Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Tokiwa T-60

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Posted by Travis Garner (Member # 3090) on 04-15-2005, 02:01 AM:

Hello, I was hoping that someone out there might be able to help me with some more info on my Tokiwa T-60 projectors.

They are great little units & I'm keen to find out more info from anyone using them.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Best Wishes,
TG

Posted by Dick Twentyman (Member # 2746) on 04-15-2005, 05:30 PM:

Welcome to Film-Tech, Travis.

Can't tell you much about the Tokiwa, except that their motors run extremely hot. From memory, they are equipped with white light exciter lamps and conventional solar cells. Given that a lot of new film is now printed using cyan sound tracks, you will need to have the Tokiwas modified to red LED readers.

Try using the SEARCH button at the top of this page, type in Tokiwa, search in Film Handler's Forum and you will find quite a few threads - in particular, "Projection in Japan".

Good luck!

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 04-15-2005, 06:41 PM:

I owned one once for about three weeks. Got rid of it as soon as I could....

1. Yes, the motor runs hot [evil]

.
2. They are VERY hard on film....
3. Parts may be hard to get....
4. The incandescent lamphouse is not very good and will need conversion to at least halogen.

Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 04-16-2005, 02:15 PM:

We converted a bunch of them in Latin America. we used an ACL laser and bought the stereo solar bracket from the Towika factory....this bracket part was quite expensive, if we do any more we would go to a machine shop to make the bracket at 1/4th the cost. [Smile]

Posted by Stan Gunn (Member # 554) on 04-18-2005, 01:58 AM:

Hi Travis

Ihave a pair I use for portable shows, have had them for some years.

Also have a small stock of spares, phone 03 59683992 for any info you may need.

Stan.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 04-18-2005, 10:58 AM:

I worked with them many years ago. I remember just turning them on made me jump back, the noise was so unexpected and startling; they made this sound like a coffee grinder into which someone had thrown pebbles....it was scary and it made me think if I dared thread film into it, the machine surely would grind it to bits. Film ran through them well enough, I guess, but I recall there was plenty of jitter on the screen (probably just from the vibration of the mechanism itself). Thankfully the prints only had to pass through the things twice.

I mean, I am not knocking them -- they might be good enough; I didn't actually see any obvious print damage that they caused, but then again, like I said, I only ran the prints twice. It's just that any piece of mechanical machinery that makes that kind of brutish noise has got to tell you something about its design and precision (or not).

Posted by Travis Garner (Member # 3090) on 04-20-2005, 07:07 PM:

Thanks for the welcome and the replies.

Descriptions like coffee grinders and brutish noise... Well for now they're what I've got and what I need to stick with. I guess it's like getting your first car. I'm yet to crash a T-60 though, (poor old Datsun 1600).

We're investigating the LED and lasers.

Thanks in particular to Richard Fowler. I agree Richard, Tokiwa is very difficult to deal with. A $250 delivery/shipping fee is ridiculous.

The heating issue we've resolved by placing a small fan on the vent and this makes it bearable to thread etc. without getting third degree burns.

Additionally, they're both paired with xenons so they're is reasonable light on the screen.

Any more info would be appreciated if you find any.

Best wishes,
TGh

Posted by Stan Gunn (Member # 554) on 04-24-2005, 07:07 AM:

Hi Travis

I have worked on your machines when east coast owned them,
I have the only stock of spares,
and am currently instaling red readers into 4.
For the cost of a local phone call have all your questions answered.

Hows halls gap going?

Regards
Stan Gunn.

Posted by Travis Garner (Member # 3090) on 04-26-2005, 08:48 PM:

Thanks Stan,
Halls Gap despite the volume of people around was quiet, despite having Robots, The Pacifier and Miss Congeniality as a line up.

Spoke with a couple of other independents and a few people in majors in the metro area this week and everyone seems to be suffering.

Best wishes,
Travis