m film spools

nobbylon

nobbylon

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i've got some bits and bobs to sell, not sure what to ask, but for starters before I stick my ad up, how much are spare film spools and ixmoo cassette's worth? any help appreciated!
 
i've been watching eBay and keh for awhile, trying to pick up 1-2 spare spools. they seem to fall in a wide range,USD25-60, from what i see.
 
IXMOO can be $10 to $60. It took me 3 months of very hard searching including e-mailing people I did not know to come up with 36.

The last of them were at the Chicago Photo Collector Show. I found 12/15 on a table.
Before that it was one or two at a time here and there. Jim Lager had 14 for which he accepted $140. Sherry K asked $50 for three. Tamarkin was $5 and the ones from the show were $5. I have seen them on auction site for $60 @. A few from R Reid wet $10 each.

The problem is you need a bench winder and an ABLON to take full advantage. The generic copies do not have the pointed end you need to load the cassettes properly.
 
Ronald M said:
IXMOO can be $10 to $60. It took me 3 months of very hard searching including e-mailing people I did not know to come up with 36.

The last of them were at the Chicago Photo Collector Show. I found 12/15 on a table.
Before that it was one or two at a time here and there. Jim Lager had 14 for which he accepted $140. Sherry K asked $50 for three. Tamarkin was $5 and the ones from the show were $5. I have seen them on auction site for $60 @. A few from R Reid wet $10 each.

The problem is you need a bench winder and an ABLON to take full advantage. The generic copies do not have the pointed end you need to load the cassettes properly.
Click to expand...

Ronald. I was lucky in that I have used IXMOO's for a long time. They were mostly found in "junk" bins and occasionally at swap meets. A good supply of them came from University labs and research labs as they were popular with repro stuff. I was also given a fair amount by friends who either went digital or upgraded to newer M's (MP's.M7's) that could not use them.
At the moment I have 179 of them (+ a handful of LTM ones). - enough to load 1000 ft of film, though that takes a while. usually two long evenings!
The ABLON template for cutting the "pointed" part of the film is not necessary - you can make your own from 2 ply or 4 ply mounting board. I dont use the winder - too slow. I just pull out 51/2 feet of film and cut the point and wind it on the spool.I have one of the brass "posts" that Leica made which makes it easier to wind and hold the spool.
They are remarkably in their design and, with proper care, will last forever. I do clean them out and about once a year wipe down the surfaces with light grease. The brass will tarnish and make them stick.
 
I've never paid more than $8 each for mine, and I got them all off ebay. I don't have as many as Tom, but I have about 8 each for screwmount and M, enough for a day or two anyway!
 
I think Tom A and Ronald M are confusing two different items. A IXMOO is a film cassette into which film is loaded. A take -up spool is the spool that takes up the film after exposure, and the product name for the take-up spool for the M2 +m3 is "SPOOM". product # 14022. These are 2 different items and go on opposite ends of the camera. Take -up spools, "spoom", are pretty hard to find and are not selling under 30 bucks. KEH price is 69 bucks.
 
I think both Ronald and I were answering on the IXMOO issue. The take up spools had already been adressed. Having 179 take spools would be a bit excessive - even for my stash of M2's! I have 1/2 dozen "spares" and that should keep me going for a while. They can actually wear - the inside core gets worn and it starts slipping on the long take-up shaft. Takes a lot of film though and you can actually "flare" the springs on the take up shaft to improve friction.
 
As an M3 user, I make sure always to have a spare take-up spool or two around- and before I need one. (I think if I ever lost one and didn't have a spare, I'd pay whatever the asking price was- and be grateful if I could find one quickly for $50.)

I've never used a Leica re-loadable cassette like the IXMOO, though I'd like to. They look cleverly designed and well made, (if maybe a little heavy? An M3/DR combo is already heavy enough, without more brass to carry around); still, I expect they work well and that I'd love using them. For now, I bulk load into emptied cassettes I get free from my local mini-lab. I'll curse the practice the day I get a big nasty scratch in an otherwise nice negative (or roll...) but meantime it's working for me.
 
I bought a SPOOM last year, mint (maybe even new) in a box for $30. After which, its been sitting in my bag, but I've never remembered to use it at all, and the impulse is to load using the take up spool in the camera itself.

Regarding the IXMOO, I've managed to collect around a dozen over the years, far cry from Tom's collection. Price ranges from a low of $6 to $15. Lower price for heavily brassed samples, and the ones that are still black was $15 ish. I have been following online auctions on that mega-site, and I can tell you there are people paying crazy prices for IXMOOs. I've seen mintish ones go for $30ish EACH!
 
I tend to pay $5-8 for well seasoned IXMOO's and up to $ 15 for the ones in the plastic can. To figure out if it is "new" - look at the side of it. If there is a gouge in it, running up from the bottom in a curve - it has been used! There is a "rivet" in the body that causes this scratch.
The quantity of IXMOO's that I have is large - but take into consideration that I have been using them off and on for almost 40 years. At one time they were thrown out - dealers did not want them. It is only lately they have become attractive to the users. A local store here in Vancouver had a box of brand new plastic cans (50 of them) and last fall I broke down and bought them ($4 each). They are good for storing IXMOO's and keeping dust off. The IXMOO, loaded weighs about the same as three regular cassettes with film and dont even think of flying with them!!! Looks too much like some kind of 50 cal cartridge.
M take up spools tend to run $30 and up. You are more likely to find them at the European swap meets than in North America. The trick is to buy it when you see it - food is secondary to take up spools anyway.
 
Hoppe's (sp?) No. 9 gun bluing will blacken brass. Get a small bottle at any gun shop. I wind the film onto the cassette's spool in the dark by hand, then put the spool in the cassette and assemble it. It's easier to just tape the film to the spool with masking tape than screw around with the spool's slot in the dark. Bend the last inch or so of the film basck on itself, leaving a crease across it, before putting it in the cassette. It'll pop out of the slot by itself when you turn the spool. As for trimming the leader? Use scissors. It's not all that critical for the width of the leader and the length is mostly critical with base loading only cameras. M cameras less so. Sell the ABLON to a collector.
 
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Those ABLONs are going for crazy prices. There's one right now on the auction site at $50 and 24 hrs more to closure. That for a piece of metal with a particular brand stamped on it. I'm planning to pass on it, and make one DIY out of some hard plastic this weekend. Total cost: 30 mins of my free time.
 
I have some homemade ABLON's - made out of brass. The v shape is easy and if you want to be really fancy you can make some pins that locate the film as there is nothing worse than having cut the V through s sprocket as it will jam at some time.
I use a "twirl" stick - have one of Leica's brass pins, but you can make your own from a short piece of wooden dowel pin. Just cut a slot that is a tight fit at the bottom slot of a spool. Push it on and tape the film end and "wind it on. Fast and easy.
 
What is the angle on the end of the ABLON? Is it 90 degrees and is the angle critical?. I've gotten 18 IXMOO's for when I start bulk loading again. In college I used 4 Nikon cassettes in my F, a similar design to the IXMOO, and they are great. I've been watching for those Nikon cassettes too and picking them up when cheap. Thanks for an informative thread. Joe
 
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