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Author Topic: Potts Enterprises to close Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 11-24-2011 08:35 PM                        So why didn't Speco realize the design failure of no keepers and fix that after the first batch was sold? Instead, they continued to sell them with the flaw. So many companies in this industry have/had absolutely no business being in it and yet somehow they flourished. Now I'm not sure if I should have contempt for the shitty companies or the shitty theaters who kept buying that stuff. Aw hell, why not both?  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 11-24-2011 10:21 PM                        Bob's involvement was on the early side. The aw3 had the honor of building on the earlier mistakes; they knew what not to do. I asm not certain of the name (Clark Kreitz???) but the aw3 guy was once part of the Pussycat chain of porn theatres. The early speco were actually built in Illinois at the Potts factory; later made in Kansas City. The later (metal) tables were about as good as the Christie. The wooden ones were terrible.(Yes, the platter decks WERE actually picnic tables from K mart. That is why they were steel. Louis  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 11-24-2011 10:41 PM                        quote: Louis Bornwasser The early speco were actually built in Illinois at the Potts factory; later made in Kansas City Wow, that actually brought back a memory for me. When I was working in my first theater, we had a union projectionist who would spend a few days at our theater and a few days at another theater a mile away (same chain). He always referred to the platters in the other building as "Kansas City Platters". I never understood this. I figured that they had passed some sort of law where all theaters in Kansas City must use those platters or maybe all of the citizens of Kansas City united to design those platters. We used AW3s.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 11-25-2011 01:52 AM                     Ah yes, the late model SPECO "metal" tables were good. I had no issues with them at all. Of course they were an almost direct knock off of the AW3 MUT (not the Bevan "hand truck MUT"), but it was a simple design that worked extremely well...AND actually promoted the proper use of a splicer during breakdown like the AW3. In the last 10 years I haven't found a single theater that used Strong/Potts platters that DIDN'T use masking tape to re-join the leaders. When you ask why, it is always "there isn't enough room on the MUT for the splicer".  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 11-25-2011 08:49 AM                        Potts makeup tables: we actually made a wooden shelf for these. It fit over the arm. Only problem is that you had to move the splicer back and forth from makeup to ship out. (I wish I could tell you that I thought of this; stolen from a customer in Jasper, Indiana.) Louis  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-25-2011 09:27 AM                     quote: Ian Parfrey As far as reliability and ease of operation is concerned, the Eprad Dbl Mut is still my favourite long play device, bar none. Totally agree... better then anything else out there!  |  IP: Logged Tony Bandiera Jr Film God Posts: 3067 From: Moreland Idaho Registered: Apr 2004 posted 11-25-2011 01:03 PM                     quote: Louis Bornwasser ...The aw3 had the honor of building on the earlier mistakes; they knew what not to do. I asm not certain of the name (Clark Kreitz???) but the aw3 guy was once part of the Pussycat chain of porn theatres..... Louis , the guy was Clark Crites, he also invented the Christie ELF platter. (Clark even looked like one of the Keebler elfs.) The "A" version was terrible, not responsive to film shrinkage and stock differences, but the later versions corrected that. Laemmle theatres used them heavily in virtually all locations, and it was their chief projectionist (who has a good engineering background) who helped iron out the bugs. The ELF was ideal for locations where the movies tended to stay in the same house for extended periods, and despite claims to the contrary, if left alone, (and the projectors were cleaned out regularly,) they did NOT scratch film. BUT, the major drawbacks were that people tended to mess with them all the time (especially when a sudden humidity change made it go from three "cusps" to one) and of course the lazy never cleaned out the projectors. Result: damaged film and missed shows. They were also a pain as it took planning to move shows around, as you had to break off of the ELF deck on the show before you wanted to move it, and then you had to re-lay the sandbags and reload the ELF feed after the move. Trailer changes were also a pain, but the Laemmle chief worked out a decent solution to that (But it still wasn't as easy as dropping in/cutting out the trailer pack like with conventional platters). So there was a daily savings in labor, but other complications came along with it. Ultimately Laemmle stopped using the ELFs. I had one of the early ones set up at Knott's Berry Farm (running the 3-d film "Sea Dream") and it was very reliable for that purpose and saved a lot of trouble. It was a brilliant execution of a good idea, but it really was a niche market device.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 11-25-2011 02:05 PM                        How did the Christie ELF differ from other ELFs other than just being a Christie version? Didn't they all work the same way by whacking the film towards the center, making kind of a star shape?  |  IP: Logged James Westbrook Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1133 From: Lubbock, Texas, Usa Registered: Mar 2006 posted 11-25-2011 02:05 PM                     What was your take on the Christie Mini-Winds? The smaller set of platters for cramped booths?  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 11-25-2011 03:24 PM                        They worked just as well as the aw3. (and if mylar had been made thin enough, they would have become the standard. Mylar should be 30% less thick than acetate in recent years. That is why reels are never full anymore.) Louis  |  IP: Logged Tony Bandiera Jr Film God Posts: 3067 From: Moreland Idaho Registered: Apr 2004 posted 11-25-2011 05:01 PM                     Joe: The Christie, unlike the Kinoton and other endless loops that used push pins and the like to form the film into the required shape, used the metering arm and the eccentric deck shape to lay the film down, one layer (film thickness) at a time, which in theory meant that the film was never rubbing or sliding against the adjacent layers. The odd shaped rubber pieces and nylon runner rails also assisted in forming the correct "cusp" or "hump" pattern. BTW, the trick of ANY endless film handler is that the inside diameter of the film pack MUST be exactly the same as the outside diameter for the film to feed properly without pulling or sliding on itself. James: What Louis said. I have even run a 70mm feature on a miniwind (short feature and I rigged a version of a platter ring for safety). If you can get one of those miniwinds, grab it.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-25-2011 05:25 PM                     Tony, Kinoton's endless loop, the ST2000 "meters" its film on/off. Personally, I've never had much respect for the AW3. Its speed control design was way too crude and hence the need for folks to develop their preferred settings for "safe" operation. Their large rollers with either no or nylon bearings inherently put a bounce in the film feeding to the projector...leading some to get rid of the back tension spring that was also ill conceived. The AW3 only stands high to other less than good designs. Most platters are things that react to film rather than handle it. Of the American platters...I probably like the SPECOs the best...they definitely have the best service life. The fins under the platter decks did create too much of a wind-storm if one was paying out below the build/tear down deck. As for MUTs...I do like the Christie the best...simple and easy to make up/break down to any deck. Christie also got back-tension right. With SPECO's horizontal table, I've either installed a clutch (better than the factory one) or used a sponge to rub the flange of the supply reel to act like a clutch. We even mounted a D&M supply arm in a SPECO wooden table to provide a good supply spindle with a suitable clutch. Worked really well too. The only platter I really think is worthy of handling film though is the Kinoton ST200E...Its operation is just about as flawless as one could get and it seemingly never needs attention. It is not perfect as its film path overly complicated and non-uniform. The use of the payout module as the selector for which deck is paying out is silly, in my opinion (I would rather leave the payout head in all decks unless a print is being moved). Their make up tables are pretty decent as horizontal tables go...tension is PERFECTLY maintained at all speeds. The vertical table (MUU2000) is a near-miss as it does not make up on the bottom deck...it is very Christie like in operation. -Steve  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-25-2011 11:24 PM                        Anyone have any pictures of an endless loop system they could post? I have never seen one and can't picture how it works, even with Tony's description.  |  IP: Logged Adam Martin I'm not even gonna point out the irony. Posts: 3686 From: Dallas, TX Registered: Nov 2000 posted 11-26-2011 12:08 AM                     There are a few Christie ELF photos here. And here is a video of one running. The rewind arm follows an eccentric path on the underside of the platter; the deck itself is not eccentric as Tony's post might suggest.  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-26-2011 12:30 AM                        Thanks Adam. I must say, it looks a bit scary!  |  IP: Logged

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