Bathroom Rodinal Darkroom Checklist

maggieo

maggieo

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I'm finally taking the plunge again and am getting ready to develop my own film in my wee, but light-tight bathroom. I've got some Rodinal, some Kodak stop-bath, some Illford Rapid Fixer and some Photo-Flo. I've got a stainless developing tank and two reels. What I don't have is, well, anything else.

I used to have a dedicated darkroom or used the one at art school, so I haven't managed the materials I'll need for film processing in over twenty years and I'm at a loss at what I really need and what is just excess.

So, expecting to develop film in Rodinal, at normal and stand development dilutions, what sort of equipment do I need? Graduated cylinders- which ones? How big? Working solution tanks- again, how many, how big? Film hanging clips and what else?

Help! My brain is addled and my shopping cart at Freestyle alternates between overflowing and empty!
 
Measures for 0-10ml and 0-100ml

3 x 1-litre jugs.

A 2-litre ice-cream container for the photoflo bath.

Some clips to hang the film.

Thermometer.

Some sort of timer.

That's about it.
 
Maggie, after not doing any processing for something like 25 years, I took the plunge a few months ago. I have been using Rodinal 1:100, one-hour stand for everything and have found it be easy and reasonably fool-proof (very important, since I am quite fool-worthy). I do about 20 or so inversions for a minute and then no more. Set it and forget it. I do in the slop sink of my laundry area. 20 degrees C, more or less, since temp is not terribly critical. I've done Kodak 400CN (normally a C-41 film) and plenty of Fuji Neopan 400 and 1600 this way. Can't be happier. Don't need dark or the bathroom, just a good changing bag. Search Rodinal here on RFF and you'll find several threads on this with far better info than I can give.
 
I use a two-reel tank that holds something like 500ml. I fill it even if I'm only using one reel because at 1:100 rodinal is awfully inexpensive. I use a graduate that's 500ml or 650ml. if you're doing stand dev, you can get away with one graduate as that hour leaves your plenty of time to wash the graduate before you need again.
 
Am not sure you really need the stop, water would be fine, I would recommend a hardener with the rapid fix, and a bottle of distilled water to rinse your film before hanging.

I've had access to very good smaller graduated cylinders, pleasure to have the smaller ones for Rodinal.

Did you mention a good thermometer?

A draining rack is nice for your washed hardware, and I use a 12x15 tray at times to put the tank down while processing, any spillage is not a problem then, just a rinse to clean up.

if you feel adventurous, some recommend a salad spinner to get the water off the film in the reel before hanging.

Regards, John
 
A 300 ml & a 1000ml/32oz.
When measuring out the Rodinal, I use a 10ml syringe...when the bottle gets low I pour some Rodinal into a plastic film can and then measure it out from that...
 
I generally mix things up to one litre lots so a set of marked plastic milk bottles is good for that.
My Patterson tank uses 375 ml for 35mm (or 600ml if two reels are in it), and 500 ml for a single 120 film.
A funnel to pour reuseable chemical back into their bottles.
a 25mm cylinder for measuring small volumes of Rodinal
a 1 litre cylinder for measuring out the total brew.
my iPhone with the Massive Development App for a timer
Scissors to cut the film leader and end when loading the reels. (If you're doing that in a bag, make sure the scissors have rounded ends on the blades!)
Clips to hang the film - they can slip out of clothes pegs.
A thermometer
A can opener to get the film canister open! (There are inexpensive special ones made a bit like a bottle opener and easy to use in the dark).
A chart that gives you the time/temperature conversion in case your developer temperature varies from the standard 20C. (The iPhone App allows for that too).
If your water quality isn't good then you might consider getting a good sized filter jug for drinking water from the store and preparing the quantities for mixing and washing in advance.
 
maggieo said:
Any suggestions as to what size graduated cylinders to get?
Click to expand...

I've got three 600 ml plastic graduated cylinders: one for the Rodinal soup; one for fixer; and one for hypo clearing agent. I use water instead of a stop bath. I've also got a small round plastic container big enough to hold a reel that I use for a dip in the photo-flo mix while the hot water shower is steaming up the bathroom (keeps down the dust).

What else?

I measure the Rodinal using one of those 5 ml droppers that you get for free from your local pharmacy (the kind parents use for measuring medicine for babies and small children). Works just fine.

A funnel is good, to get the fixer back in the jug (ditto the hypo clearing agent).

Thermometer is essential.

You don't need a timer if you've got a watch w/ a timer function. That's what I'm using these days.

I souped some Tri-X in Rodinal this afternoon so this is all fresh in my mind. :)
 
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I also picked up beakers and flasks of various sizes to facilitate mixing and pouring of working solutions.

I also keep a roll of Saran wrap in the dark room to put under bottle caps, the only brand that really seals-- makes a huge difference in the life of chemistry, all bottle caps seem to leak air otherwise.

Regards, John
 
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Don't know how big your "wee" bathroom is, even small things tend to be bigger in the USA than in Europe, but I would consider a changing bag. You only mention developing your own film nothing about printing it using an enlarger.

Using a changing bag to spool up the film and a daylight tank you can basically do the developing anywhere where you want. I do it in my open kitchen with the stereo and my music selection nearby. If you do not intend to have a full wet darkroom at home why not make things a little bit more comfortable?
 
To keep things really simple, you only need a black changing bag for loading the film into the tank - you can do it in daylight. Once in the tank, the film can be processed anywhere in full daylight - I do it in the kitchen. Secondarily, forget the stop or water bath, if you use fresh fixer it is completely unnecessary, and according to some can increase the grain, so you need 3 1 liter graduated jars (developer, fixer, last bath) and a 0-20cc measuring cylinder. Why 1 liter ? Because eventually you will want to develop 4 films at a time, which is better for the stability of temperature, for consistency of development when using small amounts of developer, and for your free time too. You need photo flo and a thermometer as well. Use demineralized water for the developer solution and last bath, tap water to dilute the fixer and for washing the film. Try to keep all wet process within +- 2deg C. I use 900cc tanks for 4 films, and for convenience put 15cc f Rodinal in, which makes it 1+60 dilution. I do not recommend stand development, as it gives uneven results. Agitate slowly the first 30-60 secs, and then 10 secs every 3 minutes, this seems to give the best compromise between tonality, edge effects and grain. Try Tri X @ 250-320 EI for 12,5 mins @20deg C with this technique, you should like it.
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You don't need graduated cylinders. You can use the kind they sell in the kitchen/housewares section of Walmart; they've attended some school, enough to get the marks, but never actually graduated. ;)

~Joe
 
It's what I keep saying but the kids won't listen. Gotta be careful around here with the W-word, can get ugly before you know it.
 
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