Dodgy 8mm dealers

[thefleshkrafter]

Hi there Everyone,
As a new member I thought it might be good to warn you about a few dodgy dealers I have encountered over my time as a born again 8mm nut.
The first thing to mention is never buy belts from anyone who says they are specifically designed for 8mm projectors. This is nonsense.
All the belts that are available these days are made from silicone. Thats the ones you buy for vacuum cleaners, computers or any other machine that needs small belts to run.
They are simply sized and sorted. I have bought mine for various projectors over the years from a local market dealer who specializes in vacuum cleaners. He sells them for 20 - 40p each. I recently bought one from a company on E-bay called e.s.photographics and was charged £7.99 for EXACTLY the same thing. Fair old mark up there then.
It seems its well worth printing out a label on your computer and re-marketing these things.
Also don't ever buy an old projector without a working lamp, unless you are prepared to spend another £20 or so on a new one. They are soooo expensive.
Never be afraid to buy one without the mains lead though. At the time of manufacture, most electrical goods were fitted with the same leads - so you only have to find something of the same age to be able to use its lead instead.
I hope that has been of some help to anyone out there on a budget like me.

Cheers

Russell