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Author Topic: What kind of splicer is this? Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-11-2008 09:57 PM                        I came across this splicer. The plate on it says "Jeff Mfg. Co. Inc. 35mm Splicer. A second plate says National Theatre Supply. The handle is marked "Open Close" It didn't seem to do anything at first but after a good soaking in Liquid Wrench Silicone Spray, the two plates do move apart to reveal nothing but a hollow area beneath. The hinged handle in the center has no cutter on it but a flat plate about the thickness of an Academy 1.37 frameline. The pressing down on the handle makes that piece extend down on the film, but again, it cuts nothing. At first the electrical cord make me thing it might be an ultrasonic splicer, but no, there what looks like just a light inside that I assume lights up the area under the film. But how one is supposed to cut the film or use cement on it is not apparant, at least not to me. I would imagine this was a cement splicer of some sort because that well looks suspiciously similar to the size bottles that acetone cement came in. If anyone knows how this thing works, I'd be interested. It looks to me, although I have yet to check it throughly, but it looks like the sprockets are fox sprocket size. Take a look (it's only a cell phone cam so sorry for the quality) This next is with the two film hold down clamps opened as well as the spring loaded middle handle thing raised. This piece presses down on the film which is held down by the side clamps but it is not designed as a cutter. Although you can't see it very clearly, there is a flat metal piece that protrudes out of the larger block. When you press the top handle down, the smaller center piece (the size of a frameline) will extend out of it's center, but there is no blade on it nor does it look like there is any way that it was designed to carry a blade. This is from the rear. There is a switch, but all it does is turn on a light under the film. And possibly heat up the underplate? I have to dismantle the whole thing to see -- it looks like there is a heat element in there as well. I haven't pluged it in yet until I can double check the condition of the wire.  |  IP: Logged Darryl Spicer Film God Posts: 3250 From: Lexington, KY, USA Registered: Dec 2000 posted 11-11-2008 11:39 PM                    Would that be a splicer used for Cement type splices?  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 11-11-2008 11:48 PM                     Looks like a version of the good ol' Griswald R2 cement splicer.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-11-2008 11:52 PM                     It looks like a Maier-Hancock wanna be. They make/made the defacto reference "hot" splicers (cement). They use a heated splice area to accelerate the splicing set time. They use a pull type scraper to remove the emulsion in prep for the splice. Steve  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 11-12-2008 08:44 AM                       I don't know about this particular unit, but I have (somewhere) a single-block chemical splicer that only had one small "flap" to hold the film down on the left, and a 1/2" wide clamp block. That was it. The whole splicer probably wasn't 2 inches wide. It had no provision to either cut or scrape the film - it was just a splicing block. The projectionist cut the film with scissors and scraped the emulsion by hand. However, I do remember seeing an old-school projectionist (nearing the end of his career in the mid-70s) who made splices on the thing that rivalled a Griswold.  |  IP: Logged Stephen Furley Film God Posts: 3059 From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England Registered: May 2002 posted 11-12-2008 09:16 AM                     I've seen ones for 9.5mm film which were a similar design. Give me the Premier type any day over these.  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-12-2008 10:07 AM                        quote: Tim Reed The projectionist cut the film with scissors and scraped the emulsion by hand. Egads! Definately for cement, Darryl. That well in the back next to the switch would hold the cement bottle. Thing is, you would think they'd have put a holder for the water too -- you used water to soften the emulsion before scraping. It's just that I can't figure out how the mechanics of it helps to join the two ends or even how it cuts the film. The Open/Close mechanism make no sense. I can't see designing all this hardware if the projectionist had to then cut the film with a sissor or razor. I am going to have to study it more. Very fascinating, I must say.  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 11-12-2008 11:26 AM                       Frank, not everyone used water (although, it made it a LOT easier). Some guys scraped dry, others used spit.  |  IP: Logged Stephen Furley Film God Posts: 3059 From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England Registered: May 2002 posted 11-12-2008 12:07 PM                     When I visited the National Film and Television Archive there were various type of splicers around, but none of them was being used; all splicing was being done by hand. The reason they gave for this was that much of the film they work with has too much shrinkage to correctly fit the pins on a standard splicer. The emulsion was scraped by eye with a razor blade, the film was cleaned, placed emulsion up on the glass and held in place by a small weight. The other end was then cleaned, aligned with the first one by eye, and held in place by a second weight. I'm not sure if the alignment of the edges was checked with a straight-edge, but the perforations were certainly aligned by eye. The end of the top strip was lifted far enough for the cement, which they mixed themselves, to be applied with a brush, and then the other end lowered onto it. I think a third weight must have been used to press the ends together for a few seconds. The cement dried very quickly, even quicker than the stuff which Kodak used to sell in a metal can, which was the best cement I ever found. This was all nitrate of course; always the easiest base to cement splice. Diacetate was terrible; I had some cement which was supposed to have been designed for it, but it was very difficult to get a good splice. Triacetate isn't bad, but it's not as good as nitrate.  |  IP: Logged Jack Theakston Master Film Handler Posts: 411 From: New York, USA Registered: Sep 2007 posted 11-12-2008 12:36 PM                     I have to agree that the Maier-Hancock is the master cement splicer. B&H's pedal splicer is also top of the line, and you can make splices with it to the correct pitch of shrunken film.  |  IP: Logged

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