As there has been nothing simple about bringing Mitchell 46 back to life, it is only fitting that the process of getting the camera securely mounted to the milling machine, and true and parallel to the film plane, was a week-long endeavor. This process had to take into consideration machining the bottom surface of the …
A Long Week’s Journey Back to Machining Mitchell 46 Read More »
With my work on the Dykstraflex camera complete, I have returned my attention to Mitchell 46. I dusted off the setup on the mill, re-indicated all the surfaces that needed to be true, and began to make a tool path map. I had transferred the actual position of the camera movement to the aluminum plate …
This past week I had the privilege of doing preventative maintenance on the Dykstraflex camera for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I serve on the Academy’s Technology and History Subcommittee, and following the restoration of the Dykstraflex camera crane, subcommittee members were concerned that the camera may have developed problems after having …
It’s a little late for Star Wars Day, but we wanted to share this latest project in anticipation of the premiere of “Obi-Wan Kenobi” tomorrow. Previously, in 2019, I completed a major restoration of the Dykstraflex camera crane for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The restored Dykstraflex was prominently displayed at the …
Dykstraflex: Preparing to Service the Camera that Shot the original Star Wars Trilogy Read More »
Despite my good intentions, replacing the roof on our building interfered tremendously with progress on Mitchell 46 this week. My next step in restoring this camera was to prepare the casting so it can be accurately mounted on the milling machine. There are very few things on the casting that remain true, so the only …
The First Step in Setting Mitchell 46 Up for Machining Read More »
In order to move forward with the machine work on the replacement bottom plate for Mitchell 46, the front plate had to be installed so that three important things could be established: First, the proper thickness of the front plate so that the camera will slide freely on the rackover L-base and still light trap. …
After the puzzling and disappointing failure of the Loctite adhesive last week (Loctite has never failed me before!) I went through a process of cleaning and degreasing the camera casting and the replacement bottom plate. I spoke to an adhesive expert, and he recommended 3M’s Scotch Weld 2216 2-part epoxy. The process required 4 arms …
The task at hand with Mitchell Standard #46 is now to put metal back where it was unceremoniously removed. This problem is compounded by the fact that so much material was removed from the bottom of the camera casting, that some areas are perilously thin. After three days of contemplating the next steps, and a …
Mitchell Standard 46 – Creating the Replacement Bottom and Front Plates Read More »
To go along with our ongoing restoration of Mitchell Standard #46, we are currently in the process of researching the history of the camera’s first owner, the Christie Film Company. Brothers Al and Charles Christie founded the Christie Film Company in Hollywood in 1916 and produced short and feature-length comedies through 1933. The Great Depression …
Some Help with a History of the Christie Film Co. Read More »
Progress at last! Sadly Mitchell 46 has been far more butchered than I had anticipated. Still, we shall persevere. I managed to get about 90% of the working pieces out of the camera casting, though the shutter shaft stubbornly remains in place due to corrosion. The screw that holds the focal plane shutter to the …
Undoing What Has Been Done – Mitchell Standard 46 Read More »
