Stainless steel tanks

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Forgive me if this is a bit of an ignorant question, but I have not found a really good answer googling.

As I have been trying rodinal stand development a bit lately and am getting fed up with the streaks left by my plastic reels in the Patterson tanks I would like to get me a stainless steel tank with reels.

Is one available that allows for putting chemicals in it in daylight like the Pattersons? I ask this as I do not have a darkroom but load my tanks in a changing tent and then play about with them in light.

Best regards

Jan
 
Yes, you can use them in light after loading the film in the dark, just like the plastic ones. The main difference is in the spools.
 
Every stainless steel tank I've ever seen would meet your requirements --- if you put the lid on it. You load the reel(s) and put in them into the tank in the dark; after that, everything can be done in light. You pour the chemicals through a small (capped) opening in the lid.

You don't have to use them that way, but that's how they were designed.
 
Thanks for your replies people, I will now set forth and procure a stainless steel tank on a well known auction site.
 
One more question, do any of you know if the steel reels, which are much more available on the aforementioned auction site can be used in Patterson tanks? I appreciate that they won't fit on the core but the light trap is not dependant on the core is it?

I have one that will take two of the Patterson reels snapped out to 120 size so I reckon I could fit a single stainless steel reel in there making it more or less ideal for stand processing if I put enough liquid in it.

Just a thought.

//Jan
 
Tanks holding 4 or more 35mm reels might be a problem with very short developing times using the pour-in-pour-out method. The 4 reeel and up tanks usually come with a stainless steel lifting rod for the reels. You can agitate in the usual way with the cap on but the stack of reels is put into the developer which is already in the tank. Some people prefer to have several tanks set up with developer, stop, and fixer, moving the stack from one to the next in the dark.

They also make (made?) a stainless steel "cage" to hold a LOT of reels for use in 3 1/2 gallon tanks designed for sheet film. These were popular when a Rolleiflex was the pro small camera of choice. A 120 reel is about twice as thick as a 35mm so you could only develop 12 exposures in the space that would hold 72 frames on 35mm film. The developer wasn't discarded after use. It was "replenished" and perhaps dumped and replaced every month or two. Or maybe never, as long as it still worked...LOL Most developers were (are?) available in 3 1/2 gallon packages.

As a general rule don't use the pour in/pour method out if the developing time is under five minutes in a tank bigger than two 35mm reels.

The reels would slosh around too much in the larger Patterson tanks. You want to be moving the developer around in the tank when you GENTLY agitate, not giving the reel a wild ride in the soup.
 
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Well - I think the above responses covered everything. I just want to make one recommendation to save you some headaches...purchase Hewes reels. They are more expensive than most but they are by FAR the easiest loading reels around (and they are more heavy duty than most). Freestyle Photography used to have really good prices on new ones. As far as stainless tanks are concerned they all work fine (but I will admit that Kindermanns are my favorite).

To my knowledge Paterson never made steel reels for their tanks. There were optional (ie. expensive) Hewes reels made to fit the Jobo Plastic tanks though (might be something to keep in mind if you really prefer plastic tanks).

Have fun
 
i've been using the same nikor reels and tanks for 30 years and i'ev never had streaks.

if you can find some i say go for it.

-chris
 
dap said:
Well - I think the above responses covered everything. I just want to make one recommendation to save you some headaches...purchase Hewes reels. They are more expensive than most but they are by FAR the easiest loading reels around (and they are more heavy duty than most). Freestyle Photography used to have really good prices on new ones. As far as stainless tanks are concerned they all work fine (but I will admit that Kindermanns are my favorite).

To my knowledge Paterson never made steel reels for their tanks. There were optional (ie. expensive) Hewes reels made to fit the Jobo Plastic tanks though (might be something to keep in mind if you really prefer plastic tanks).

Have fun
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I don't prefer plastic at all, I normally use my jobo rotary processor, not because the tanks are plastic though.

I just happen to have a few of the Paterson tanks, but as it has been explained SS reels don't work in them.

I want this tank for stand development with Rodinal.

I will look for the reels you mention, or maybe Nikkor stuff as mentioned in another post.
Thanks again for your quick answers everyone.

//Jan
 
BTW It's "Honeywell (as in Pentax) Nikor" not "Nikkor (as in Nikon). I have Honeywell Nikor SS tanks in two, four, and eight reel varieties. Work great, but you might want to practice loading 35mm SS reels, with a scrap roll. Works -way- different than Patterson.

I've never had a bad roll "come out" with Honeywell Nikor.
 
I used to use Plastic, but find that I like the SS reels and tanks better, and now use them. I do have an extra one with a 35mm SS reel. If interested, I will be happy to sell it to you, for , say $25. Let me know.
 
dap said:
Well - I think the above responses covered everything. I just want to make one recommendation to save you some headaches...purchase Hewes reels. They are more expensive than most but they are by FAR the easiest loading reels around (and they are more heavy duty than most). Freestyle Photography used to have really good prices on new ones. As far as stainless tanks are concerned they all work fine (but I will admit that Kindermanns are my favorite).
Click to expand...

Yes, Hewes are by FAR the easiest to load, with tabs to hook the film holes on to, as opposed to the clip that other manufacturers use. And as dap has already stated, they are also more heavy duty than any other brand that I've seen. Freestyle Photography has the Hewes 35mm reels for about $20/ea.. I believe. Buy these, and you will never need any other.
 
Excuse me if I missed mention of it, but the Paterson tanks fill and dump much faster than the steel tanks, so be prepared to take that into account if you use the tanks larger than 2 reels.

I used the Patterson tanks for my personal stuff for years and managed to avoided the steel ones until I started doing other peoples' film/printing in their darkrooms. I have both types in my darkroom now and mostly use steel, but filling and dumping a metal 4 or 5 reel tank still feels like a endless misery.

Cheers
 
Me too on the Hewes (variously aka "King Concept" and "Tundra") tabbed reels (not the ones with clips). They used to be about double the price of cheapo reels, but now more like 4x. In addition to being lots easier to load, they are virtually damage-proof. If you drop a cheapo reel it might get bent, in which case it's toast.

The other recommendation is to get a Kindermann plastic top cover. They will fit on standard SS tanks that accept plastic tops. Unlike the covers that typically come with generic SS tanks, the Kindermann tops don't leak and last for ages. Worth the extra cost, and available as a separate replacement part for Kindermann tanks (which cost the earth).
 
It was only "Honeywell Nikor" for a few years when Honeywell was the distributor. Before and after it was just plain "Nikor". My ancient Nikors have no center clips. Somehow they just grip the film at the first spiral. The 20 exposure Nikkors have clips, as do the various Japanese brands I've used. Kindermans have a slot for the flm end. Some have a prong to poke through the film but the older ones don't, just the slot. I must have over a dozen reels of assorted brands and various vintages. I can tell which is which is which by feel.

The old original Nikor tanks have a baffle crosswise in the top rather than a concentric round inner baffle. You tilt the tank a bit and pour through the larger side. The old Nikor tanks had individually fitted lids and caps and DID NOT LEAK. Mine are all marked with bits of colored Dymo tape so I don't mix them up.

Before Kinderman switched to plastic lids like the Japanese tanks they used to supply a wide rubber band to keep the lid from leaking. Newer Nikor tanks and caps don't leak badly, but they aren't perfect either.
 
I used to use Paterson, and bought a fairly expensive Hewes SS reel for Paterson. These are different from the regular Hewes reels as they accommodate the plastic stem of the Paterson system. I'm in the UK, if you're interested in it.

I now use Kindermann tanks and Hewes reels, and love them dearly!
 
Nokton48 said:
BTW It's "Honeywell (as in Pentax) Nikor" not "Nikkor (as in Nikon). I have Honeywell Nikor SS tanks in two, four, and eight reel varieties. Work great, but you might want to practice loading 35mm SS reels, with a scrap roll. Works -way- different than Patterson.

I've never had a bad roll "come out" with Honeywell Nikor.
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How difficult is it to load films into SS reels?
I consider stating developing my own B/W films again. I used the Patterson system 4 last time but maybe I will try out the SS system this time.
 
MXP said:
How difficult is it to load films into SS reels?
I consider stating developing my own B/W films again. I used the Patterson system 4 last time but maybe I will try out the SS system this time.
Click to expand...

Well, I would say that it's probably easier than most people think. Once you understand the mechanics of how they work, you might say that the film actually "loads itself". By keeping the film slightly buckled between thumb and forefinger, you turn the reel, and the film pretty much finds its proper way into the spiral slot of the reel. And it's easy to tell if something goes wrong, since the out of place section of film will be obvious by feel as you run your finger along the sides of the reel.

I have one of the new Arista reels/tanks, and I have to confess that it's very easy with that design, and a bit faster than loading a SS reel. But a good Hewes reel will last forever, take quite a beating (more than any other I've seen), and it's just easier to keep clean than any plastic reel.

I think after one or two tries with a practice roll, most people will consider it rather easy.
 
marke said:
Well, I would say that it's probably easier than most people think. Once you understand the mechanics of how they work, you might say that the film actually "loads itself". By keeping the film slightly buckled between thumb and forefinger, you turn the reel, and the film pretty much finds its proper way into the spiral slot of the reel. And it's easy to tell if something goes wrong, since the out of place section of film will be obvious by feel as you run your finger along the sides of the reel.

I have one of the new Arista reels/tanks, and I have to confess that it's very easy with that design, and a bit faster than loading a SS reel. But a good Hewes reel will last forever, take quite a beating (more than any other I've seen), and it's just easier to keep clean than any plastic reel.

I think after one or two tries with a practice roll, most people will consider it rather easy.
Click to expand...


Ok!
I just found some YouTube videos on how to load a SS reel (120 film). It looks quite easy. He had the 120 film with the paper backing removed so he loaded the blank film. But with 35mm film......can you load a SS reel by slowly pull out 20-30 cm at a time or do you have to open the canister first at have the whole film free?
 
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