Tweet is a 1920's movie film projector worth restoring?

I'm going to go pick up a 1920's movie film projector which came out of a theatre and was wondering if it was worth restoring? i have not seen it yet, but i was told its large and complete about 6' tall. anybody have pics ? i do not have manufactures name yet, I'll know when i pick it up monday?

I'm going to go pick up a 1920's movie film projector which came out of a theatre and was wondering if it was worth restoring? i have not seen it yet, but i was told its large and complete about 6' tall. anybody have pics ? i do not have manufactures name yet, I'll know when i pick it up monday?

Yes.

Folks at http://www.35mmforum.com/ can help and give advise on getting it up and running.

Of Course, depending on who you are. if you don't enjoy those types of things, then you are only starting with a very large project, but if you do enjoy those things (like I do) every step of the way will be exciting (even the drawbacks) sometimes the best rewards come from the obstacles that give you the most trouble. My poor wife is a saint because I always have projectors out that I am working on (albeit sadly not 35mm), but I would kill to be in your position so go forward or pass it on to someone who will enjoy it....

Once you get the make, model, type of lamphouse (if any), etc., you
might want to contact Don Hagens at YCM Laboratory in Henderson.
They aren't in the old projector business, but do specialize in film
restoration and might give you some advice. Since they are
local for you, it might be an advantage.

[Christopher Jacobs]

Depending on how recently the projector has been in regular use, it may not need any actual restoration to show films--only basic maintenance, oiling, etc., after an inspection for worn parts. If you want to show movies at home, you may want to adapt a carbon arc lamphouse to use a tungsten-halogen lamp. You'll also need to find something to use as a preamp to take the audio feed from the sound reader before going through your home stereo system. If the sound head has got a red LED reader, you'll probably want to convert it back to an old exciter lamp setup for older prints that don't have cyan soundtracks. You'll be better off with a solar cell (a Dolby split cell would be best) instead of a photoelectric cell, unless you're into servicing antique electronics and can find spare parts. Since most theatres trashed their optical sound systems for LEDs a few years back, you may find some still around for free.

If the projector hasn't actually been used since the silent era, it will not have a sound head, and will be a more likely candidate for "restoration" to make it look and operate the way it did in the 1920s. In that case it will surely need a thorough cleaning, new oil, and quite probably some new/rebuilt/spare parts. Some gears and rollers may be locked tight and may need to be disassembled and/or replaced. You will then probably want to keep the carbon lamphouse intact but may have a chore making it operable without updating it at least somewhat. You can also try rigging up a new tungsten lamp and reflector inside the existing lamphouse so you can use it while keeping its outside appearance intact. A really early projector will have no reflector inside the lamphouse.

Keep us posted on your progress! Even though it's noisy and inconvenient, projecting 35mm film at home is a much more satisfying experience than popping in a DVD or BluRay disc fed into an LCD projector.

--Christopher Jacobs
(who's done both, but unfortunately has to settle for video or 16mm at home these days)
http://www.und.edu/instruct/cjacobs
http://hpr1.com/film/archive/

I will be going over tomorrow to take a look to see if i'm going to grab it or not