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your left thumb when cutting and leave a couple of layers of tape on the film bed to promote a
clean cut.

Tip From The Archive: Following a delivery of films on aluminium spools in cardboard boxes,
we experienced the problem of aluminium oxide. The films had been stored for a very long time
in damp conditions and this had triggered a chemical reaction between the cardboard and the
spool, the aluminium de-composing into a fine oxide dust which can be poured like salt - it's gritty
and gets everywhere! Alas, this and the damp had caused water damage to many of the films
which were completely ruined. The message is try to keep your films cool but dry. It also
highlights yet another reason for not storing films in cardboard boxes!

Tip from the Archive: As archivists, we are often asked how to clean films. It was made very
clear to me 30 years ago at a London film laboratory - don't! 16 mm library prints were waxed
when new, so run a print through a cloth and it will become black - and you will have wiped off
the wax coating applied to protect it! Films collect dirt and debris from previous projectors, then
leave some of it in your machine. Clean the gate in your machine afterwards and the next time it
will leave much less, and so on. Let the projector shake off any debris and at all costs, resist the
temptation to apply liquid film cleaner which has the potential to damage film stock irreversibly.
We will follow this topic up in a future Tip From The Archive. Meantime - don't kill your films
with kindness!

Tip From The Archive: Don't over fill the reels! It's tempting to re-spool a three spool feature to
2 x 2000 ft, but this usually results in the spools being too full, making them difficult to manage.
Add to this a twisty film and you are likely to end up with take-up problems and film all over the
floor - just what a digital audience was waiting for! Use a proper take-up spool to minimise such
problems.

Tip From The Archive: Films like to be stored cool and dry. They don't like sudden changes in
temperature, which is completely at odds with our current climate of a harsh winter followed by
a heat wave, if only for a short time. If you don't have a temperature controlled vault (probably
all of us), good practice is store your films in cans. The usual spool & can sets, whether plastic or
metal are reasonably air tight, meaning the temperature gradient (change in temperature) within
the can is slowed, thus protecting the film within from any sudden change in temperature. It also
highlights yet another reason for not storing films in cardboard boxes!
Tip from the Archive: It's always best to store films on matching spools & cans and flat in towers
(not too high!), rather than library book style. A properly designed matching spool & can set
whether plastic or metal (e.g. Cecol, Cecolite, Tuscan, etc) accommodates the spool within the
can such that there is no pressure on the spool (and therefore the film) itself, the can walls
absorbing the weight of any films stored above it in the tower. It follows that as the can is also
airtight, it maintains a more stable environment within the can, thus reducing rapid temperature
fluctuations which can be harmful to film during hot summer days and cool nights.

The Debonair Film Collectors List is published quarterly by Rob Foxon, it usually
runs to about the same size as Reel Deals and contains a large selection of films in
various gauges for sale.

The address is 17 Kingsway, Leicester, LE3 2JL United Kingdom.
Phone / fax 02084 207364

REEL DEALS June 2019 23