Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Information for Display of Old Projectors and Equipment

This is topic Information for Display of Old Projectors and Equipment in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=010514

Posted by Alan Jarvis (Member # 5694) on 06-22-2010, 06:58 PM:

Hi,
I live in Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Last year, our church bought the derelict old Four-theatre city moviehouse. We have completed the first stage of renovations and one of the larger theatres is now our auditorium. We use the old screen, having raised it to fit a stage underneath, for projection. Of the two smaller theatres, one is now a Gallery/Meeting space and the other is Offices/ Kitchen/Nursery.
Unfortunately we had to go digital for projection, lacking the expertise to get the old equipment running again. As a church we are anxious to preserve the old moviehouse tradition and have started a monthly free family-type movie show (with popcorn) an independent/interesting movie night is planned as well.
The interesting things are upstairs. In the projection booth, are all the old projectors, still in place. They have been disconnected but still point through the windows. In a storage space are still older projectors in pieces; lenses, bases, film mechanism units, boxes of unknown stuff, movie posters covering the last twenty years etc. The newer projectors are identified as Philips FP6s and 7s. We would like to display one of them, in as complete a state possible, downstairs in the foyer.
I would like to get information on these projectors for a comprehensive display info plaque to commemorate the building's roots.
1)Could someone help me out with info or direct me to a site where I can gather info? The sort of stuff I want is... Were these proj. in common use? When? How powerful were they? How does the carbon-arc thing work? What were the component parts called? What did Cinerama do to the image? Why are they so heavy? How much did they cost? etc
2) At some stage we are going to clear the projection space of all the old stuff (not the posters). Would someone be interested in this stuff? Perhaps for purchase? At the moment, the Leadership of the church wants to sell it all to the local scrapmetal dealer. I said I would like to find out, (at the same time as looking for info for the display), if a home couldn't be found somewhere for this old equipment first. It seems a pity to just junk all this..?

So... any help for points 1 and 2??

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 06-23-2010, 08:51 AM:

Can't give you any specific help, but have you tried finding and contacting the service company that maintained the booth equipment?

Posted by Jake Spell (Member # 5294) on 06-23-2010, 09:52 AM:

Pictures would be a huge help here [thumbsup]

Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 06-23-2010, 04:02 PM:

Don't be too quick to sell them to a scrap metal dealer. Projectors that are 70 years old, if well maintained, are still usable. As has been said pictures would be very helpful. The carbon arcs are very simple. There is one negative carbon rod and one negative rod in each lamp. They are struck (touched) together to create a burn, then pulled slightly apart and the extremely bright light between them is what lights your picture. The carbons will last between 45 minutes and one hour. There are still some carbon arcs in use today. You might want to contact Gordon McLeod. He posts on this site and is in your neck of the woods.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 06-23-2010, 06:55 PM:

Dude,

You need to contact Keth Stata at Highlands Cinema in Kinmount! It is the coolest movie museum you can ever visit!! Be sure to get Fish and Chips at the wagon downtown and take a couple of gallons of bug repellent with you. Also, don't go there during the 7 year catapillar spawning time!

Highlands Cinema

Mark

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 06-23-2010, 06:58 PM:

THose would actually be the SUper 7 with the high speed intermitents

Posted by Robert Koch (Member # 3728) on 06-29-2010, 07:15 PM:

If the projectors are FP 7`s they will last for years. Great mechanism with top machine work. Parts maybe another story?

Posted by Sam D. Chavez (Member # 1841) on 06-29-2010, 07:39 PM:

I made readers that fit the DP70 and they fit the FP5 thru FP56 which have essentially the same soundheads as the DP70. The FP's are still in use all over South America. I own one that Mark G has in Salt lake City.

Apparently, there are parts available as these workhorses are in daily use. I sold somewhere close to 500 total of this model, all hand made as I never anticipated selling more than 50.