Repairing cylinders?

[gibsonj]

Hi

I was wondering if anyone had ever tried to repair the plaster core on Blue Amberols. I have a few in my collection that are really getting in marginal shape on the ends. Never seen any discussion on this, but thought someone in this expert group must have tried it.

Any thoughts? Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

John

[maroongem]

John,

What I have done over the years and it has worked pretty well is to mix up some plaster (harware store or craft shop) and spread it into the missing area with a small rubber kitchen spatula. I then carefully slide it over a loose mandrel that I use when reaming cylinders, and it acts as a sort of mold. If any plaster leaks out at the end you can wipe it off with a damp rag. Give it a day or so to harden and you should be able to slide the cylinder off. You may have to slightly ream the newly plastered area after for it to fit properly.
Sometimes, if the plaster has been gone for a long time and it is a large chunk, the celluloid will dip down towards the center of the cylinder and cause wow. I heat the area with a hair dryer and push the dip back up as best I can and then put the new plaster in.
Good luck!

Bill

[matty]

I've done a patch job on a couple that weren't too bad to try & stop any further original plaster coming away. You have to damp down the original plaster around the edge, or the new plaster won't stick to the old properly. One I even painted the edge with PVA glue to help it stick to the new plaster.
The problem is that when the wet plaster makes contact with the old, the old plaster sucks the moisure out & it won't hold together at the join.
It doesn't help push the celluloid outward if it has shrunk though. I did have limited success with a cylinder that had a large portion of plaster missing & had shrunk. I overfilled the area with a 2 part radiator putty and wrapped the mandrel in some plastic film, then pushed the cylinder as far up the mandrel as I could. I left it for 2 days then pulled it off & removed the film. It made the cylinder playable, but barely. Once the celluloid has shrunk I don't think theres a lot you can do to fix it.
If I ever get another one like that, I might experiment by heating the area with steam to see what happens.

Good idea Bill. I never thought of using a hairdryer