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TOY PROJECTORS
Dave Richardson sent some good chitterling pix of "The World's Smallest Cine Projector", which seems a good place to start a section on toys. The 2nd cutting was sent in by Dave Humphrey. Dave R also sent the first cutting and the Radex bit. Anyone for a hot bath?
Got some pix from the New Zealand branch of the hobby, courtesy Trevor Adams. Most are from their mag. See also under Bingoscope below.
The Cinette 16 was spotted at Argenteuil; the second pic is one that appeared on ebay.
Kid
I have been partially dismantling a Kid. Here are some pix for you, plus a complete one, wiv Super arms but no motor; the little black box holds a tranny for a 12v 10w QI lamp.
I can't make up my mind whether to be impressed by the ingenuity that packs claw, shutter and notching mechanism into such a tiny space, or appalled at what a nasty little thing it is, wondering how Pathescope dared to inflict such a thing on an unsuspecting public at such an outrageous price (55/- (£2.75), for a few sheets of pressed tinplate).
The big issue, of course, is that gate; it don't open. Even Pathescope saw the problem and introduced the Imp - essentially, the same again but with a tilt-back lamphouse like the Baby/Home Movie. This feature must have been responsible for so many scratched films, and yet, and yet.....a vigorously wielded gate brush, with the notching device engaged so the claw is withdrawn, could have done so much. But Joe public don't do proper maintenance. The construction is an odd mix of labour-intensive, with lots of nuts and bolts, and flimsy - the notching mech involves very light springs and thin flexible strips. As ever, of course, it was taken far beyond any reasonable compass for a sprocketless machine by the addition of Super Arms - think what havoc that pull on the film against the claw must have wrought. Here also is a much better pic from David Richardson, of a French Kid. The ads look better, too.
I don't think one can class the Princess anywhere but the toy category.
Ace
This
is a complete, working Ace. I have placed a small tranny in the resistance case
to provide power for a 12v 10w QI lamp, but left the resistance in place in case
anyone should want to convert back. I have also carried an earth connection thru
the resistance and onto the projector, bearing in mind the invariable rule that
you cannot trust old wiring too far. It all works fine, tho' pic is not terribly
bright - but then, I wouldn't want anyone using a thing like this for anything
other than demo purposes anyway.
Bingoscope
I found a Bingoscope lurking. You don't have to look that closely to
see it's the same as the Hunter (or vice versa), whatever the label says. I
wonder if there was a Gamages version? Has anyone got a machine of the
same pattern but yet another badge? Middle is another minor variant.
Here is a Hunter, basically just a toy machine - there is another very much like it, called an Astor (see below) and there may be more; it seems to have been a badge engineering or supermarket own brand approach. I have one where someone has added sprockets (!), chain driven from Meccano (TM) sprocket wheel. Actually, better executed it might even have worked. As you can see, it's in pretty good shape. Except that it isn't, as the un-doctored photo shows. It's so easy to do this sort of thing today.
This
Astor has the added advantage of demonstrating one of
the finest examples of bodgery in its class, with an attempt to fit sprockets
using Meccano(TM) etc. Note how the retaining rollers are
held - TIGHT - against the sprockets (if one can call them that), by a single
spring for both sprockets! The Super Arms are missing but you can see where they
would have fitted and the drive pulley for the take-up.
Being a classy machine, it would have had a condenser lens (removable like B&H
and so, naturally, removed from this one). The chitterling picture shows that, although there
is a bit of casting right where the hole would be for a rear-mounted lamp as in
the Bingoscope and Hunter versions, this has not been bored and we have instead
a lamp mounted on the side. I even have some instructions, which show clearly
how this variant lamp arrangement has simply been added to the basic drawing.
The article in the last 4 pix is from the New Zealand cine collectors' club mag.
All but the 2nd and 4th of these are in Son (ugh!) of Gallery but are repeated here. The first I have been told is a Coronet, the second is, obviously, the third could be a Dekko and the fourth is (I think the back is meant to be that colour!), with its a slightly more advanced cousin at 5, then a Bing.
I actually ran some film thru the Coronet, using a 12v 10w QI lamp. Very dim picture, and the take-up kept pulling the film out of rack, there being not even the slight restraint such as is offered by the sprung guide of a basic Baby.
Bing
I have been taking a closer look at the Bing. The first four pix are courtesy Bob Andrews. You can see just how basic the mech is. At the top, a spindle with a metal strip that bends up and swings out of the way to insert a film. This enters and leaves the gate by way of the curved parts you can see protruding from the front of the gate. A simple bookleaf/spring arrangement allows the gate to pivot open. A single point claw, the small eccentric driven by the big gear. Note the slot where the claw arm pivots on the centre of this gear, providing in and out movement. The take-up is on the front of the big gear, giving ample opportunities for oil transfer. A tiny bulb, a fixed lens, so no focussing. Most especially, no shutter! The mind boggles. The last three pix are courtesy Trevor Adams in NZ - I didn't even realise there WAS a clockwork Bing! The mech looks even more basic - no big gear! Where do all these collectors dig them up? I suppose they spend all their time on the internet and at car boot sales instead of keeping web sites up to date.
This week's mystery object is:-
My theory is that, if I can find a way of putting it together with the various bits shown in the pix below, I shall get a projector.
And I was right. It is a Peerless 9.5. Almost exactly the same machine was also sold as the Triplico, in two models, the Junior for 9.5 only and the Senior for 8 & 16 as well. I have no decent pix of the tri-gauge Triplico, which seems to have a much more enclosed mechanism, but is otherwise the same. Any good pix or a decent copy/scan of instructions would be most welcome. Here it is after re-assembly from bits and a bit of tidying up.
I actually got it working finally, but it was a bit of a struggle, and the pic was poor and lacking focus. The mech would barely fit back into the body without jamming up and the pic was out of focus across the screen, both due I suspect to Mazac distortion. The other big problem was that only one of the sprockets had a rim. Whether I put the rimmed one top or bottom it caused problems as the film just wandered off the sprockets. The sprocket was actually about 14mm wide, and the film retaining rollers just sat on it, doing nothing to guide the film. Because of the width of the sprocket, washers would not work so I can up with the approach illustrated. The brass bits on the top sprocket fit round and over the edges of the sprocket. Being slightly greater diameter than the sprocket, they guide both the film and the retaining rollers and correct the problem. Framing is a bit by lever but the rest by rotating the bottom sprocket until the limited range of the lever can come into play.
I have a lot more to say about this but I am, you will be glad to hear, keeping it for a special piece (see Detailing a Projector). You might care to note the generic motor, like ones used by Specto and others.
Here are an ad and a sort of review from ACW for December 1936
The same ad also refers to the SP Wundatone, a 16mm sound machine with intermittent sprocket. I had part of one once, many, many years ago,
but not the skill to do anything with it. Then another ad, from 1941, when the name had changed.
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