ERA 100 / Do I need knew reels. How difficult should it be to get the film on?

[tyrone.s]

Hi all, I'm looking for a little advice. I've been out of the darkroom for many years and am slowly getting back into the habit of developing my own B&W for home scanning.

I *think* that I know how to get the film onto the reel and have practised the heck out of doing this, I'm still having a really tough time getting my film onto the reels when I do it for real in the bag.

I'm using ERA100 (and have been for about 10 rolls to get the hang of it in Rodinal before moving off to other blends). Now is it just because ERA is a bit thin that it's harder to get onto the roll or should I just get new reels and be done with it? I'm getting slipping, negs that start to go on and then go no further, negs that go on and the sort of slip off and get stuck.

I've been starting from the end of the neg roll so that the really curly bit goes on first - as I've had trouble getting that on in the past.

It's taking me about 20 - 30 minutes to get the negs on at the moment. But then I'll do a second roll and get it in 3.

On the upside I've started following this thread about Rodinal 1:100 and getting lovely negs.

I'd really appreciate any advice on this subject.

Cheers,
Tyrone

 

[ChrisN]

ERA 100 (in 35mm) loads just as easily onto developing reels as all the other films I've used. Before loading cut the end square (between perforations) and trim a TINY 45-degree bevel on the corners (less than a millimeter).

Run your reels through the dishwasher, and maybe scrub them with an old toothbrush to get rid of contamination that might be causing problems. And alway make sure they are absolutely dry before use.

It's pretty good for a cheap film - cheers!

 

[mgd711]

I've given up on plastic reels and now using the Hewes reels for 35mm film. I can load a reel in under a minute.

One thing I found to be helpful when working in a dark bag is to put a cardboard box inside to hold the bag open, stops it all collapsing round your hands.

 

[Livesteamer]

Another vote for stainless steel reels. Once you learn they load quickly and easily. One thing though, your hands must be clean and VERY dry. Good Luck, Joe.

 

[tyrone.s]

Thanks for the quick replies.

My hands start off dry ... but after several minutes they get kind of sweaty if it starts to take too long.

ChrisN - do you start at the beginning of the Era roll or do you trim from the end (i.e. from after exposure 36?).

Forgive my spelling - end of a long day (knew should equal new 😱)

 

[tyrone.s]

Success! Simple really. I assumed that because I'd thoroughly cleaned my reels, that my reels were therefore clean. However since I don't have a dishwasher I tried soaking all of them in CLR (Calcium Lime Rust) cleaner for about an hour and dried them off again overnight. Just did a test roll in my morning tea break with a roll of Lucky SHD100 that I couldn't bear to try to get onto the reel based on an experience a couple of months ago and the roll went on in about 60 seconds. Absolutely sensational!

So a bit of a reminder I guess - even if reels look clean (and I was given about 8 well used dusty reels plus I had NOS brand new ones of my own) and you've washed them with some sort of detergent and really hot water, well, it doesn't mean that they are clean. In retrospect detergent is probably the worst thing I could've washed the reels in as it probably left a film over everything.

 

[ChrisN]

Congratulations! With a good clean the plastic reels work fine. I'll give CLR a try when mine are next due. I always start at the start of the film, meaning I load from the outside of the spooled film. I keep the leader of the film outside the canister when rewinding, or retrieve it with a film picker. Then cut it square and bevel the corners as described. I cheat a little by starting the film onto the reel with the light on, then switch the lights out to finish (I've quit using a dark-bag and now load film at night in the bathroom with the windows blacked out).