About to run first roll; what am I missing?

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paulfish4570

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I intend to run my first roll of film today. Here are the steps that I intend to take:
Spool film in the dark
Place reel in Paterson tank in the dark
Put tank funnel in place in the dark
Put agitation cylinder into tank in the dark
(Is the tank REALLY light proof at this step)
Turn on light
Pour in developer, start timer, agitate with cylinder, put on lid
Agitate as instructed
Remove lid and dump developer
Add stop bath made from white vinegar and distilled water, and agitate for 30 seconds
Dump stop bath
Pour in Kodafix solution, agitate frequently for 2-4 minutes
Dump fixer
Wash in running water for 20-30 minutes
Photo-flo solution for 30 seconds
Hang to dry
What am I missing?

Thanks
 
Sounds pretty good. If your water (coming out of the fosset) is not too hard, just use fosset instead of distilled water.

Once the funnel is in the tank (secured by rotation), the tank is light proof.

The one thing that I do before starting, is getting a big bowl of water to the right temperature, from which I mix developer, fixer, and washing water (including the final foto-flo). For stopping I use fosset water (no vinegar, etc), too (advice from the late Al).

Roland.
 
Last edited:
One more thing, Paul:

the most difficult part for me was getting the film on the reels in the dark.

I recommend some dry runs in the light. Also, this may sound weird, but it is much easier if you start putting the film on the reel with the end of the film.

Roland.
 
I second the use of plain water for a stop - works fine. Also, I don't know about most folks here, but I just do inversions and skip the agitator deal.
 
I don't use stop bath for film or paper either: just water. And I use the very hard water we have here in Barcelona. I use it also for the fixer and long washings... For the developer mix and the last washing, I use distilled water always.

Go for it and enjoy!

Cheers,

Juan
 
The most frustrating part initially is loading the reel. Make sure you can get that down pat before trying to load your exposed film in the dark.
 
Never used kodafix I don't think! Is it a rapid fixer? Anyway, to get a since of your fixer times place the film leader that you cut in the fixer you have ready & time how long it takes to clear. Then multiply that time by 2 & that will put you in the ball park of how long you need to fix your roll of film. Sounds to me like your ready. Have fun!
 
Also practice opening film cassettes and cutting the film off the spool and the leader off the film. Make sure you know exactly where your equipment is laid out (can opener, scissors, reels, tank, lid), and make sure you can reach each in the proper order without knocking the others onto the floor.

Do you have a dust-proof drying bag/cabinet? You should either buy one or improvise something, or your scanning and/or print spotting will be sheer torment.

If you hang the film with a clothespin clipped to the bottom end, it will dry straighter.

And enjoy! Seeing your pix on that first roll is very satisfying.

Ari
 
Folling up on what Ari said, and looking at your avatar, Paul.

We have 3 cats and 3 dogs.

My film gets hung up in our guest bed room, that we keep pet free (for allergic guests), with open window. That works quite well against dust.

Roland.
 
Thardy said:
The most frustrating part initially is loading the reel. Make sure you can get that down pat before trying to load your exposed film in the dark.
Click to expand...

So true. I was doing 120 on steel reels and would be able to do it in 10 minutes if I was lucky. I'd roll and unroll that thing 5 or 6 times. Now it's a piece of cake. I use plastic reels and a changing bag...whole process takes 2 minutes and I can't see any difference in the results.

As to this guy's initial list, just remember to put the black spindle in the tank. This is not an optional part - it's a crucial part of the light trap - and it's easy to drop in the reels without it because they fit so well anyhow.
 
In case no one else mentioned it, I make up working solution of fixer a gallon at a time and keep putting it back into the bottle after use until I get a negative test using HypoCheck. Then I make up a fresh gallon. The working solution needs to be kept in an opaque bottle. I've been AMAZED at the amount of money I've saved in this way, and of course the impact on the environment is much reduced! Good luck!
Vic
 
paulfish4570 said:
...
Pour in Kodafix solution, agitate frequently for 2-4 minutes
...
Click to expand...

Your process sounds good. Like most others, I use a water stop as well. Fixer is acidic and thus also acts as a stop bath. But your time for Kodafix is too short. Make it 7-10 minutes and it should be good. If you want a shorted time, use a rapid fixer, which substitutes the more soluble ammonium thiosulfate for the sodium thiosulfate in regular fixer. The result is that it works faster, and is easier to wash out of the film. With rapid fixer (Kodak or Ilford is fine) you should fix for 4 to 5 minutes to assure complete removal of the undeveloped silver from the film.

Too short of a fixing time will result in a much shorter lifetime for the film, as it will fog over time. Not washing it out completely will leave an acid residue in the film, which will also degrade it over time. Radically underfixed film will have a white film, or purple cast to it. If you see that upon drying, return the film to the tank, and refix it, then follow the subsequent steps.

Hard water is not as good at washing film as is (naturally) soft water. To help wash out all of the fixer, use a product such as Hypo clearing Agent, or Orbit Bath after fixing, and before washing. I only use distilled water to make up the Photoflo solution.

I use every chemical only once, except fixer. Fixer can be used until it becomes saturated with silver salt. A drop of 5% potassium iodide (hypocheck) will turn cloudy if the fixer is spent. I generally use fixer 5 or 6 times, then test it. I use it until it tests bad. For archival processing, I use fresh fixer for the second half of the fixing time.
 
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