P
Peter S
Guest
I have been struggling with drying spots on my negatives for ages. Never had consistent results although the procedure I used was always the same. Have always thoroughly cleaned tanks and reels, always measured my Photoflo, used distilled water for the final rinse and even had a brief unsatisfying stint with Drysonal. Somehow I simply could not get rid of the drying marks. Yesterday afternoon I found an old salad spinner hiding in a cupboard an remembered reading somewhere that you could use it to spin film dry when still on the reels, so I decided to give that a try with two rolls of Tri-x.
After 2-3 minutes of final rest in distilled water and photoflo I took out the reel and added a second (empty) reel (I use Paterson tanks suitable for two reels) to the black centre column for stability. Then put the reels in vertical position (on the rims of the reels) in the spinner, that way the edges of the film point to the sides of the spinner and the water can escape when you spin. Closed the spinner and it felt as if the reels just fitted (not too high). Spinned for maybe 20 seconds and took the reels out. Film was not dry of course, but there was no water left on the film. Repeated the experiment with a second film and had the same result. Hung the two films to dry in the shower and after 2 hours they were dry to the touch, but left them hanging for the night. This morning inspected and filed the negatives and can only say that I never have had such spotless negs, they also seemed to have less curl than usual. I am so glad that it seems that I have found a solution to my little problem. This week another 4 rolls of Tri-x to develop and I will let you know the outcome.
After 2-3 minutes of final rest in distilled water and photoflo I took out the reel and added a second (empty) reel (I use Paterson tanks suitable for two reels) to the black centre column for stability. Then put the reels in vertical position (on the rims of the reels) in the spinner, that way the edges of the film point to the sides of the spinner and the water can escape when you spin. Closed the spinner and it felt as if the reels just fitted (not too high). Spinned for maybe 20 seconds and took the reels out. Film was not dry of course, but there was no water left on the film. Repeated the experiment with a second film and had the same result. Hung the two films to dry in the shower and after 2 hours they were dry to the touch, but left them hanging for the night. This morning inspected and filed the negatives and can only say that I never have had such spotless negs, they also seemed to have less curl than usual. I am so glad that it seems that I have found a solution to my little problem. This week another 4 rolls of Tri-x to develop and I will let you know the outcome.
