WTB: Daylight tank for 4x5 developing

[jwhitley]

The route I've gone is to use a roller base and print drums, such as the Unicolor or Beseler models. The base and the drums are simple and interchangeable between brands. Some folks will also use a roller base with the Jobo tanks in lieu of a full Jobo processor. An 8x10 print drum will hold 4 4x5 negatives. These crop up regularly and fairly inexpensively on eBay and occasionally on APUG or the large format forum.

Relative to hand processing with roll-film tanks, the roller base is easier to load and works great given just a changing bag or dark closet. The roller base also takes the drudgery out of manual agitations. I hook mine up to a dial-type Gralab timer; the base runs when the timer is counting down and automatically stops at the end.

Here's a page with pictures that describes the process: 4x5 Unicolor Drum Development.

 

[anglophone1]

Another option [which I use] is a Paterson Orbital Processor originally designed for processing 8x10 colour print paper whic can handle 4 4x5 films, uses a ridiculously small amount of chemical and can usually be found on the auction site for not much.
RFF guru Roger Hicks has a a useful page on his site describing its use.

http://www.rogerandfrances.com/photoschool/ps how orbital.html

Nikors seem to be huge money and Combiplans few and far between..........
Best
Clive

 

[thetooth]

Jobo stuff can be real cheap if you're in the right place at the right time.

Me: Jobo 2553/3 reels/2521 tank/2 lids - $17.00.
Friend: Jobo 2551 & lid - $8.00.

Doesn't the 2509 reel handle 2 1/4" x 3 1/4" film? It's adjustable.

you got a good price there . at the time i was looking a jobo set up would have been close to $100.00 hence the reason i ended up with the yankee . i think you are right about the reel being adjustable one of these days i will try one out it's been about a year since i have had out the 4x5 stuff . first i need to dust it off and get back out there .

 

[venchka]

The Paterson Orbital seems to be confined to the U.K. and Europe. They are very scarce here in the Colonies.