Movie Makers (Jan-Dec 1952)

297 Photographs by Walter Gray FIG. 1: Remodeled power line plug, with retaining ring and extended fastening screw, are seen above. I FIG. 2: The fastening screw is now in position it , will take when plug is secured to electric outlet. y| Protect your projection parties! FIG. 3: Plug is now secured to wall outlet with the tiny receptacle plate screw (white) safe in its tapped head. GEORGE MERZ, ACL SUDDENLY, and quite simply, my projection screen went blank. One moment, there in the darkened room, there was the familiar hum of the projector, the warm glow of polychrome images and the soft melody of background music pouring from my tape recorder. The next moment there was nothing — no hum, no glow and no music. To be honest with you, I was not consciously aware of this complete blackout all in one sweeping perception. One's reactions to the unexpected are not fast enough for such immediate realization. Thus, actually, my first thought was "Well, there goes another lamp!" (I did realize that a broken splice was not the cause of my difficulty, for in that case the screen would be glaring with light.) But almost immediately then I noted that the projector motor was cut off too, and at last that the tape recorder also was silent. I decided it was high time to investigate. If you've had this happen to you, you will know by now exactly what I found. I found, of course, that my power line plug had been accidentally (but nonetheless thoroughly) disengaged from the wall socket. For from that outlet the cord stretched unprotected across the living room floor — an easy trap for anyone walking into the darkened room, or even for an already seated guest who might move or shift his feet in the darkness. I promised myself then and there to protect my screenings (and my guests) from any such accident in the future. The solution I arrived at was a simple one. At an electrical supply house I bought a plug of a little heavier construction than the dime-store variety. Essential to my solution was that this plug should have a face (the side which goes against the wall receptacle) large enough to permit the attachment of a metal ring as shown in Fig. 1. The ring itself I fashioned from aluminum, since it was easy to work without elaborate tools. Attachment of this ring to the plug was no great problem. First, to assure that the outer surface of the ring would be flush with the plug's face, I recessed back a suitable amount of the plug's rubber component (see Fig. 1 ) . However, the ring could be fastened directly to the plug face itself, provided the metal is not more than 1/1.6 to 3/32 of an inch thick. For even then the plug's prongs would make good contact in the receptacle. Secondly, I drilled and tapped two holes from the back of the plug through to its face and on through the ring itself. Into these holes from the back I inserted two 6/32 machine screws, thus effectively binding the ring into position on the plug. The heads of these screws can be seen in Fig. 3, their bottom ends in Fig. 1. Thirdly, I then drilled a clearance hole in the ring (at the^top in Fig. 1) to accept the extended screw shown at the right in this same photo. In use, this screw is inserted into the clearance hole (see Fig. 2) and then attached to the wall receptacle plate as shown in Fig. 3. Before this operation, of course, it is necessary to remove the small screw from the plate so that the larger one may take its place in the new assembly. And, believe me, once your remodeled plug has been screwed into position, no careless feet in the world are going to dislodge it! The fastening screw in this assembly was comprised of the hexagonal head of a cap screw, to which I soldered a flat-headed 6/32 brass machine screw for the working part. The hex head (you will notice) has been slotted for screwdriver fastening; and, as a refinement, I then drilled and tapped a small hole in its center to accept the little screw withdrawn temporarily from the wall receptacle plate (see Fig. 3). This handy storage space protects you against losing such a tiny unit, or, if you are screening away from home, walking off with the screw in your pocket. And speaking of public screenings, this brings up an added hazard in the field of parted power lines. This is the use of extension cords. So do as I have done, and have these cords equipped with the turn-and-pull type of plugs and sockets. With these, and the remodeled wall plug which I have described, you can really relax. Your show will go on! With this remodeled wall plug, your power line connection cannot be broken by accident