Unusual way to flatten really stubborn negatives ... if you're game.

[Keith]

I just developed a three year old roll of 120 Adox 100 CHS and not only was it difficult to get on the reel because of the curl, it didn't improve much after developing and remained like a coil spring no whater what I tried. After I cut into two frame lengths, because this is all the V700 can take in the holder with 6x7, it became even more difficult to deal with.

The solution ... I ironed it! I put each negative inside a folded in half piece of copy paper and being extremely careful with the iron on very low heat, I ironed it on my timber topped desk checking regularly to see the progress and to make sure it wasn't just melting. Nothing much happened until it got to a certain temperature then suddenly the whole negative totally relaxed and I quickly put it still in it's paper sleeve, between the pages of a heavy book. I did the rest of them the same way and left them for an hour or so before removing them. They were dead flat and scanned perfectly and there appears to be absolutely no damage to the negatives at all. They did need a good clean as they managed to pick up a bit of paper fibre ... but this came off fairly easily.

I'd imagine there's a very fine line between softening the material the negative is made of and actually destroying it so if you try this and ruin a perfectly good negative don't blame me! The temperature of the iron has to be low enough that you can almost put your hand on it but not quite if you get my drift! 😀

Nothing on the roll I treated this way was particularly important ... so the risk was minimal!

 

[Pickett Wilson]

Wow. That was a relief. From your subject line, I was afraid this had something to do with chickens.

An iron is certainly worth a try.

 

[Keith]

Wow. That was a relief. From your subject line, I was afraid this had something to do with chickens.

An iron is certainly worth a try.

Now I'm wondering how a chicken could possibly come into play for this sort of activity! 😀

 

[Keith]

Duh! ... of course it's all in the title isn't it.

That was very quick Pickett! 😛

 

[Roberto V.]

I'll definitely try these. I have some old negs that I placed under a couple of beer crates, but they are still extremely curled. Wish me luck.

 

[paulfish4570]

Luck

And cluck ...

 

[ederek]

Keith - I think you've discovered a new product!

Guess there's a new step in the workflow..

 

[Roberto V.]

Well, i tried it on a roll of Ektar 100 that had been rolled up for a year. So far so good, I'll scan tomorrow to see how it turns out.

 

[ferider]

Thanks for the tip, Keith.

Just don't do it with your > 50 year old negatives - they might spontaneously combust 🙂 .... Seriously, this would be dangerous.

Roland.

 

[ItsReallyDarren]

Maybe a blast of steam will teach the resilient curly ones a lesson.

 

[Jack Conrad]

Oh great. Now I'm gonna have to sell a chicken to buy an iron. :bang:

 

[retro]

Nothing much happened until it got to a certain temperature then suddenly the whole negative totally relaxed

Did you happen to measure that temperature?

 

[Keith]

Did you happen to measure that temperature?

Interesting that you should ask ... the iron tells you nothing except fabric settings of course but my son has one of those gizmos that reads surface temperature. On the setting the iron seemed to be doing the goods on last night it was reading 95 to 105 deg C and I was moving the iron around of course to avoid getting any hot spots. The secret is constant checking because when you go too far the negative starts to go really wavy and doesn't recover to well if you don't back off really quickly! 😛

 

[Keith]

Thanks for the tip, Keith.

Just don't do it with your > 50 year old negatives - they might spontaneously combust 🙂 .... Seriously, this would be dangerous.

Roland.

Funny you should mention this because I actually discovered this trick a couple of months ago ... prior to scanning those old negs!

I was actually considering trying it then read about the properties of those old nitrate negatives and definitely made the decision to be ultra cautious with them. Considering these film stocks can spontaneously combust at temps above 38 deg C it would have been spectacular if I'd attempted to iron them ... might have even made the 'Darwin Awards!' 😛

 

[pevelg]

Darn, I'm slow!!! I still don't get the chicken reference! Please explain. The only thing I can think of is the picture of Keith (or maybe Frank) holding a chicken while taking a self portrait.

Oh great. Now I'm gonna have to sell a chicken to buy an iron. :bang:

 

[wintershrooms]

Keith, sorry if this sounds like a total newbie question, but how did you clean the negatives afterward?

 

[Pablito]

Would suggest using 2-ply rag mat board instead of the copy paper.
Also, if you happen to have a dry mount press, you may be able to control the process better than with an iron. Good luck!

 

[spanish_inquisition]

I'll definitely try these. I have some old negs that I placed under a couple of beer crates, but they are still extremely curled. Wish me luck.

No way man!
ANR glass is the way to go, especially since you spent the $600 for an epson V700. Unless you like adventure and the fun of melting your old negs. Like playing roulette. The russian kind.

 

[Keith]

No steam ... I would imagine that would soften the emulsion and cause the paper to stick to it!

As for cleaning .. just a firm wipe with a soft piece of lint free cloth on both sides.

I'm not sure if all the film bases are the same ... it might vary a little from brand to brand I would think! I've got another roll of the Adox hanging to dry at the moment so it looks like I'll be getting the iron out again later! 😀

 

[jordan.dickinson]

funny idea, but I bet it does work well. Thanks for trying it first so I didn't ruin a handful of negs.