Anyone have a Watson 100 bulk film loader?

[DerekF]

Hi,

After reading some posts here and doing the math, I recently purchased a Watson 100 bulk film loader off eBay, my first bulk loader. I received it yesterday and proceeded to load my first roll of film. Exciting! 😉

However, I had a lot of trouble getting the film counter to work properly. I found that, for some reason, the sprockets did not engage the film very well while cranking the film into the canister, and so sometimes the crank would go two full turns before the film counter clicked.

Any ideas if it's supposed to be this tricky to operate? I was turning the crank pretty slowly because I could tell that the sprockets weren't going to engage the film very well when I started. Any general usage tips would be much appreciated, too! :angel:

Thanks!

 

[kaiyen]

When you first attach the film to the central spool of the film cartiridge, you should try to line up the sprockets with the little teeth that increment the counter. I then find that, if I put a bit of pressure on the door of the loader, the counter works fine.

However, many people use the rule that 1 full cycle is about 1 frame. I think it's actually a bit less than a full cycle, so about 25 turns should be about 30 frames or so.

allan

 

[Kin Lau]

I have 4 Lloyd's (the bakelite brick type) and 1 Watson. I stopped using the Watson because I always had trouble with it. It was just easier for me to count the number of turns. The Lloyd works better for short rolls too, since there's less waste.

 

[DerekF]

When you first attach the film to the central spool of the film cartiridge, you should try to line up the sprockets with the little teeth that increment the counter. I then find that, if I put a bit of pressure on the door of the loader, the counter works fine.

However, many people use the rule that 1 full cycle is about 1 frame. I think it's actually a bit less than a full cycle, so about 25 turns should be about 30 frames or so.

allan

Allen,

Thanks for the tips! I'll try lining up the sprockets better next time. In my rush to load my first cartridge, I guess I made some assumptions that I probably shouldn't have (namely, that it would be pretty much plug n' play in terms of simply closing the film door and winding away). Also, that rule about 1 full cycle == 1 frame is good to know in case I still can't get things to work the way I want.

 

[nikon_sam]

If the film holes line up with the sprocket teeth before closing it should work and you should hear the clicking sound as soon as you turn the crank. The Watson loader also came with a plastic spacer that fits inside, right where the crank comes through the loader. This also aids in lining up the film and film cassette. If you don't have the plastic spacer you can make one out of plyboard (backing from a notepad). The plastic ones measure about .075" thick.

 

[Kin Lau]

This table is on all of my Lloyd's loaders,
10exp = 13turns
18exp = 19turns
24exp = 24turns
36exp = 31turns.

The spool size is always the same, so this should work for any loader.

 

[kiev4a]

I had a Watson 100 back in the 70s and reacquired one a couple of years ago. Both suffered from the problem you describe. I just ignore the counter and count crank turns--one turn, one frame.

 

[doubs43]

Interesting. I presently have 4 Watson 100 loaders and 3 Alden 74's in use with a 4th Alden empty at the moment. I have no problems with the counters on any of them.

Walker

 

[RayPA]

This table is on all of my Lloyd's loaders,
10exp = 13turns
18exp = 19turns
24exp = 24turns
36exp = 31turns.

The spool size is always the same, so this should work for any loader.

I ususally go 29 clicks on my Watson and Aldens and get about 25 exposures with about 2~3 inches of black on each end. 🙂

 

[Poptart]

The worst thing about bulk loading is getting the roll started. I have an Adorama branded loader and it's a pain too. Have clean hands and anticipate spending a while in the dark.