Splicing 16mm cine. Which glue? Technique?

[LCL999]

I have some old 16mm from the 50s which has come apart at the old splices, so I need to resplice the breaks.

What sort of glue should I use?

Any suggestions as to the old glue on the film? Do I scrape it off or just cut out the old frames to get new clean surfaces.

The old joins are all at right angles to the film. I was wondering if a diagonal cut is worth trying. Plus is greater length of join for greater strength, minus is one frame with half of one scene, half the other, to give a very bad but quick transition.

 

[David Murphy]

Film cement should be available on eBay and at other cine oriented dealer sites. You need to get a good 16mm splicer with instructions - it's not that hard - it's a very standard procedure. Good used splicers are available inexpensively now on the used market. You might look to see if there are some Youtube videos teaching one how to splice - seeing is easier than a lengthy description, but read the splicer machine instructions carefully and practice on leader pieces. The splicers are designed to cut the film at the optimal angle correctly and they have scraping tools built in.

 

[David Murphy]

And yes, if you project a lot of film being able to splice is essential.

 

[VertovSvilova]

fwiw, I still use 16mm film (single perf with a super 16 gate in the camera which was modified.) But I telecine my exposed film to a hard drive. There are several smaller companies that can do an HD telecine for not a gigantic amount of $$, e.g.,

http://www.spectrafilmandvideo.com/index.html

http://www.pro8mm.com/16mm-services.php

If you want to preserve your film footage you might want to consider that since the film itself is somewhat fragile. And if you project it you will inevitably get more damage; scratches, sprocket tears, breaks, etc.. (projection prints don't last forever and why many copies are made from the masters, etc..)

To repair the bad splices you'll have to clean the adjoining frames (don't scrape it off, you'll damage the film.) I would splice in the same place and try not to cut out a lot more frame information and with tapering the breaks (you can still do a butt joint with no issues, however.) It should end up as strong as it was originally (use Kodak film cement and/or splicing tape or if the frames or any sprockets are torn.) But again, projection does stress the splices.

Here is a .pdf on restoring film and fixing splices (starts on p.11) http://www.filmforever.org/filmforever.pdf

And there are plenty of YouTube demonstrations: e.g.,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CVfHg8Fe6Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k66pLxyMQGI

Kodak also has film info (and publications) http://motion.kodak.com/motion/Support/Technical_Information/Storage/storage_handling.htm

And there are lots of vendors who sell editing equipment including tape, solvent, cement, and splicers.

http://www.chamblesscineequip.com/catalog/editing.htm

http://www.spectrafilmandvideo.com/Products.html

https://www.alangordon.com/

http://www.numbersfilmsupply.com/categories/FILM-SUPPLIES/

http://www.cutfilm.com/supplies.html

 

[Timmyjoe]

See if you can find an old Bolex 16mm film splicer and some Kodak film cement. I haven't bought the film cement in over a decade, Kodak may no longer sell it. But the Bolex splicer not only cuts the film very precisely for you, but also had a stage that tapered the two ends of film that you are joining so the splice is "seamless". It was the best splicer I ever used.

Best,
-Tim

 

[VertovSvilova]

I haven't bought the film cement in over a decade, Kodak may no longer sell it.

Yes, Kodak still makes it. Readily available even from B+H.

 

[Dwig]

...

What sort of glue should I use?

...

NEVER user "glue".

The proper material is a "film cement", which is a solvent and not a glue. Film cement slightly dissolves the film base forming a "chemical weld" where the two pieces join. The "scraping" is done to clean off any emulsion (with overlap splices) and to expose flat uniform faces (both overly and butt splices) at the junction.

 

[sevo]

The most trivial film cement formula is 10 parts acetone, 1 part concentrated acetic acid and 0.1 part of film base (i.e. dissolve a small clipping of film in the above, and fish out the gelatin) - even if all the industry perishes, that should be mixable as long as there are pharmacists...

 

[LCL999]

Great answers. Thanks to all of you.

 

[john_s]

Another vote for the later Bolex splicer that gives a very smooth joint. But the others are fine also if you don't have many to do. You do need to read a guide to use. Another thing that might be handy is a roll of leader. Many old films that i've come across have lost bits and pieces of leader.