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Topic: Used Simplexes?
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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!
Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 06-07-2002 06:39 AM
A Simplex XL or 35 should ALWAYS be painted white on the inside of the film compartment, particularly if you have a single-lens version. The current powder coat grey all over is a function of ease of manufacturing not an improvement to the machine. The white color in the film compartment actually is supposed to be an ease for threading. The Simplex XL/35 has two lights in the door of the projector that actually WILL light up the inside of the projector for threading (even in a completely darkened booth) whereas the current powdercoat interiors effectively kill that effect. The above also applies to Century projectors. The gear side is another matter. They are supposed to be gray. Some vintages did have a white vertical shaft casting (aka..."the harp"). Century also used to have a white interior on the gear side but that only served to show how messey it got when the grease was applied. An oddity, Strong did paint the gate operator crank white in the mid '80s...it didn't last long (either the paint nor the idea of painting it)...the reason, as far as I can tell, is unknown. Steve ------------------
"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"
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Bob Koch
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 183
From: williams ca
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 06-08-2002 12:17 AM
Joe;
When I was a boy some of the early Simplex Regulars were made by Precision Machine Corp and were so stamped on the operating side door. ie PMC. In those days the exhibitors were just as enamored of spending money as they are now.So reluctantly , at some preconceived period, they would send their Simplex reg to their nearest branch of National Theatre Supply Co[ in all major cities.] National, after checking whether they were good for it, would send out a huge crate with a "loaner" in it, usually the "loaner" being painted on the exterior a bright white,yellow or red, which the "operator" [projectionist] would install and send the theatres projector head to NTS. It is very hard to impart to you the skills of these early NTS machinists.I don`t think any young booth employees have ever heard projectors run like this, complete absense of any intermittent indexing noise and complete silence of operation.No one would pay for that kind of hand lapping and fitting that was done then. The last projectors that had that kind of fitting were the XL`s of 1950 and 1951. Anyway, Joe, after these exhorbinate overhauls[400-500$] they were sent back with the operating side enameled a nice white, which was well done and lasted a long time. There were the first white interiors I ever saw. [1937-40.
Bob Koch
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Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man
Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 06-08-2002 04:08 PM
After looking over the three Simplex 35's, I know they are not Simplex 35's. They are Simplex XL's made to look like Simplex 35's. As I have indicated before, all three of these machines have the old straight gate. They also have XL-vintage framing shafts. One has a hammertone paint job on the compensator while the other two have a drippy white paint job. The vertical shaft bracket's paint looks like it was painted in chunks.Luckly, Film-Guard does not attack the paint job in the film compartment. But I don't want to use Film-Guard to clean the projectors. It is just too expensive. When these machines were supposedly re-furbished, they were just painted over with what I think must have been a spray-bomb to make them look nice and new. I just tested a spot with denatured alcohol, and it dissolved the paint. Xekote dissolves it, as well as Rosco Lens Cleaner. Guess what color of paint was under it....White paint, just like the XL's. No primer or nothing.
Some of the gate parts are badly worn, and the sprockets are not the VKF style, except for what was on the movements. One machine has the oil sump screen laying on its side and sucking air unless the oil level in the sight glass is almost 1.5 inches high. Now I know why the oil level has to be maintained so damned high in that specific machine. By the way the sump screen looks, there is nothing I can do other than ordering a new one. The manufacturer's tag has been removed from all three the projectors. The serial numbers were still on the main casting. The numbers are: 18489, 13495, and 13428. I still have a strong suspicion they were orginally military surplus that sat in a St. Louis, Missouri warehouse for years. There is nothing wrong with that by any means, but the condition they are in for being supposedly refurbished leaves a lot to be desired. Even the lens barrel alignment slot looks like it has sustained 20 years of lens changes. Thanks to this tread, I noticed a few other things during my fine-toothed comb inspection that need immediate attention to head off some major troubles, such as missing bolts, pivot pins that fall out, a missing film stripper, and shitty crimp connections on the framing light wiring harness, just to mention a few. Of the three machines, two are complete piles of  . Rant mode off. 
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Kenneth Wuepper
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1026
From: Saginaw, MI, USA
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 06-09-2002 06:01 AM
Paul,I usually grab a bottle of "409" from the concession stand. Spray it on the cloth not into the machine. It polishes up nicely with another cloth dampened with water. The curved gates are to reduce film deforming during the heat of projection. The Temple had Simplex XLs and 165 Ampere Carbon arcs. The throw is 165 feet and the screen is 50 feet wide. You could see the buckling in the center of the image during credits. The very center 6 feet of the image would be hard to watch as the white letters seem to "move" in and out of focus. Only the black background did this. KEN
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on this. I prefer the white interior myself.
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