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Author Topic: Filling in an aperture plate Ken Lackner Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1907 From: Atlanta, GA, USA Registered: Sep 2001 posted 11-19-2003 09:00 PM                     Is there any way to fill in an aperture plate that has been over filed?  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 11-19-2003 09:03 PM                        Solder will stick to some plates. Make sure you file it flat (parallel to the film plane), otherwise you'll end up scratching the film.  |  IP: Logged Aaron Sisemore Flaming Ribs beat Reeses Peanut Butter Cups any day! Posts: 3061 From: Rockwall TX USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 11-19-2003 09:45 PM                     Solder will work, but brazing will handle heat better than solder. -Aaron  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-19-2003 10:37 PM                     Actually silver solder works the best. Soft solder won't generally hold up and brazing creates too much heat on the brass. Silver solder is somewhere inbetween the two of them and holds up very well even under very large arcs. Be sure to use an appropriate flux when doing so. Mark  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-19-2003 11:35 PM                     I have also had some success in beating them into submission. I had a theatre where the projectors were so far off axis from the screen, the scope under sized plates I had were still to far open for the far side of the screen. I piened that side of the plate with an appropriate drift until it was sufficinetly undersized to file...the result was actually quite good and is still in service...the plate was for a Simplex XL/PR-1014 (ie single plate, not a turret machine). I've done this trick with Norelco AAII plates, Century and Simplex...Always worked...sometimes a plate is just a little over cut on one side by people that keep filing a plate and not thinking about perhaps the projector was bumped, the masking shrunk or isn't at the correct position...when in doubt...file the plate...a bad motto. Steve  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 11-20-2003 01:35 PM                        Steve's idea of peening the plate to expand/thin the metal should work fine, if you can avoid deforming the flatness of the plate. But why not just buy a new plate?  |  IP: Logged Greg Pauley Expert Film Handler Posts: 173 From: Huntington, WV, USA Registered: Jun 2000 posted 11-20-2003 02:52 PM                        I use a small flat head punch to expand an over filed plate like Steve explained. Works pretty good if you just need a small amount of the plate back.  |  IP: Logged Ken Lackner Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1907 From: Atlanta, GA, USA Registered: Sep 2001 posted 11-21-2003 02:54 AM                     quote: But why not just buy a new plate? We were wondering if there was a cheaper way. Seems like these suggestions would be much cheaper, but now the question is, Is it really worth the hassle?  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-21-2003 04:36 AM                        quote: We were wondering if there was a cheaper way. Seems like these suggestions would be much cheaper, but now the question is, Is it really worth the hassle? Ken, they cost like $12. Like John said, buy a new one...unless you like to tinker. But smashing the thing with a sledge hammer seems like a lot of work to me and not too accurate. Frank  |  IP: Logged Chris Markiewicz Expert Film Handler Posts: 209 From: Glenaviegh, County Tipperary, Ireland Registered: Aug 2002 posted 11-21-2003 05:02 PM                     $12? not for a Christie plate! Silver solder works just fine.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-21-2003 07:01 PM                     Note, These plates are made of brass and don't need that big a hammer to do the work...if it takes you more than a couple seconds, you took too long! As to flatness...I always ran the file across the face of the plate to ensure that...also...using a good solid surface to do the peening will yield good results. BTW...you'd be amazed at how far you can expand the plate! Steve  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-21-2003 07:36 PM                     "But why not just buy a new plate?" _________________________________________________________________ Actually Simplex and Century plates are about the only 12.00 plates left in the world!! DP-70 plates list at a hundred bucks while Christie and some other dual aperature machined brass plates are not far behind the DP-70's pricing. Mark  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 11-21-2003 08:49 PM                     Hmmmm, sounds like a job for Mueller's Atomic Machine Shop! (Maybe Greg could make undersize plates that are actually undersized too! Strong can't seem to do it.)  |  IP: Logged Chris Hipp Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1462 From: Mesquite, Tx (east of Dallas) Registered: Jul 2003 posted 11-21-2003 10:14 PM                     The last time I checked Strong Mellinium plates were $36  |  IP: Logged John Walsh Film God Posts: 2490 From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way Registered: Oct 1999 posted 11-21-2003 10:25 PM                     And sometimes it's just one side or an edge that needs to be filled out a little. I really don't know any one who likes to file plates... if you can save a plate, I'm all for it. It would be nice if someone could make an aperture filing machine. Something where you could just shave a little off at a time, then just file the curve.  |  IP: Logged

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