Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Non-film uses for scrap film

This is topic Non-film uses for scrap film in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Jerry Chase (Member # 660) on 08-18-2001, 03:38 PM:

Now that film is the stronger polyester, are there non-film uses for scrap film that we are missing? I've seen 35mm neckties, but I'll bet there are other uses. Strips stapled to the top of a door jam could make a modern "beaded" door, strips imbedded in a glue could be used to repair rusted out autos, a device with a sponge glue applicator could turn a roll of film into a giant roll of scotch tape, a loop of film and some brushes could make a van-de-graff generator, etc. What other uses are possible?

Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 08-18-2001, 03:54 PM:

Cargo tie down straps!

Custom made straight jackets for Projectionists and Technicans!

Tug of war rope tied to two pick-up trucks with your favorite manager or concession stand "projectionist" in the middle! Also can be used for rude customers and the piece of projection equipment you hate the most!

Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 08-18-2001, 04:04 PM:

Not technically a non-film use, but it could have similar uses outside of a theatre:

I have used old trailers as spacers/levelers to steady or alter the level of 16mm and slide projectors, couches, cabinets, refrigerators, etc.

Aaron

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-18-2001, 06:27 PM:

You can tow a car with it.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 08-18-2001, 07:54 PM:

Brad, you know we need to make a Quicktime of that. And other uses for polyester film as well!

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 08-18-2001, 08:23 PM:

It is also good for using it as an emergency belt too keep your pants from falling down.

Posted by Gordon Hedges III (Member # 863) on 08-18-2001, 11:28 PM:

Brad and Joe, what kind of vehicle would you try to use? Some small economy car or maybe a great big SUV.

Left over film can be used as garlands around the Christmas trees and maybe even some wreaths to hang on the doors.

Posted by Ethan Harper (Member # 472) on 08-18-2001, 11:44 PM:

Erotic Underwear.

------------------
--"That's my story and i'm sticking to it!"--

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 08-19-2001, 12:24 AM:

I second "Tow a car". Actually did it just to see if it could be done. It wasn't a Yugo, either! It was a Chevelle!.

Also, if you are trying to repair something and you need a thin washer or spacer you can cut a donut-shaped piece and use that. I actually did that this week.
Do you know those "fiber" (or whatever) washers in the aperture changer motor mechanism of a Simplex PR-1050? I had to replace the motor and when I took the thing apart, they all fell into a million little pieces. I just got out my Exacto® knife and cut myself some new ones. They ain't pretty but they'll get the job done until I can order some new ones.

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 08-19-2001, 12:28 AM:

The car thing would be cool to see, I mean, the Guiness Records show on TV has shown guys pulling stuff with their packages, if you know what I mean, so a strip of film would be a sight to see.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 08-19-2001, 01:39 AM:

Well, more of a sight anyway...

------------------
"It's not the years honey, it's the mileage' - Indiana Jones.

Posted by Rick Long (Member # 213) on 08-19-2001, 01:41 AM:

Hanging managers? (or booth personell who claim they haven't screwed with the equipment when you know damn well they have).

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 08-19-2001, 01:59 AM:

quote:
Rick Long -- Hanging managers? (or booth personell who claim they haven't screwed with the equipment when you know damn well they have).

YESSSS!!!!!

Double up a piece and give it a "snap", the way my Dad used to do when he took off his belt in preparation for out impending punishments when us kids used to get caught misbehaving.

(If you can DO that with something as thin as film.)

Posted by Kyle Abel (Member # 819) on 08-19-2001, 04:16 AM:

Whenever I give presents, I always make the bow out of film. Gives that novelty of "he works at a theatre" kind of vibe.

------------------
Kyle Abel
General Manager
Plano Movies 10

Posted by Matthew Bailey (Member # 601) on 08-19-2001, 05:06 AM:

Hey Mr. Pytlak! What use would you have for scrap film other than recycling?

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 08-19-2001, 07:51 AM:

When towing a car with a piece of polyester film, how does one splice it together (assuming that a loop is used) or otherwise attach it to the cars? I assume that a standard tape splice would be the weak point in the loop.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 08-19-2001, 01:12 PM:

We just took a double piece of film and tied (and approximation of) a bowline on the bight into each end, then hooked the resulting loops over the trailer hitches of both vehicles.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 08-19-2001, 01:39 PM:

If you have an old piece of worthless nitrate film...plant it in your flower bed....when it decomposes, it will enrich your soil quite a bit.

Steve

------------------
"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"

Posted by Dick Vaughan (Member # 540) on 08-20-2001, 03:59 AM:

There was a guy on e-bay auctioning bits of IMAX leader as bookmarks.

How about getting a very tightwound IMAX print sliding it off a platter screwing legs in to it and using it as a patio table.

Or getting 4 of them and mount them on axles for your 21st Century covered wagon?

Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 08-20-2001, 07:52 AM:

Scott, the splice will hold if you use Neumade tape.

However when you do this don't forget to release the brake on the car or the tow truck will just spin its wheels.

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 08-20-2001, 11:05 AM:

Scott that is the reel purepose of UltraSonic splicers

Posted by Andy Muirhead (Member # 712) on 08-20-2001, 07:08 PM:

Film makes for very handy bookmarks, also at christmas when the ladies are getting all excited about making decorations, i throw them some scrap film sprayed silver or gold that they can wrap round the xmas tree, actually looks pretty cool on a tree when used instead of tinsel! If you have a sound system that lets you 'mix' n-sync and analogue s/track you can play about with Hip-Hop style 'scratches'. I'm sure you can figure out how!

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-20-2001, 11:37 PM:

We decorated a small Christmas tree in the lobby by using film spray painted gold and folded into small "bows." Then we used popcorn on a string instead of tinsel garland. One of my former employees, who now works for North By Northwest Productions in Spokane, WA (makers of the indie film "The Basket) was home for the holidays, and she liked this tree so much she took it back to their office, where it's been displayed for the past 2 years.

Posted by Josh Jones (Member # 447) on 08-21-2001, 12:26 AM:

How about pen flags, you know, the ones that keep pens form getting stolen.

Josh

Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 08-21-2001, 02:41 AM:

Several years ago the staff at Washington Square took a 15" plastic Christmas tree and inserted the trunk into a 2000' shipping reel with a 1/2" hole for a base, then used film and popcorn strings as garland, and took the promo pins from various films and used them as ornaments, (using the 'Newton Boys' sheriff badge as the star on the top)... Really looked coool.

Aaron

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 08-22-2001, 09:12 AM:

Jerry said polyester film as "a loop of film and some brushes could make a van-de-graff generator".

That idea would work with older films, but KODAK VISION Color Print film has a thin transparent conductive coating on the back side of the film that quicky dissipates any static charge by providing a path to ground. Prints stay much cleaner because they don't attract and hold dirt with static charge, and annoying "shocks" when winding prints are much less likely.

Some ad trailers are printed on different stock, and the difference in dirt level, shedding and static is quite noticeable.

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 08-22-2001, 09:32 AM:

Matthew asked: " What use would you have for scrap film other than recycling?"

In the theatre, old trailers certainly should be used for training new operators in proper splicing and handling techniques. A loop of a trailer having very dark scenes should be run several hundred times after any lamphouse changes, to verify that the projector is not causing heat damage. Trailers can be used as thread-up and protective leader, but be sure the picture and sound do not get shown to the audience accidently.

The gelatin emulsion can be removed from the film by soaking the unwound film overnight in dilute hypochlorite laundry bleach, then rinsing and drying. Hard to do with long lengths, but a way to make "clear leader" for shorter lengths.

The polyester plastic used for print film base is essentially the same material used for plastic beverage containers (PETE), so it can be recycled into new plastic. Film can also be used as an environmental fuel for power plants, or recycled into leader:
Link to Kodak Film Salvage
Link to Kodak Environmental

FPC, Inc., a Kodak subsidiary, has been honored by the Academy of Motion
Pictures Arts and Sciences with an Award of Commendation.

The award honors FPC for developing and implementing an environmentally
responsible program to recycle or destroy discarded motion picture prints.

Since it was founded in 1952, FPC has destroyed or recycled more than 330
million pounds of motion picture prints. Film is shipped to the FPC plant in
Tennessee, where it is recycled into leader or burned as a replacement for fossil
fuels.

Posted by Jerry Chase (Member # 660) on 08-22-2001, 09:56 AM:

"The gelatin emulsion can be removed from the film by soaking the unwound film overnight in dilute hypochlorite laundry bleach, then rinsing and drying. Hard to do with long lengths, but a way to make "clear leader" for shorter lengths."

This raises the possibility of running it through an ink-jet printer and making your own custom snipes or mini-cartoons.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 08-22-2001, 10:06 AM:

Jerry suggested: "This raises the possibility of running it through an ink-jet printer and making your own custom snipes or mini-cartoons."

The "bare" film support (gelatin emulsion removed) will not retain the ink from an ink-jet printer, and the ink will smear. A solvent-based ink will work.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 08-22-2001, 02:27 PM:

I have made my own "scratch movies" before, by taking a piece of old black leader and using the tip of an Exacto® knife to scratch a picture onto each frame of the film.
Now that you mention it, soaking/bleaching the emulsion off an old tralier and using a set of fine tipped markers to draw the pictures onto the film would be a lot cooler, not to mention easier.

Posted by John Schulien (Member # 215) on 08-22-2001, 04:00 PM:

I like the idea of using markers to draw each
frame, although it seems like a good way to
go blind, or insane, or both.

You can also purchase clear uncoated leader
from fpcfilm.com. No need to bleach a trailer.

$66.00 / 1000 ft acetate editorial leader
$61.30 / 1000 ft polyester processing leader

One roll should keep anyone busy for a while.
Don't forget to painstakingly draw the academy
leader!

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 08-22-2001, 04:09 PM:

Here's a link to purchase FPC leader products:
http://www.fpcfilm.com/US/en/motion/FPC/fpc/edit_leader_prod.html

Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 08-22-2001, 04:38 PM:

>>I have made my own "scratch movies" before, by taking a piece of old black leader and using the tip of an Exacto® knife to scratch a picture onto each frame of the film. Now that you mention it, soaking/bleaching the emulsion off an old tralier and using a set of fine tipped markers to draw the pictures onto the film would be a lot cooler, not to mention easier.<<

Randy, I believe the trademark is X-ACTO®...

Yes, making your own 'films' using clear leader is a hell of a lot of fun! When I was in 3rd grade our teacher got ahold of a 400' reel of clear 16mm film, and let the students have at it with a set of felt markers. The we projected it. I still have the film around here somewhere... I have tried the same with 35, with limited success.

Aaron

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 08-22-2001, 04:48 PM:

Yeah, I guess you could buy clear leader but old trailers are free; a bottle of Clorox® costs you about $2 and you can steal an old five gallon bucket from the back of the theatre before they toss them into the dumpster.

(Did I get the trademark right this time? ).

I made a cardboard mask which had a hole in it about the size of a frame of film and laid it over the top of the film while I was drawing/scratching the pictures into it.

Yes, it IS enough to make your eyeballs explode, trying to draw that small but if you take frequent breaks it's not too bad.
Besides, being able to take your "masterpiece" to work and actually run it through a projector is pretty good motivation to keep working at it.

Posted by Mervyn Collard (Member # 916) on 08-22-2001, 05:28 PM:

Randy I agree it is pretty cool to take your onw film to work and show it.
Imade a three minute film some years ago 1954 to be excact called HIT by drawing onto some black spacing with a pin. I also drew sound track plops etc in sync with the pix. It got shown at the 1st Animated Film Festival in London in 1958 - that was pretty cool.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 08-22-2001, 05:56 PM:

That musta' been cool!

Isn't there some Japanese guy who has won some awards with his animation made by drawing on film?

Posted by Andy Muirhead (Member # 712) on 08-22-2001, 07:19 PM:

Just been mucking about with this stuff recently, had a staff show where i used a slide projector and got some black film and wrote messages on it to project on the screen while it was starting, basic juvenile stuff like "kris is gay" (childish snigger!), but then i thought how cool it would be to nick titles from trailers, and project onto the screen while people were coming in (our number one has no curtains, and all the audience see's when they are coming in is a black screen). So we had planet of the apes, and i cut the logo out of a spare trailer, mounted it on slide and we had the logo projected on the screen, before the ads + trailers.

Looked a lot better than a blank screen!
(not strictly a non-film use, but hey!)

Posted by Michael Brown (Member # 890) on 08-23-2001, 04:57 AM:

A good use of scrap film (well technically we use some blue mylar that is around), is to to use it it make a border around the edges inside poster boxes, ect. Since we are a student cinema we use it to promote the fact that we show real film and we are not a student video club

Posted by Sean Weitzel (Member # 244) on 08-24-2001, 12:57 AM:

There was one master, in my opinion in the art of hand drawn/hand painted films:

Len Lye
http://www4.hmc.edu:8001/humanities/mus127s/Lye00/lye00.html

(my fave was always "colour box")

Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 08-25-2001, 04:14 PM:

In a decorate a fish contest a local production company used pieces of film with emulsion bleached along with negative to make scales for their ornamental fish. Film can also be used as an emergency dog leash or coated with some spray stick-um as a substitute for fly catch strips (remember them?). Use old nitrate for road flares.

Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 08-25-2001, 11:57 PM:

Our place uses trailers to hang stockings for each of the employees during Christmas. I also love to go into our huge, open lobby after hours with some unused trailers & see how far they'll roll & if they'll go around corners.

I had one roll from our ticket podium 70 feet into a hallway & 30 feet thru that hallway before falling sideways!

Posted by Christopher M. Belch (Member # 846) on 08-26-2001, 12:15 AM:

Sounds like fun, drawing our own films!!! Too bad i am such a bad artist that i mess up stick people. One quick think, u r sure that the marker wont come off onto the projector??? Just think of the possibilities, and i will have bigger square to draw in, a full 70 mm (imax)!!! Wow, this is cool.

Posted by Christopher M. Belch (Member # 846) on 08-26-2001, 12:17 AM:

O, and i forgot, one of our projectionists used to do a little explanation of how the projector worked (we have a big window outside the projection booth). He would cut up pieces of scrap and give them to people after his "presentation." People seemed to get a kick out of it.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 08-26-2001, 01:52 AM:

Don't worry about your art abilities. Just let it all hang out. In fact, crummy artwork can actually enhance the effect if you play your cards right.

Start out simple. Just draw stick figures, for instance. When you start to get better at it your creativity will start to flow and things will start to look better.

To make it easier, use the "key frames" principle. That's what professional animators do. Let's start out simple... Suppose you draw a stick figure, waving his hand.
Decide how many frames you want the motion to take. (To keep it simple, let's just say 5.) Draw the first frame with the guy's hand in the starting position, then skip down 4 frames and draw the guy with his hand at the end. Then, go to the 3rd frame and draw his hand half way between the two positions. After that, do frames 2 and 4, moving the hand so it splits the distance between the adjacent frames.
If you want to repeat the motion, skip down 5 more frames and copy the 5th frame and fill the rest of the frames in stages.

Yes, your picture will be all jumpy and squiggly but you can use that as part of the effect. (Kinda' like the "Squigglevision" that you see in some cartoons on TV.)
Don't go for a huge project right off the bat. Do something small. Maybe 10 feet of film. Make your cartoon so that it can be spliced into a loop and run it through the projector that way. After you see what it looks like on screen you'll start to get a better idea of how to draw things. It'll start to "flow" after a while!

As to hurting the projector: I don't see any harm in using markers on a 35mm. The ink isn't going to touch any part of the projector. (If you're careful with your drawing.) Besides, if it does, it should come off the metal parts pretty easily next time you clean. As for IMAX, I wouldn't know because I don't know enough about them.

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 08-26-2001, 09:21 AM:

For 15/70 film, draw it so that the 2nd frame is to the left of the 1st (as you look at the image right-side-up). That will keep the ink away from the field flattener.

Just don't go and bleach an Imax trailer at random. They cost us $3000 and we can resell them if they're still in good shape.

Posted by Jeffry L. Johnson (Member # 453) on 08-26-2001, 10:27 AM:

You could be the next Norman McLaren.

Pen Point Percussion
Loops

Norman McLaren bio
Directors List - Norman McLaren

Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 08-26-2001, 02:47 PM:

I forgot, we also give sections (1 foot) of animated movie trailers to kids when they use our party room for birthdays.

The birthday person also gets to hit start on the automation.

Posted by John Schulien (Member # 215) on 09-20-2001, 10:54 AM:

I wish I had thought of this!

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1466058668

Posted by Freddie Dobbs (Member # 915) on 09-20-2001, 12:28 PM:

Hey, how about we use it to fill the fox holes of the enemy in the middle east? Yhey would be untangeling for days.....

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 09-20-2001, 11:25 PM:

I guarantee a double strand of polyester film would be strong enough to string that dirty bastage up by the cajones! A single strand would be enough to hold the weight but it would stretch and he might be able to touch the ground and squirm away.

Posted by James R. Hammonds, Jr (Member # 673) on 11-15-2001, 11:33 AM:

One of my projectionists last night asked me if he could take some old trailes to make a wrestling ring with.
He said he ties them aroung trees and works perfectly.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 11-15-2001, 04:07 PM:

In Japan, Studio Ghibli just opened a museum devoted to their animation works. They use cut strips of Ghibli prints as tickets.

Regarding drawing on film, if you have sufficient magnification for your eyes, drawing the pictures isn't too tough. Drawing the SR and DTS tracks remains a bitch though.

Back to the edit droid...

Paul
SMPTE Hollywood Section
Mercenary film/video projectionist
"When the money runs out, so does I."

Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 08-11-2002, 04:31 PM:

Scrap nitrate film was used around first world war time for making dope for aircraft fabric. Would you want to fly in an aircraft covered in nitrate with people firing guns at you?

There is a story I have read in a couple of places, possibly in an old Cinema Theatre Association or Projected Picture Trust magazine, about a load of scrap film being sent for this purpose. The rolls of film had to be transported in a sealed container. The container had to be sealed by soldering. (Is this exercise starting to sound somewhat unwise?) An expert was called in to do the soldering, but you can guess what happened, and the solderer died in the fire. The story continues, involving lengthly legal procedings, but I can't remember the details.

Posted by Matthew Bailey (Member # 601) on 08-12-2002, 10:26 AM:

Of course nitrate was used to treat the Hindenburg's fabric.

Posted by Helmut E. Dorausch (Member # 1356) on 08-12-2002, 11:44 AM:

Towing a car (or anything else, for that matter) is definately possible. Especially if you were to twist several strands together.
Since 1995, Transfilm Inc. has been performing certified destruction (AND Recycling) to the tune of app: 2 1/2 million pounds per year.
There isn't alot of money in it ( Due to processing costs) but it sure feels good to know that it isn't ending up in the landfill system.
Questions, or comments, feel free.
Helmut E. Dorausch
Transfilm Inc.
Manager of National Operations
helmutdorausch@hotmail.com

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Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 08-12-2002, 11:58 AM:

Once the theater run is finished, most of the movie prints are destroyed to prevent piracy and the film is recycled. FPC, a Kodak subsidiary, annually recycles more than 3 BILLION feet (about 15 million pounds) of movie film. Much of the ESTAR film base used for print film can be recycled into its original chemical components by a process known as methanolysis:

FPC Recycling Program

Recycling for Small Volume Users

ECO Trailers

Kodak Gold Medal from World Environmental Center

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: +1 585 477 5325 Cell: +1 585 781 4036 Fax: +1 585 722 7243
e-mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 08-12-2002, 12:42 PM:

The "dope" that was used to treat the canvas skin of the Hindenberg was a mixture of powdered aluminum and cellulose butyrate. It's not cellulose nitrate but it's close enough.

The idea was that the aluminum powder in the mix would make the skin reflective enough to keep the sun from heating the gas inside the envelopes. Changes in density during flight could cause the ship to sink or rise in an undesirable manner.

It wasn't the hydrogen that caused most of the problems:
A) There wasn't enough oxygen INSIDE the gas envelopes to support a fire... unless there was a leak and it mixed with the oxygen in the air.
B) The gas envelopes were at the top of the ship. The people were at the bottom. People actually used to SMOKE on board. They also had food service and heaters, etc on board.

No. Most of the death and destruction was caused by the flammable dope used to treat the skin. Once the hydrogen was gone there OUGHT to have been nothing left to support the fire. But the butyrate skin might as well have been made of dynamite.

Posted by Sam Hunter (Member # 1119) on 08-12-2002, 02:02 PM:

HV Insulators may be a use for it.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 08-12-2002, 02:21 PM:

Sam Hunter said: "HV Insulators may be a use for it."

The ESTAR base used in Kodak VISION Color Print Film has a transparent CONDUCTIVE anti-static layer on the back side. Not a good HV insulator.

Maybe film from one of the "other guys".

Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 08-13-2002, 03:16 AM:

There was a programme on television a few years ago about another disaster airship, the R101. If you watch film of that, it certainly doesn't look like hydrogen burning, far too luminous. Of course, all the news film of it was black and white, so you can't tell what colour the flames were.

A small area of the skin had survived, and they did some tests on the various layers of coatings on it, no mention of nitrate on this one, but they did find aluminium and iron oxide. If you don't know what that makes, find out how the railways weld their rails together!

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 08-13-2002, 06:40 AM:

Thermite:
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0848440.html
http://www.ccds.charlotte.nc.us/skelly/thermite.html
http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/JCESoft/CCA/CCA1/R1MAIN/CD1R1870.HTM

Posted by Jonathan Worthing (Member # 803) on 08-13-2002, 09:34 AM:

Blue polyester 16 mm stock use to be used in a machine for deep sea exploration. How & why I do not know.

Strange but true.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 08-13-2002, 10:23 AM:

That 7.0 mil (0.007 inches thick) blue polyester Processing Machine Leader is TOUGH stuff! This perforated leader is also stiff enough to be used as a "straightedge" in aligning equipment:
Kodak FPC Leader

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 08-13-2002, 06:51 PM:

Not a non-film use...but:

If you're in a pinch and you're "fresh out" of RP-40, you could use a loop of green-band from a trailer to check your shutter timing, framing and focus.

~Manny (Once in the morning...and once again, at bedtime.)

Posted by Kelsey Black (Member # 126) on 08-15-2002, 12:45 AM:

ooh, some of that 65mm 7mil non-perforated silverless leader would be great for rolling up home-brew high voltage capacitors. I wonder what the breakdown voltage is on that stock. The dielectric strength is *pretty* good for polyestar.

too bad the anti-static conductive coating on vision stock isn't as conductive as aluminum foil, if it were, you could sandwich some 35mm vision stock between some 65mm or 70mm leader stock and (non-perf, of course) make a nice fat, flat and effective capacitor for tesla coiling, coin shrinking, etc. (High Voltage is a hobby of mine.)

John: does bleaching with laundry bleach remove the conductive layer as well as the silver from prints, leaving behind just the estar stock (after rinsing)?

*ZZZZZZzzAP!*

not that I recommend that anyone actually do any of this themselves... that's what I'm here for. heh.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 08-15-2002, 06:02 AM:

Hypochlorite bleach removes the gelatin-based emulsion. It will NOT remove the conductive backside coating. Resistivity is only in the 10^9 ohms per square range -- plenty enough to dissipate static, but not low enough to use as the plate in a capacitor.

AFAIK, the 7-mil blue leader is bare polyester, and would be a fine dielectric. One trade name for polyester film is MYLAR.