8MM-16MM FORUM WORLDWIDE

Hey Bill,

I've had a couple of prints with this kind of "perforation repair" adhesive, why anyone ever used it is anyones guess. Maybe they were sniffing the glue but, this stuff was terrible for films. There are are several films that I've rescued from this condition using a lot of patience and Film Guard. Once it comes off, it leaves a white residue behind as well so there must be another cleaning of the film with 91% alcohol and then a little more FG if needed.

It really was a poor test on our amateur film preservation skills but, to my observation, many of the films were damaged more by doing this than repaired. Your story is a classic case of what happens when you run a print before putting on your bench rewinds. I've looked into this, and what worked for me is investing in a Dr. Catozzo splicer. This will make a world of difference on all of your films and how they run through the projector.

Before I had one, like you, I used tape splices--one at a time. Then, I started playing around with repairing all of my films once I got the Dr. Catozzo. I ordered many rolls of tape splice, these are usually much smoother running through at the claw/gate than any tape splice. Eventually, I started to try perforation repairs with mixed results. I wasn't putting in splice tape at every point of damage and toward the end of the damage, putting it tape only halfway through the frame. This kind of repair works but, it causes a lot of flicker.

Eventually, I got it and put the splicing tape parallel over the damaged area--"B" wind, leaving only a minimal area where the soundtrack isn't covered. This looks much better through the gate and does exactly what you need it to do through the claw. Finally, you go through the film with the Catozzo and punch in the perforations onto the tape across the area needed. I never cut film unless its a slight trim to make the image pass a little more smoothly, like a burned frame or a jagged edge. Here's a way to try to save more of of your film instead of trimming off the area.

Here's an example that I did in a minute:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126539680@N07/

I hope this helps you and all, great to see your Cinecolor collection building up!

Yours truly.

Hi Gerald!

Glad to hear from you. Thanks for chimming in on my problem. You know this was the first time in a long time that I didn't check the film first and wouldn't you know.... .....I should know better!

That piece of film that had the spocket damage also had 2 big scratches running through it as you can see in the pictures. The rest of the film was scratch free and was fine. I spoke to the owner of the film and he decided to leave it off so it's out of there. The 20' section is still very sticky though even though I have cleaned it with both filmguard and 91%....

I will have to get one of those splicers because I try to avoid cutting anything out of the films if at all possible and try to repair them as best I can.

Yes my newest addition to the Cinecolor collection is in the screenings section, in 16mm sound!

It looks lovely!

Bill

Perf-Fix tape, ughhh!! That stuff rarely goes thru a projector without chattering. Perf-Fix was originally made to be used by labs to repair damaged originals so they would go one more trip thru the printer. But they (probably) got greedy and started promoting it as a cure-all for damaged release prints, and school A-V departments, public libraries, and smaller rental outfits began using it indiscriminately. The one thing it actually is pretty good for is repairing holes that are "cracked" toward the edge of the film, but usually the "cure" is not much better than the disease.

I just had to repair a damaged silent (double perf) print of Laurel and Hardy's "Flying Elephants" a pal bought cheap on ebay. The whole last 200' were torn sprockets covered with multiple layers of Perf-Fix and just wouldn't run. The best I could do was flop the film over at that point (the torn holes were on one side only, fortunately!) clip out the few subtitles so they wouldn't be reversed, and run it on the other side. Surprising how well it worked! (I pulled off all the gooey Perf-Fix and ended up with a "bird's nest" of the stuff bigger than both my hands; then cleaned the remaining gunk off the print.)

Perf-Fix tends to stretch out to the same shape as the damaged original hole, it's usually sloppily applied to start with, and cleaning does make it ooze adhesive, especially slow-dry cleaners like Filmrenew or Vitafilm. The white tape is probably worse than the clear, but if I know a film's been Perf-Fixed, I won't buy it in the first place.

I was fortunate to get a Perf-fix machine from an Ebay seller in South America for only £39, came with 8 rolls of tape. For those who can't get hold of one, Philip Rigby in England have another version.
http://www.philiprigby.co.uk/pages/brow ... n+Repairer

Hello Robert....have you used your perf machine with any success? I was leary of getting one from some of the feedback. I don't want the repair to turn sticky like I encountered with that OMEN print.

Bill

I have one and have had very good repairs using the clear perforated tape.tape. I've only repaired a 12 inch runs or less.

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As Jeff has pointed out that possibly cleaning the film can cause the pref tape fix to ooze adhesive, do you clean your films with filmguard? I do. Have you ever cleaned over the fix and nothing happened?

Bill

Hello Bill,
I only used mine very recently, though I have had it a few years, so I can't comment on glue oozing out. I still have to use it on a film that was lubricated. I recently used some on one side of the film as the perf damage wasn't that bad, but enough to make it lose the loop, after I had finished I couldn't tell where the repair was when it went through the projector. If you use tape on both sides, as I have had to, then you might notice a change in the sound of the projector, but you get this with all splices. I think cutting out frames should be the very last resort. I hope this helps. If you can get a machine at a reasonable price, I would go for it.

Further to my previous post; the manfacturers manual says that cleaning processes usually have no effect, they are referring to those cleaners that evaporated fairly quickly. If you are using a lubricant/cleaner where the film is immersed in liquid, then this could cause problems.

There is a film dealer in the UK named Ian Partridge, who offers a film repair service using one of these machines, he charges £40 for every 200ft of film. He uses the white tape, whereas I use the clear. I recently repaired a section about 2 feet long, and had no problems with it. I certainly wouldn't be without it.

Now the one in your second post looks very nice...is that yours or is the first picture you posted the one you have? I might have to give one a try myself....I do have some films that could use some repair and I try not to cut out any so they just sit and wait for someone to fix them! I just don't want to cause a sticky mess in my projector again, although that does make me give it a good cleaning though....

Bill