Well, I've gone and done it - I've purchased a 35mm projector. I met a guy at the last CineSea show in Wildwood, New Jersey last April, who until pretty recently had collected 35mm. We talked quite a bit, and I caught the bug.

He put me onto a forum, gave me some advice on what to look for, and after a few weeks got a solid lead on a Century projector that had just been taken out of service from a theatre.

When I first went to see it, I thought "no way - much too big for my basement, my wife will kill me, and way too complicated of a machine (the thing is actually several different parts)".

Then he threaded a trailer, and I was just blown away - and within the week I was picking it up. Got an incredible deal - Century projector head, Simplex sound head, the dolby sound processor, DTS reader, laser optical reader, equipment rack, xenon lamphouse, iron pedestal base, flat lens w/ aperture plate, almost brand-new scope lense w/ aperture plate, lots of reels, and a ton of spare parts - almost enough to build a second one someday!

I'm keeping it in the back file room of the office until I get the other side of my basement finished (at which time I'll break the news to my wife) - have been coming into the office extra early so I can tinker with it before starting my days. Recently got my amps and speakers in the mail, and have just finished cleaning it (which took over three hours - my gosh, it was filthy!) and setting everything up so I can practice using it. My current screen is the white cinder block wall.

Everything works perfectly, except the threading lamp - which I discovered this morning just needs a new switch.

So, definitely a learning experience, and definitely a bit over my head, but also very exciting! So far just screening trailers, but have a couple of inexpensive features on their way, so will take some screenshots once I get them!

Beauty ... Be prepared to run out of space :-)

Wow Michael!! That is one giant leap for Man....ha ha

I doubt that would fit anywhere in my house, certainly no way it could be hidden! 😂😂

Oh my goodness Michael! It may be a few years before your son can thread that one! Congratulations on your new toy! And good luck breaking the news to the mrs.! :-)

Congratulations! What a beast to hide :-) Beautiful machine!

Awesome, what a beauty, how quiet do these machines run? Mark

WOW Michael, that is a beast, what a machine, I can only imagine the picture quality you will get out of this, well done.

Congrats Michael! If I may ask, how much did that machine set you back? Lots of selections for sale now since 35 mm is no longer shown in most theaters.

Thanks everyone!

It was $1500 for everything I got - works great, and is a lot quieter than I thought it would be. The sound head is missing its cover, so I plan to fabricate one using Plexiglas - should help a little with the noise, and will definitely help keep dust out of the machine.

The sound is unreal - so far only have the two 'front' speakers hooked up - its like being in a real movie theatre!

Soon to come will be the hard part - telling my wife. But, I have a plan: Last winter, I re-did half of my basement. The finished side is a combo home theatre/kids play room. When I first finished it, my wife and I talked about my finishing the other half. That way, I can have one half for my films, the kids can have the other half for a play room.

So, I'm going to proceed according to plan - I'll build a projection booth, and set it up with my smaller projectors - would like to have one regular 8, one super 8, and two 16's set up at all times. I'll leave a gap in the middle for the 35. After I show my wife the room and booth, I'll sneak the 35 down. She never comes downstairs, so it could be a very, very long time before she sees it. Now, how to keep the kids from ratting me out?!?

Very nice Michael,lovely looking machine you will have great fun with it.I see you are selling the red vehicle in the background to pay for it 😄😄😄😄
Don't tell the wife just wait for her to come across it and say it's been here all the time " you just never saw it!" Is your reply.
That's what I tell mine...".......... It works for a while
Very nice📽📽

Michael, what films are considering for your first 35 mm purchases? Any particular titles come to mind?

Well, I have Teen Wolf and Thor on the way - and got 8 seconds for practically nothing - that will be the one I practice with, to keep me from damaging the others!

There are tons of cheap 35mm prints out there to practice with first Michael.

Some people here have tried giving them away for postal cost or collection and still with no takers!