethanol) ............................ 5 %