3. Care and Repair of films. This comes in a very basic first chapter for beginners, and then some

                                                                               slightly more advanced stuff. A separate page headed Camphor etc deals with some of the

                                                                               substances used on film.

                                                                        4. Old Projector Amplifiers. Some hints on how to avoid doing more harm than good.

                                                                        5. "Detailing" a projector (cleaning and smartening up for display)

Although I have given up on 16mm features, I seem to have a number of silents and shorts in need of repair. I have therefore modified my 16mm splicer to help.

First, I removed the blade as I find it is all too easy to cut the film as well, and now just use a craft knife or single-sided razor-like thing. In order to help with

sprocket repair, I have added the extra spools of pre-perforated tape. These are on a cantilever so I can still get the film to the splicer. I won't

know until I've used it a bit whether it would be better to have the cantilever the other way round. The support is, of course, made of Meccano (TM)  - why make if you have the wherewithal to hand? The tape spools are deliberately left very free, so either can be brought into position. My final mod is hard to see, so I have marked the ends in red. Basically, it is a strip of metal about 3mm from the front edge of the film bed. I pull tape out with a very small-bladed screwdriver and lay it across the sprockets on the front edge. The metal strip then provides an edge against which I can cut the tape at a convenient size to give a wrap-round. This sort of repair is useful because it does not encroach on the picture area, and I use it on most gauges.

Leafing idly thru some late 40's ACW's. I came across one comment that made me stop and think. The context was a discussion of the merits of

centre versus edge perforations. The comment referred to the way a film gate is "relieved" around the picture area, ie cut back slightly so that,

while the edges of the film are gripped to ensure the image is held steadily in the gate, the picture area should not be in contact with any part of the

gate except at the aperture, so minimising the risk of scratching. The point was made that, for 9.5 with its central perfs, the film was not directly

supported where the claw enters the perf to do its work. In 16 and 8, the sprocket hole is very closely supported by the side runners of the gate.

The suggestion was made that this meant the 9.5 sprocket was more prone to damage and, on reflection, I think there could be something in it. If

one imagines gripping a piece of film in a vice, with just an eighth or less of an inch protruding, it will seem very stiff to the touch, and strong

enough to cut an incautious finger, A few inches of film would just flop around loose. It would seem logical that, albeit on a very much smaller scale,

a similar effect could operate in a projector. There is certainly scope for the film to move in and out fractionally as the claw enters and leaves, which

may contribute to splitting. I have often seen 9.5 projectors in which wear to the claw has resulted in the underside becoming notched, so that it may actually

catch on the bottom of the perf on the out stroke. It would seem possible that the lack of support around the perf could be a contributory factor in

any damage. It's interesting as much as anything because I would like to think that there is some reason for the appalling, incessant sprocket damage

one sees in so many 9.5 prints other than the sheer incompetence of projectionists.