An observation on film curl

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atlcruiser

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I never had any real issue with curl using all color, chromes or tri x. I would wash then hang, unweighted, from clothes hangers in my office overnight. The next day all would have a very slight bow but wheen cut to scannin lenght they would be flat.

About 3 months ago I bought a used JOBO film dryer. Works like a champ but the amount of curl is directly related to the amount of heat and time in the heat. Some have curled so much that even books for 4 days do not get them flat!


In solving the non issue of fiim drying speed i created a new issue of film curl :bang:

the film is cleaner though 🙂
 
Hardener in the fix contributes to curl- not sure, but I'd suspect heat would make this more pronounced. I'd start by halving the hardener if you use it- or switch to a fix with a separate hardener so you can reduce it.
 
actually measured the temp inside the dryer an it was @ 100' after 10 minutes. I cut the time down to 10 minutes form the normal 20 and will see if that helps any.

using kodak rapid fixer if that matters
 
David, Funny you mention this. I've been mainly shooting Eastman Double-X for the last year or so. Negatives are flat as a board, leaving them hang on a hanger in the office. D76 and Kodak rapid fixer standard used throughout.

I souped a roll of Tri-X last week and the film curl was unbelievable. I put them under two heavy books for a week and still have some curl.

Gary
 
+1 on the relationship between humidity and curl. I have noticed that film curls more in the winter when the humidity in the house is lower.

I have also suspected that the temperature of the wash water may have an effect. When I first started developing my own film I washed under running water and did not pay much attention to its temperature. Now I use the Ilford film washing method. Since my darkroom has no running water, I keep several jugs of water for washing, etc. In the winter, the water in the jugs is likely to be warmer than what comes out of the tap.
 
I have a Kindermann film dryer which doesn't heat the air. I place loaded reels direct out of the dev tank into the dryer for an hour. Negs come out curled lengthwise as you would expect but not that much laterally. I'm so happy with the dryer that I bought a second one for backup.
 
When Keith was scanning those brilliant rolls from the 1930 world trip and showing them here for all of us, he posted on the issue of film curl in relation to humidity.

Must have been somewhere in the last three threads with shots he launched.

In NL it's always very humid. Curl hardly is an issue for me, lab-dried film left to hang overnight with a weighted clip on its tail is flat enough to fit the scanner the next day.
 
buzzardkid said:
When Keith was scanning those brilliant rolls from the 1930 world trip and showing them here for all of us, he posted on the issue of film curl in relation to humidity.

Must have been somewhere in the last three threads with shots he launched.

In NL it's always very humid. Curl hardly is an issue for me, lab-dried film left to hang overnight with a weighted clip on its tail is flat enough to fit the scanner the next day.
Click to expand...

🙂 I think also he had a brilliant idea of ironing curled films (of course not putting the iron directly on the film). I never tried but you may try if you want...
 
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