This is a significant step, because once completed, they will have material to coat with emulsion to make film. They are using existing polyester film base stock that they already have, rather than preparing from scratch. The problem is that the base they have is spooled for larger machines than the Little Boy coater. So, they will be slitting the material using a slitting machine from 1917! They have a modern slitter, but is much larger and more difficult to setup at this time.
The process will involve cutting down a single 113cm wide, 3,000m long (3 kilometers!) jumbo roll into 50 23cm wide, 300m long mini-jumbo rolls. Each mini-jumbo can be used to coat up to 930 spools of 135/36 exposure rolls of film. The slitting can be done in daylight, since there are no light sensitive components in the base (it is just plastic).
Don't miss the posting on F.I.L.M., the early name for Film Ferrania.
We will continue to follow this story until film is produced. Stay with us!
