Getting chemical!

[dadsm3]

There were Kodak daylight developing tanks, that were kind of kidney shaped, divided into a side for the film spool and one for the reel. You dropped your spool in, stuck the film leader through a slot, and fed it into the shaft of the reel. You put the lid on, and wound it from the spool onto the reel...all in daylight. From what I remember your poured your chemicals into a hole on the spool side of the lid.
Although my memory is very foggy (this would have been in 1970, I was 13), it was a PIA to start your film on the reel, you would lose a few shots at the start of your film trying to ensure you had it loaded properly. Also, since the lid was on, you had no real way of knowing whether your film was winding properly or if it was kinking etc.
I remember it was rather difficult to do consistently, probably the reason they didn't replace standard tanks. You still see them occasionally on evilbay.
Mike

 

[lshofstra]

So here's an item that hasn't been mentioned, but is perhaps taken for granted: digital scales. I use one that measures single grams up to two kilograms (yes, I'm living in the parallel universe known as metric). I tend to go for liquid developers like Ilfosol S, and mix it on top of the scales. Easier and probably more accurate.
Cheers, Bert

 

[titrisol]

I don;t see your surprise about the alcohol thing.
You can use rubbing alcohol or the 99% isopropyl alcohol, dunk the film in there and that will evaporate in about 2 minutes.
I don;t know about curling but it'll dry fast and spotless!!!

 

[markinlondon]

I don;t see your surprise about the alcohol thing.
You can use rubbing alcohol or the 99% isopropyl alcohol, dunk the film in there and that will evaporate in about 2 minutes.
I don;t know about curling but it'll dry fast and spotless!!!

There was mention here the other day about Tetenal Drysonal which seems to be 98% denatured ethanol. It's about £8 a litre though and so looked very expensive. I'd stick with photoflo, pricy to buy but lasts for ages. Hanging film diagonally across a doorway also seems to help water run off. My film is usually dry enough to contact print in about an hour.

Mark

 

[visiondr]

I second Bill's suggestion of a syringe for measuring the HC-110. I use a 10cc syringe and need exactly 9cc for a 300ml single reel tank (dilution B). I work in a medical office, so syringes are as plentiful as... (insert clever metaphor here). You may ask for a syringe the next time you visit your GP. I'm sure they'll oblige (tell them what you want it for, of course).

Ron

 

[ed1k]

I have to admit, I reacted with shock to reading this. I had never heard of it - and it sounds DANGEROUS!!! Raw alcohol is incredibly flammable.

Huh... Bill you are not retired firefighter, are you? Don't take it very personally but I seems to read some your concerns about bake and fire today 🙂

Yes, I understand that alcohol is flammable. But I think individuals asking advises here are responsible for their actions or work supervised if they are not. I assume nodoby here will sniff hydroquinon, drink fixer to taste if there is enough acid there and do similar crazy actions. Gasoline is flammable and some people deal with it regularly, zippo lighter fluid is extremely flammable also and some people carring it around in their pockets and there are tons of examples. Alcohol, even not so strong as raw spirit but just in state of vodka or whisky if you want, is also flammable and sometimes people drink it. Someone who lives or works far north could tell you a lot of stories about usefulness of alcohol (it has different use, not only drinking)... or probably doctors know something too. Well, what I want to say I assume everyone thinks before doing something and I'm not responsible for any harm or loss one could have following my advises.

As for this technique itself. It works. I used it quite a few times. I don't know how long you can keep negatives after this shorcut, but I think if later you wash them in water for a couple of hours and dry them as usual, they won't be worse for storage. For educational purposes or experiments, when one is not going to keep negatives for years nor expect them to be in good shape after decades, it could be a solution. Though as I said, there is _always_ a place to dry film.
I used this method many years ago working for students newspaper and there was a rush, now it doesn't make sense as there is digital.
Eduard.

 

[bmattock]

I second Bill's suggestion of a syringe for measuring the HC-110. I use a 10cc syringe and need exactly 9cc for a 300ml single reel tank (dilution B). I work in a medical office, so syringes are as plentiful as... (insert clever metaphor here). You may ask for a syringe the next time you visit your GP. I'm sure they'll oblige (tell them what you want it for, of course).

Ron

You can get the sort that do not have needles at the pharmacy over-the-counter, they are designed to dispense ear and nose drops to children. They are maybe a few dollars, and last for a long time. I'm still on my first one.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[mac_wt]

On Daylight tanks:
I have a JOBO 2400 tank. No changing bag needed. You put the film cannister in the core of the tank, hook the filmleader to the real, close things up, spool the film on the reel, cut the film from the cannister and eject the cannister. It holds 1 film and uses 450ml of juice.
I can only use my darkroom after dark, when most of my housemates are asleep (it's out bathroom and not completely lighttight), so it suits my needs.

On what more could be usefull:
- A table with developing times on some stiff carton
- A clock with clear indication of seconds
- Something to wipe up liquids. It's easy to make a mess with all those bottle, cans, tanks,...

Wim