Identifying Wierd Projector Challenge !

etsylvia · Jul 31, 2014

I am new to this site. Hopefully I am posting correctly.

I came across this very unique, wonderful wierd Projector. I tried doing some research but I couldn’t find anything like it. The only information is on the motor, which says Flexo-Action, Serial # 60020, Merkle & Korff Gear Co., Chicago, ILL, and some other electric rating numbers, however, I am not sure if it is just the motor manufacturer, or if they produced the whole unit. In the black box there is a bulb, connected to a long black cylinder shaft with a brass end & lens. The unit has a chain that rotates gears to shake the other half (I am guessing this is done on purpose to give an effect to the projected image). This unit has an old power cord but I decided not to plug it in, since it is so old.
I have no idea what it was really used for or who made it.
Any help would greatly be appreciated

tirediron · Jul 31, 2014

No idea, but it's as cool as all get-out!

etsylvia · Jul 31, 2014

I believe in the circle hoop, there was some light or lens that is no longer there. Why it is on a chain to shake it, I am unsure.

vintagesnaps · Jul 31, 2014

It is so odd looking it's kind of cool. I think Flexo-Action must have been the name of the motorized part(s) since in a search several window display turntables showed up using that name. This looks like it might be the company, maybe if you contact them they could give you some info.

Merkle-Korff Industries

etsylvia · Aug 1, 2014

vintagesnaps said:
It is so odd looking it's kind of cool. I think Flexo-Action must have been the name of the motorized part(s) since in a search several window display turntables showed up using that name. This looks like it might be the company, maybe if you contact them they could give you some info.

Merkle-Korff Industries

Thanks for the info. I did contact them and they said they did not manufacturer the projector....someone just used their motor....

If anyone else has any other ideas, I am wide open to suggestions or if someone else knows of anyone that has any expertise with these types of items, that would be wonderful. I am adding a close up pic.

Thanks everyone ! I love this forum.

vintagesnaps · Aug 1, 2014

I started to wonder if it was possible this was a do-it-yourself project? Those large bolts seem unusual and especially that chain is the oddest thing! The bottom of it looks like the type of case that would have been manufactured by companies that made slide projectors etc. in maybe early to mid century, but I'd expect a company's name to be on it somewhere.

I think it might have been made in the same type labor-a-tory that Frankenstein came from! LOL

I don't know offhand if there are websites about collecting vintage equipment for home movies and slides etc.

tirediron · Aug 1, 2014

Interesting, looking more closely at the newest image, it's not nearly as old as I had thought. All of the fasteners are modern, mass-produced styles, and I would say dating back to the late 1950s at the oldest. The cotton-braid covered power cord is of a type in use until the mid 1970s, and it appears to feed through what looks like a nylon grommet. The motor does look rather old, but don't think it is. The chain ("ladder chain") is commonly found in a multitude of applications like this. My guess is that this dates from probably the early or mid 1960s.

Not that that brings you any closer to an ID, but...