Tips for loading 120 onto Paterson reels

I use Patterson now, I used Patterson 15yrs ago, and I used something that looked just like Patterson 30yrs ago. Not necessarily an endorsement. Keeping everything absolutely clean and dry is step one - making sure the ball bearing locks move freely. Practicing in the daylight with waste film is step two. Practicing in the daylight with your eyes closed is step three. Practicing in the dark bag is step 4. For 36exp I remove the leader before I load. It's been 30 years since I developed a roll of 220 and I'll probably keep it that way. But it does fit....
 
Was having trouble starting 120 onto Yankee plastic reels. My solution was to cut a ‘lead in’ out of a plastic milk jug. Same width as 120 film and about 3 inches long. I push it into the reel for 1.5 inches and then start the film into and on top of this lead in. Then , with the film started I pull out the plastic piece. I folded the last 1/4 inch at 90 degrees so it was easier to hold onto and extract. The lead in piece forces the film end to not curl edge to edge when trying to start it on the reel.

Clear as mud?
 
Loading 120 Film

Loading 120 Film

Not much to add to what's already been written, but let me just say that I disposed of my Patterson tank and reels a short time ago. I never was able to become comfortable with them especially with 120 film. I have both Omega and Hewes 120 stainless steel reels and find that the Hewes is much easier to load than the Omega. Practicing loading with a sacrifice roll both visually and in the dark is certainly good advice. One additional point: I now use a changing tent rather than a changing bag; a little (OK maybe a lot) more costly, but a tent allows for loading unimpeded by fabric falling against one's hands. Another advantage of using stainless steel reels and tanks is that they hold 16 ounces while the Paterson holds I believe 20 ounces. This makes for more efficient use of developer, i.e., a quart of D-76 at 1:1 dilution can process 4 rolls of 120 or 8 rolls of 35mm. And, the Hewes 35mm reels are a joy to load after both Nikor and other brands.
 
I'm curious about Harry Callahan's agitation technique. You should make a video showing how its done!

Chris – Thanks for the tease but I'll resist making a video. Suffice to say that the agitation pattern was fast and vigorous and hurt my bad back like hell. Ah ..... the price we pay for craft skill ...

Another poster mentioned Jobo reels. I used to process 120 colour film in Jobo reels [with a motorised agitation], I remember that the Jobo reels were fairly OK to load – when dry.

......... Chris
 
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