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Author Topic: Adjusting Neumade cutting blades Ken Lackner Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1907 From: Atlanta, GA, USA Registered: Sep 2001 posted 02-26-2004 03:05 PM                     Are the cutting blades on a Neumade splicer meant to be adjustable? On the one Neumade splicer my theater has, the blade facing towards the operator cuts the tape so that it is about 1 mm wider than the film. (The other blade cuts the tape perfectly flush with the film.) Is there anything I can do to adjust this?  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 02-26-2004 03:06 PM                     Splicing tips  |  IP: Logged Ken Lackner Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1907 From: Atlanta, GA, USA Registered: Sep 2001 posted 02-26-2004 03:27 PM                     I don't mean the side cutter, I mean the blades that cut the tape. The tape is not being cut flush with the film.  |  IP: Logged Mike Pennell Expert Film Handler Posts: 150 From: Tucson, AZ, USA Registered: Apr 2003 posted 02-26-2004 03:28 PM                     If you remove the handle you can access the razor blade holders. There are two philips head screws that hold each of them. I dont know of any tried and true method of aligning them perfectly, besides trial and error (its a bitch!!) Be careful when loosening the screws as they tend to strip the head.  |  IP: Logged John Walsh Film God Posts: 2490 From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way Registered: Oct 1999 posted 02-26-2004 03:56 PM                     I have the same experiences as Mike; just keep cutting junk film until you get them adjusted, then try not to change it! The screws used are on the cheap side; I changed some to allen cap type (metric.)  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 02-26-2004 04:29 PM                     Probably shouldn't be necessary to say this but... Make sure you are authorized to carry out repairs on equipment. Even so, do not perform any repairs/alignments/adjustments unless you know what you're doing. You could make the situation worse!  |  IP: Logged Chris Hipp Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1462 From: Mesquite, Tx (east of Dallas) Registered: Jul 2003 posted 02-26-2004 04:47 PM                     The worst thing that I have encountered while adjusting these blades is breaking a blade when it moves in too far. Have any extra blade handy. What I do is us a small pair of pliers to loosen the screws, so I dont have to remove the handle, and then, like stated above, trial and error.  |  IP: Logged Brad Allen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 688 From: Evansville, IN, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 02-26-2004 06:01 PM                     Make sure dull blades aren't causing the problem.  |  IP: Logged Jon Miller Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 973 From: San Diego, CA, USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 02-26-2004 07:26 PM                     Ken--if your theatre has a supply of opaque splicing tape, why not use some to make your test splices while tweaking the splicer, instead of using clear or Zebra tape. Opaque tape will make checking the alignment easier. Besides, it's about the only time that normally awful stuff would actually be useful!  |  IP: Logged Chris Hipp Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1462 From: Mesquite, Tx (east of Dallas) Registered: Jul 2003 posted 02-26-2004 07:53 PM                     Jon, I have tons of yellow tape and that is the only thing it gets used for.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 02-26-2004 07:59 PM                     Yellow tape is also good for running in between tensabarriers as temporary "caution" roping. I find putting a lockwasher on the screw helps a lot. Get it pretty secure, but not completely tight, then make your test splices (single sided only and with a new trailer you can toss). Try and error too far away from the edge of the film so you don't damage the blade, then gently "tap" one side or the other inward with a screwdriver against the "L" bracket that holds the blade on and repeat the splice test until you get it right. Then tighten it down. Be careful when you loosen the screw that allows the handle to be pulled back! (This is the screw about an inch long just to the left of the tape holder.) If it is unscrewed and you try to punch a splice, you will bend the screw and then it MUST be replaced. All too often people decide to just go ahead and force-screw it back in place, as they strip the head out and then things are really messed up.  |  IP: Logged Chris Medley Expert Film Handler Posts: 180 From: McKinney, TX, USA Registered: Jan 2004 posted 02-27-2004 08:16 AM                        Caution Tape....I never thought I would ever find a use for my last three rolls of Zebra tape...Thanks Brad!! I ordered a new handle from my Newmade splicer 35SS model. They sent along some new and improved screws for that blade bracket. I'm not sure if you can order them seperatly or if they just come as an added perk in the new handle.  |  IP: Logged Ken Lackner Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1907 From: Atlanta, GA, USA Registered: Sep 2001 posted 02-27-2004 11:41 AM                     My company does not carry opaque tape at all. This splicer looked like it hadn't been cleaned ever, so I decided to take it appart and thoroughly clean it. Yeah, aligning those blades sure is a pain in the ass! But now I have another problem: The perf cutters are actually cutting into the film, making the sprocket holes ever so slightly wider, and they are leaving hanging chads. They never did that before I took the thing appart. What could cause this? quote: Be careful when you loosen the screw that allows the handle to be pulled back! (This is the screw about an inch long just to the left of the tape holder.) If it is unscrewed and you try to punch a splice, you will bend the screw and then it MUST be replaced. All too often people decide to just go ahead and force-screw it back in place, as they strip the head out and then things are really messed up. So that's how that thing got bent! (Acutally I noticed it was bent and I pretty much figured out that's how it happened.) That screw has been like that for who knows how long. I'd like to replace it, but does it need to be replaced?  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-27-2004 12:36 PM                     The punch and die are a matched set. Not only must they be kept together, they only go back together one way. The best thing to do is to hand fit them back togehter while you have them out of the splicer theen set the bottom plate onto the splicer base and put the screws in loosely. Then put the top piece on, again, don't tighten the screws all the way. Once you have everything "meshed" the right way tighten the screws and continue with reassembly. If you try refitting them and they still don't work right, they've probably been damaged. You should never have to force the two pieces together. It should only take finger pressure to fit them. Any more than that and you'll damage them. If they've been damaged they'll have to be replaced. Honestly, the best thing to do is never to take them apart in the first place. Unless they are really bad, there's not much more you can clean by taking them apart than you can leaving them assembled. Furthermore, overcleaning them just makes them not work as well. I have two splicers. One Neumade and one generic splicer. The generic one has rarely been used. It was cleaned two years ago and hasn't been touched since. The Neumade gets emptied out every so often. If it get dirty I'll take a toothbrush and clean it. Other than that it doesn't get touched. It used to piss me off to no end when I'd go to a theater and find the splicers all disassembled in a pile!  |  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 02-27-2004 04:55 PM                        quote: They never did that before I took the thing appart. What could cause this? Um, you taking it apart? Actually, do what Randy said. Pipe cleaners (like kids use in kindergarten or whatever for art) work well to clean splicers too.  |  IP: Logged

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