Vitascope components

9 January 2020

According to Wikipedia, the Vitascope film projector was first demonstrated in 1895 by Charles Francis Jenkins and Thomas Armat to project images via film and electric light onto a wall or screen. Using an intermittent mechanism, the film negatives could produce up to fifty frames per second as the shutter opened and closed to reveal new images.

This kit by Robotime uses 172 wooden parts that are laser cut into a basswood ply. Basswood is the American term for Lime or Linden. Apparently it is an ideal wood for projects as its fine, even texture makes it easy to work with, and its pale colour doesn't detract from the contours of the finished product.

There is no battery - the film is wound manually and illumination is provided by a miniature dynamo powering an LED. In a simple projector like this, a clever mechanism called a Geneva drive or Maltese Cross is used to produce an intermittent image of each frame from the rolling film. These are displayed for a brief duration of time to provide the viewer with a moving image effect.

10 January 2020

Complete steps 1 and 2 of construction. This comprises assembling the aforementioned Maltese Cross mechanism and screwing on the small dynamo with LED.

Make two small diversions from the instructions, which will hopefully turn out well. Although described as 'glue not required', a dob of superglue was applied to prevent a couple of components from slipping off the metal shafts. Also the sequence of wooden washers was changed so that the parts fit snugly into the framework without wobbling.

12 January 2020

Steps 3 to 8 now complete - halfway through the stages, if not the workload. No difficulties encountered, all parts fit correctly and the lens is now installed within the variable focus lens tube. This arrangement should enable the device to focus up to a minimum of 13cm from the screen.

13 January 2020

Have now completed stage 12.

Two minor hiccups, the first was breaking part D33 (see arrow). This presses down onto the top of the lens tube, and I obviously was too enthusiastic when fitting it. However there was a spare part in the kit, so no problem. There are many spare parts, presumably reflecting the items most commonly damaged.

The second mishap was part B14, as illustrated. This part was assembled and installed successfully, but the edge snapped later when inserting the central spindle and its securing collar. The broken part was glued back in situ.

Turning the operating handle now rotates the film feed roller and flashes the LED through the lens.

14 January 2020

Project now complete!

Assembling the film reels, whilst fiddly, was less problematic than anticipated.

Threading the film was also slightly fiddly, although a lot easier once I remembered the front access panel, which allows the film to be pulled out and then threaded under the drive spindle. Once the film is loaded is has to be spliced. This is simply a matter of joining the two ends with sticky tape, a procedure that appears rather inadequate but actually works well in practice.

Once dusk, the projector rolls and a Charlie Chaplin look-alike shuffles across the wall. Linda films the event, a seminal moment in the history of moving pictures. In this household at any rate.

Overall I found the kit to be a first class project. All parts were of excellent quality and the instructions quite sufficient. Online videos are available, but I found no need for these as long as the diagrams were examined carefully - often using a magnifying lens in my case. Care is required to ensure that parts align with their printed part numbers not on show. The one exception is part F2, as the part numbers are adjacent to the detailing, with no opportunity to conceal them.