Telesphore Lelievre-de-St-Boniface III (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} 32elvismovies) wrote,@ 2007-10-26 12:15:00 |
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Keystone 8mm Projector
I got my newly acquired Keystone K-100 8mm projector working a few nights ago. Manufactured in the late 50's, I had doubts as to whether or not it would function due to the internal gears being a little worn, but I figure it's nothing a can of WD-40 can't fix. After a quick test run, meaning, turning the projector on for the first time in god-knows-how-long and letting it get used to its new surroundings, I got the image to flicker. A DVD player I bought two years ago can barely get through an entire movie, yet this 50 year old mechanical wonder still displays a great, clean image, although accompanied by a loud, gear-churning, jackhammer-on-the-pavement noise. The next night, armed with a can of WD-40, I realized the gear churning noise came not from the worn gears, but from a rubber washer that had been dislodged. I put it back in place, and there ya have it - it works fine. The washer itself is a little lopsided, and it did fall off a few times, so I might have to find a replacement, but it got through a 200' reel without any problem! Aesthetically, the projector is quite wonderful. It's heavy, made-in-America solid, with not a plastic part in sight, but it's not a clunker like those green and black 16mm projectors the a/v guy would wheel into your class in grade 6. On the inside case is a film splicer and a threading instruction card. The guy I bought it from says he got it through the estate sale lot of a 90 year old man who'd recently passed away. I wonder what it was originally used for - home movies, cartoons, stag reels...
It's no big surprise the 8mm home movie market collapsed with the advent of the VCR. Threading one of these puppies requires a special kind of patience. I loaded a 50' reel of a Woody Woodpecker cartoon called The Great Magician (Castle Films - Headline Edition #502). It had no leader, and the title sequence was cut out, which disappointed me, because the Castle Films logo projected onto the wall is half the experience. Some of the later reels produced on Super8 had sound, but the earlier, silent Castle reels added their own intertitle cards to the digests, such as this one here. It gave me the chance to test out the various speeds of the projector, while still being cautious. I didn't want to fly her apart on her first trip out of spacedock. When I got to the end, the projector decided to protest its rude awakening and refused to rewind the film, leaving me to spool it by hand. I dropped it on the floor out of frustration, cue-ing the cats to chase after the runaway reel of celluloid. Such is my life, kids.
The next night, I threaded a 200' Abbott & Costello reel called No Indians, Please (Castle Films - Complete Edition #808). This reel had some leader, but by the time the film was threaded out to the takeup reel, the Castle Logo had gone over, but still got to see the opening credits. This digest contains a chase scene excised from A&C's 1942 Universal film Ride Em Cowboy, acting alongside comedy-team foil Douglas Dumbrille. While not featured in this digest, the film also featured Dorothy Dandridge and Ella Fitzgerald in small parts. Even though the projector is flickering the image without problem, it still isn't rewinding properly. I won't bother to tell you how long it took to spool it by hand.
The Keystone Mfg. Co., out of Boston, was incorporated in 1919, selling 16mm projectors (the economical 8mm format did not appear until the early 1930's). They began selling their equipment through a number of retailers, namely Sears Roebuck. The Keystone brand was bought out in 1965, and in 1991, the stock and brand names were bought by Concord Camera Corp. Their numbering system must have been a nightmare for corporate buyers and inventory staff. Some of the projectors were also sold by department stores like Macy's under different model numbers.
It's no big surprise the 8mm home movie market collapsed with the advent of the VCR. Threading one of these puppies requires a special kind of patience. I loaded a 50' reel of a Woody Woodpecker cartoon called The Great Magician (Castle Films - Headline Edition #502). It had no leader, and the title sequence was cut out, which disappointed me, because the Castle Films logo projected onto the wall is half the experience. Some of the later reels produced on Super8 had sound, but the earlier, silent Castle reels added their own intertitle cards to the digests, such as this one here. It gave me the chance to test out the various speeds of the projector, while still being cautious. I didn't want to fly her apart on her first trip out of spacedock. When I got to the end, the projector decided to protest its rude awakening and refused to rewind the film, leaving me to spool it by hand. I dropped it on the floor out of frustration, cue-ing the cats to chase after the runaway reel of celluloid. Such is my life, kids.
The next night, I threaded a 200' Abbott & Costello reel called No Indians, Please (Castle Films - Complete Edition #808). This reel had some leader, but by the time the film was threaded out to the takeup reel, the Castle Logo had gone over, but still got to see the opening credits. This digest contains a chase scene excised from A&C's 1942 Universal film Ride Em Cowboy, acting alongside comedy-team foil Douglas Dumbrille. While not featured in this digest, the film also featured Dorothy Dandridge and Ella Fitzgerald in small parts. Even though the projector is flickering the image without problem, it still isn't rewinding properly. I won't bother to tell you how long it took to spool it by hand.
The Keystone Mfg. Co., out of Boston, was incorporated in 1919, selling 16mm projectors (the economical 8mm format did not appear until the early 1930's). They began selling their equipment through a number of retailers, namely Sears Roebuck. The Keystone brand was bought out in 1965, and in 1991, the stock and brand names were bought by Concord Camera Corp. Their numbering system must have been a nightmare for corporate buyers and inventory staff. Some of the projectors were also sold by department stores like Macy's under different model numbers.
