Straightening whole rolls of negatives?

[POSTI-Tuomo]

I've got a Kiev box full of old negatives in rolls. They have been stored like this for decades now and are hopelessly curled, to say the least. I'm a bit afraid of cutting the negatives in their current condition as I have not got a proper film cutter, just a pair of scissors. So they need to be straightened properly before I start to cut them into smaller strips. How should I go about this?

Cheers,

Tuomo

 

[Tom A]

It depends to some extent what brand film it is! I have straightened rolls by rewetting them in clean, filtered water and hanging them up with heavy weights at the bottom. You might have to do it a couple of times and there will still be tendency to curl!
You can also cut the negatives and feed them into negative file pages, such as Pro-Line clear acetate ones and then put them under pressure (stack a couple of heavy books on top of them). As for negative cutters, I dont use them. get a pair of the small Fiskars scissor and just be careful when you cut. Negative cutters are more of a bother than practical any way.
When you wet the film, it has to stay in the water for at least 10-20 minutes to soak in and do it one film at a time as otherwise there is a fair chance that you will scratch them when you are handling them.
Toivottavasti kaikki sujuu hyvin!
Tom

 

[POSTI-Tuomo]

Tom A, thanks for the great advice. Those films are/were actually those of my grandfather and I need to scan them. Digital archiving, in essence. I'll have to do some shopping next week... Here's a thread I made about those negatives, it contains images too.

Kiitos avusta!

Tuomo

 

[newsgrunt]

When I dry my film, I reverse roll them back onto the reels for drying in a Senrac. Usually no heat but air. Reels will need to be washed carefully for photo flo residue.

You could try this with your film although I'd look for a roll that could be considered sacrificial in case it went south. I'd also follow Tom's advice and make sure it was fairly wet before trying this.

If that doesn't appeal to you, perhaps sleeve and reverse roll them, not too tightly, and leave it for a couple of days.

 

[POSTI-Tuomo]

newsgrunt, thanks for chiming in. Your method seems viable too. I'll have to try your and Tom's method to see how they work out. 🙂

 

[Tom A]

Tuomo, nice set of shots from Helsinki. Tuulikki used to live on Snellmaninkatu and when we both lived there in 1971/72 we lived on Sepankatu. The Kauppatori was a regular haunt for coffee and "munkki" or "Possu". Instant sugar high!
Helsinki is one of the great summer cities! Wonderful light and lots of it. Unfortunately in the winter it is dark - and cold!
I used to design phone cable factories for Nokia (probably why they went into cell-phones!) in the old Nokia building. The first two years we lived there I had a 1949 Bentley Mark VI in rather "ratty" shape. The owner of Christian Optics (opposite to Snellman's Department store) had a mint, black one. I would see him regularly as they also were the importers of Leica. He always told me not to park right behind it as it depreciated the value of his!