The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Don't see one of these every day...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Silent ... Swk1haNdbX

Now, that is just plain awesome!

How awesome. I didn’t realize these were carbon-arc, interesting.

I have one of these but a different model - BEWARE: the original Edison films are extremely flammable (and they stink / smell real bad)

HisMastersVoice wrote:How awesome. I didn’t realize these were carbon-arc, interesting.

briankeith wrote:I have one of these but a different model - BEWARE: the original Edison films are extremely flammable (and they stink / smell real bad)

Cellulose nitrate film, and an arc? What could go wrong? (There is an enclosure for the lamp)

Brian, are you able to use yours? I'd LOVE to see a YouTube video...

Happy Holidays!

Fran

Fran: No - my Kinetoscope does work but the arc lamp and film smell scares the hell out of me

briankeith wrote:Fran: No - my Kinetoscope does work but the arc lamp and film smell scares the hell out of me

Your films are suffering from vinegar syndrome. If I am not mistaken this can be remedied by sprinkling some ground camphor in the film cans and letting the film absorb it. Also, you also might want to check the titles of the films, one of them might be lost! It certainly is a possibility since approximately 80 to 90% of silent films are lost.

-Stephen

I saw one at the GPS Christmas party and it is something to see. I would be somewhat Leary of operating one with the arc lite. The old projectors in the movie theaters used arc lite thru the 70s and possible later. That is a nice machine and would be a good addition to someone's collection. Anybody have $ 6000 laying around for a Christmas present. Tom

tomb wrote:I saw one at the GPS Christmas party and it is something to see. I would be somewhat Leary of operating one with the arc lite. The old projectors in the movie theaters used arc lite thru the 70s and possible later. That is a nice machine and would be a good addition to someone's collection. Anybody have $ 6000 laying around for a Christmas present. Tom

You can always use scraps of 35mm film from late model movies (1950 to present)to operate the projector with the arc lamp. Safety film was introduced in about 1950, and it will not burn, just melt.

Phototone wrote:

tomb wrote:I saw one at the GPS Christmas party and it is something to see. I would be somewhat Leary of operating one with the arc lite. The old projectors in the movie theaters used arc lite thru the 70s and possible later. That is a nice machine and would be a good addition to someone's collection. Anybody have $ 6000 laying around for a Christmas present. Tom

You can always use scraps of 35mm film from late model movies (1950 to present)to operate the projector with the arc lamp. Safety film was introduced in about 1950, and it will not burn, just melt.

Actually, you cannot use 35mm film with it. The HK used proprietary 22mm film partitioned into 3 parallel rows of images that the projectionist needed to shift slightly (while reversing crank direction) whenever a row of images came to an end. This was among the most salient characteristics of the Home Kinetoscope, and it was among the reasons the projector failed in the marketplace. The seller explains all of this in his description.

-- Grant