Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Homemade Platters for 16mm or 35mm

This is topic Homemade Platters for 16mm or 35mm in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Henry Titchen (Member # 3141) on 05-19-2005, 05:14 AM:

Hi,

I was reading some very old posts and came across someone asking about homemade platters.

Has anyone any photos/plans they could post of homemade platters?

I'm sure others would be interested as well.

Thanks From,
Henry.

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 05-19-2005, 09:02 PM:

CFS... good as homemade!

Posted by Henry Titchen (Member # 3141) on 05-20-2005, 07:28 PM:

I guess with the availability of used platters there is little incentive to make a homemade one any more.

Henry.

Posted by Glen Rich (Member # 1150) on 05-21-2005, 04:15 AM:

Hi Henry,
In regards to making your own platter you could try your local (Sydney) Atlab or Entertainment Services and they may be able to put you in touch with one of your local independent "techs" who design and build towers and platters for the independents. Failing that they can give you an idea of the availability of 2nd hand platters.
If thats the way you go, stay away from 2nd, 3rd or 12th hand Christie platters they're nothing but trouble.

Posted by Paul Trimboli (Member # 1509) on 05-21-2005, 04:49 AM:

Making a platter is not too dificult. Making one with centre payout like actual platters would be harder. You could make a platter with a payout deck and takeup that would require rewind after the show. 2 'yo yo' (like the take up on a Speco) could be used to provide the payout speed control and another for take up. I am building a double mutt, oatley electronics sell suitable motors VERY cheap as well as speed controls. You could probably build something up for around the $400 mark, maybe less.

Posted by Henry Titchen (Member # 3141) on 05-21-2005, 05:18 PM:

Thanks for that reply Paul,

I would be very interested to see a photo of what you are making and also to hear where you sourced rollers, guides etc from.

Are you planning to use the 12/24V motors from Oatley electronics?

What would you make the platter from?

Henry.

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 05-21-2005, 09:19 PM:

In the U.S., you could buy the platter above for about $200.

Posted by Henry Titchen (Member # 3141) on 05-21-2005, 10:22 PM:

That is very cheap. I haven't seen any available for sale here in OZ secondhand...maybe I'm not looking in the right places though.

Henry.

Posted by Paul Trimboli (Member # 1509) on 05-21-2005, 10:39 PM:

I am using the 24volt 300watt motors, and will be using a chain drive to gear them down. I now notice they sell gear motors which would be perfect, but I already bought the 300watt type. Once I get a bit further advanced I can send you some pictures, mine is a MUTT which uses large reels rather then a platter deck. The platter deck could be made from possibly MDF with a suitable HUB and shaft in the middle to run on, the motor driving on the outside of the deck (like actual platters).

Geee I wish I could find a CFS platter for the $400 mark in Austrlia! Sure it might be rubish but would make a good base to upgrade from.

Posted by Henry Titchen (Member # 3141) on 05-21-2005, 11:24 PM:

Paul,
Sorry I missed that you said it was a MUT. Is it going to be similar to Greg Mueller's (as shown in the picture section)?

Henry.

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 05-22-2005, 08:46 AM:

quote: Henry Titchen
I haven't seen any available for sale here in OZ secondhand...maybe I'm not looking in the right places though.

Catch a theatre that's closing down or upgrading their equipment. They might give them to you just to haul them off. The CFS units are crap, as are the Potts of that vintage, but they're good enough for home or occasional use.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 05-22-2005, 01:24 PM:

quote: Tim Reed
...but they're good enough for home or occasional use.

Well, maybe. Problem is that some people running films at home are running rare prints that often are the best surviving prints of a moviein private hands. Do you really want to see them ran on anything but the best equipment??? [Eek!]

It really depends on what he is running as to whether it is ok or not.

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 05-22-2005, 03:20 PM:

I was thinking more along the lines of longevity. [Smile]

With regards to the potential for film damage, I would put a homebrewed unit at higher risk than a used crappy. [Smile]

Someone saavy enough to consider building a unit from scratch should be able to make an old Potts or CFS work satisfactorily, that is, if they absolutely insist on having a shadetree mechanic platter.

I personally would have neither, and when I had a screening room in my basement, I had an AW-3! Heh-heh. [evil]

But crap is about all anyone's gonna get for 2 bills.

Posted by Henry Titchen (Member # 3141) on 05-25-2005, 04:56 AM:

It sounds (and looks from viewing photos of private screening rooms) that homemade towers are much more common than homemade platters. Are there any plans around for these?

I guess the "huge" reels could be quickly fabricated using aluminium sheet and getting them laser cut.

Anybody made their own tower?

Thanks,
Henry.

Posted by Paul Trimboli (Member # 1509) on 05-25-2005, 05:55 AM:

I do not like the idea of a tower, lifting the reels does not seem like a good idea. A double mutt is where each reel sits either side of the device. You can buy the large capacity spools, don't ask me where in Australia, maybe ask a local service company?? If you can look through the forums and find a thread about Sam Hunters tower,might be a good start. You could probably get away runing one of those 24volt GEAR motors from Oatley Electronic and linking it to the shaft driving the reel with a flex coupling. A 'dancer arm' is what controls the take up and payout speed. The films runs from the reel and under the roller on the arm, as the tension on take up goes up the arm is pulled up bringing the speed down, on payout the opposite happens. The 'dancer arm' is conected to a small gear which meshs with another gear attached to a potentiometer. This is wired into a speed control cct which runs the motors. You can buy the speed controler from Oatley for $24 I think. Again once I get some of mine done I will be able to offer more help. [thumbsup]

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 05-25-2005, 01:31 PM:

quote: Brad Miller
Problem is that some people running films at home are running rare prints that often are the best surviving prints of a moviein private hands. Do you really want to see them ran on anything but the best equipment???

Since you brought it up...

My hunch is that people with rare prints would not want to platter them -- or could certainly afford to buy good equipment.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 05-26-2005, 07:51 AM:

I've plattered lots of rare prints and don't have a problem with doing so, as long as the platter in question is trustworthy. I don't like plattering a film for only a handful of shows, but that is sometimes not an option, depending on the capabilities of the venue.

I had my first experience with a double-MUT last night for a mag interlock show (picture on platter, magfilm on double-MUT), and it worked fine. Like a platter, the payout is motor-driven, which means that it is actually gentler on film than a standard reel-to-reel system (where the feed reel is held by a friction device and the film is pulled off it by brute force). If you can afford to buy enough big reels to store all your films on them, it's probably a good option for home use, if you can find one for sale. It takes up much less space than a platter, and can be stored in a closet when not in use. You would not want one for a theatre, though, due to the time needed to rewind after each show.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-26-2005, 10:07 AM:

quote:
I had my first experience with a double-MUT last night for a mag interlock show (picture on platter, magfilm on double-MUT), and it worked fine. Like a platter, the payout is motor-driven, which means that it is actually gentler on film than a standard reel-to-reel system (where the feed reel is held by a friction device and the film is pulled off it by brute force). If you can afford to buy enough big reels to store all your films on them, it's probably a good option for home use, if you can find one for sale. It takes up much less space than a platter, and can be stored in a closet when not in use. You would not want one for a theatre, though, due to the time needed to rewind after each show.

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Double Muts are extremely gentile on film and I would be more inclined to run valualable film on a double mut than on a platter. The double mut is far easier on the film and is minus the payout head pieces so there is alot less to go wrong... hence alot lower odds of damaging film. Most folks are not aware but the double mut was originally designed for 3-strip cinerama.

Mark

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 05-26-2005, 01:56 PM:

I've known of situations with certain prints where plattering is not permitted. A theatre I used to work for actually considered modifying one house for changeover operation because they wanted to run classic repertory titles on one screen. Alas, they didn't for $$$ reasons...

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 05-31-2005, 08:39 AM:

It is the standard practice of most major archives not to allow their prints to be plattered at all, full stop. There was a panel on this at the 2003 AMIA conference at which the general consensus (with one dissenter) was that this is probably too dogmatic an approach, especially in cases where the venue doesn't have and for whatever reason can't install a two-projector system, but where there is a strong cultural case that the film should be shown.

There are also case-by-case variables, too: for example, if an archive holds an original '50s IB print or one struck directly from a nitrate interneg which has since decomposed, but which is classified as a viewing copy, I would be reluctant to allow that on a platter or tower/double MUT. This is because even though it's not a preservation master, it's still a one-of-a-kind element which cannot be replaced. But if it's a recent EK print and the archive holds an interneg from which it could strike a new one, I'd be prepared to allow a long-play screening as long as the venue was insured against print damage.