Jack Honeycutt Posted March 11, 2006 Share Posted March 11, 2006 I received a new toy a few days ago. It is a Cramer model #810 Super8/ 16mm movie film processor. It can process 400 ft of film at a time. This machine was made in 1982. I am slowly taking parts off of it and cleaning them. I have been using my ultrasonic cleaner as well as the dish washer. It is left with leader in the machine after you process some film. I removed the old leader. Using the machine's motor, I pulled in new leader (some old dead film). The old leader was so filthy, it was putting dirt back on to my clean parts so I had to remove it. I am going to Home Depot/Lowels and buying a water filter kit so I can send filtered water into this unit. I have a space cleared in my basement for it and it is right next to my basement sink. After checking the manual, and turning stuff on and off, I think everything works. It is just very dirty. Cramer made several small run processors. Mine was made for VNF developing and runs film at about 3.6 fpm. The Cramer model #805 was made for E6 processing, and it ran film at 1.5 fpm. I have a speed adjustment on this processor. But I have not gotten to the part where I time the film speed. I hope I can do E6 processing with this baby. It has 18 tanks. The tanks sit in a water bath at a controlled temperature. It has a motor to run the film in the processor, and another piston type motor to make air that runs in all the tanks. It has a heater at the end where film is dried before it is put on the take up reel. I need to read over the manual a few more times, but as I understand it, you load the film in the dark. After the film is loaded and the machine is turned on, you can turn on the lights (well, at least for VNF processing). It processes the film, dries it, and winds it up onto a take up reel all un attended. After I get it all cleaned up and run some tests, I hope to shoot some film in the morning and watch it in the afternoon. I posted three pictures. Here is the front with a lot of stuff removed and in the wash: http://www.filmshooting.com/scripts/gallery/forum3/cp1 Here is the tail end when the film is dried before going to the take up reel: http://www.filmshooting.com/scripts/gallery/forum3/cp2 And here is the back side: http://www.filmshooting.com/scripts/gallery/forum3/cp3 I would like to exchange information with anyone with a Cramer film processor or other interested folks. The last time I developed film I was in high school in 1968. But I was more excited with Monica in the dark room than I was with how my pictures came out. I still think about her..... jack in Portland Oregon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic Case Posted March 12, 2006 Share Posted March 12, 2006 Wow! Good luck with this project. Dirt will probably be your biggest enemy. Filtered water is one thing, but drying is the greater risk area - the emulsion is soft, sticky like fly paper, and exposed to the air in your basement. Everything will need to be scrupulously clean. Also your junk film used for leader could be a risk if you leave it sitting in the chemicals for a long time. You can get machine leader (eg from Kodak) which has no emulsion to get soft and fall off. Keep us posted on your results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Honeycutt Posted March 13, 2006 Author Share Posted March 13, 2006 Wow! Good luck with this project. Dirt will probably be your biggest enemy. Filtered water is one thing, but drying is the greater risk area - the emulsion is soft, sticky like fly paper, and exposed to the air in your basement. Everything will need to be scrupulously clean. Also your junk film used for leader could be a risk if you leave it sitting in the chemicals for a long time. You can get machine leader (eg from Kodak) which has no emulsion to get soft and fall off. Keep us posted on your results. Thanks for the info. The processor has a glass enclosed (clear fiberglass or plexaglass I think) drying area. So, hopefully, the film will be somewhat dry when it is put on the spool in the end. The enclosed drying area (under glass) has a heater & fan in it. It is good to know that Kodak has some machine leader I can buy. My friend has about 500 ft is is giving me. I pulled in this old dead film only becasue it was all I had, and the clear leader in the machine was so filthy. I have been cleaning it all day today. I hope I can do some testing soon. I am excited! jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Dunn Posted March 13, 2006 Share Posted March 13, 2006 Keep us posted. I for one am envious. Where did you get it, and was it very cheap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member John Pytlak RIP Posted March 13, 2006 Premium Member Share Posted March 13, 2006 Thanks for the info. The processor has a glass enclosed (clear fiberglass or plexaglass I think) drying area. So, hopefully, the film will be somewhat dry when it is put on the spool in the end. The enclosed drying area (under glass) has a heater & fan in it. It is good to know that Kodak has some machine leader I can buy. My friend has about 500 ft is is giving me. I pulled in this old dead film only becasue it was all I had, and the clear leader in the machine was so filthy. I have been cleaning it all day today. I hope I can do some testing soon. I am excited! jack Here is information about Kodak leader materials: http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/products....1.4.18.6&lc=en As Dominic notes, it is very important that the dryer section be very clean, with no airborne dirt to get caught on the sticky film as it dries. Dirt in the wet sections can cause scratches and become embedded, so pay attention there too, especially in the final wash. Here is information about processing: http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/....1.4.15.4&lc=en http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/....1.4.15.6&lc=en Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Honeycutt Posted March 13, 2006 Author Share Posted March 13, 2006 Here is information about Kodak leader materials:http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/products....1.4.18.6&lc=en Thanks so much John. I think I am going with the polyester, non perf learder for my machine. It is Kodak catalog # 8935702. But I am confused between it, and something Kodak calls "Positive Leader". Kodak has leader called Positive leader SO-227, catalog # 1135425. Can you tell me what Positive leader is, and what it is used for? Here is another on line Kodak catalog with more Kodak leader in it: http://www.kodak.com/US/plugins/acrobat/en...og/access04.pdf Here is information about processing:http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/....1.4.15.4&lc=en http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/....1.4.15.6&lc=en Just want I needed! Thanks John! I will be reading all afternoon. jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member John Pytlak RIP Posted March 14, 2006 Premium Member Share Posted March 14, 2006 The SO-227 is actually a high contrast color emulsion film (process ECP-2D) coated on acetate support. It is usually used to make printing negatives of the head and tail leaders that are used when cutting negatives for printing. Not intended as a processing machine leader. Many labs use the Blue 7-mil polyester leader for processing leader, for its durability and stiffness. The pink 4.7 mil polyester leader has less stiffness (more like regular film), and an antistat to prevent static buildup. The BWO 8.3 mil acetate leader is black on one side, and white on the other, useful for finding twists in the theadup of a machine. http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/products....1.4.18.6&lc=en Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Michael Carter Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Hi Jack, Woody had one of those. Did you get it from him? That'd be a long way to haul it! Great minds think alike. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Honeycutt Posted March 16, 2006 Author Share Posted March 16, 2006 The SO-227 is actually a high contrast color emulsion film (process ECP-2D) coated on acetate support. It is usually used to make printing negatives of the head and tail leaders that are used when cutting negatives for printing. Not intended as a processing machine leader. Ah, OK. Thanks again. Many labs use the Blue 7-mil polyester leader for processing leader, for its durability and stiffness. The pink 4.7 mil polyester leader has less stiffness (more like regular film), and an antistat to prevent static buildup. The BWO 8.3 mil acetate leader is black on one side, and white on the other, useful for finding twists in the theadup of a machine. http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/products....1.4.18.6&lc=en Humm.... So many to choose from. I think I will call Kodak now and check out the prices. All good info. Thanks John jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jizhong Zhang Posted January 15, 2008 Share Posted January 15, 2008 hi I want buy a 16mm b&w processor too. better can processing 35mm used and new are both ok anyone can help me ? is there a link,email or telphone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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