{"id":3685,"date":"2019-03-13T18:45:01","date_gmt":"2019-03-13T22:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/?p=3685"},"modified":"2019-03-13T19:34:56","modified_gmt":"2019-03-13T23:34:56","slug":"restoration-of-a-vintage-8mm-film-projector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.leucht.com\/blog\/2019\/03\/restoration-of-a-vintage-8mm-film-projector\/","title":{"rendered":"Restoration of a vintage 8mm film projector"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A few months ago, my wife and I found this beautiful old 8mm film projector at an antique flea market on Florida’s Gulf Coast. And it was very reasonably priced too. We thought it would look great displayed in our living room, and we were right!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This vintage projector reminds me of my grandfather, Kurt William Leucht<\/a>, who came to America when he was 18 years old from Germany<\/a>. Grandpa Leucht was very artistic and creative. As an adult, he got really into making home movies with his family and with his friends<\/a>. So my family has quite a bit of old 8mm film from my grandpa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This projector is a a Univex model PC-10. There is no manufacture date on the unit. Most online references say that these were manufactured in the 1930s, but I found one site that claims manufacture in 1947<\/a>. My grandpa was 51 years old in 1947, so he could have actually owned a projector like this one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The power cord was rubber and in very good shape, so I assume it had been replaced since the original cords were fabric covered. The motor worked fine and the lamp could not be tested since the bulb was burned out. I ordered<\/a> a replacement bulb (BWY)<\/a> online and it worked perfectly!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surprisingly, this projector came with the original price tag from the manufacturer, Universal Camera Corporation<\/a>! Universal Camera Corporation was founded in 1932 in New York. It manufactured still cameras, film, movie cameras, and binoculars until 1952, when the company declared bankruptcy. If we assume 37 bucks was the 1947 price, that would make the 2019 price close to $420<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This projector is actually pretty simple to understand. The sprocket at the top pulls the film off the reel and the sprocket at the bottom feeds the film into the temporary take-up reel. In between those 2 sprockets, the film is fed into a spring loaded gate which guides the film past the lens and the projector light. The film gets fed past the lens using a finger like gear that flips the film quickly to the next frame and then pauses while a rotating window opens up to let the projector light through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It’s really cool that the lens is only held in place by spring friction. This allows you to twist the lens ever so slightly while pulling it away from the film or towards the film to change focus. This design also allows the lens to be removed easily for cleaning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The internal gears were basically locked up due to aging and thickening of the original grease. But a single cover revealed the gear box and so I took apart each gear and cleaned and oiled them thoroughly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once the gears were all cleaned and oiled with a light machine oil, the projector worked perfectly! The two belts that run between the motor and the gearbox and take-up reel were made from flexible steel springs, so they were still in perfect shape. Had they been rubber or some other material, they wouldn’t have lasted 70+ years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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