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-   -   Squeegee or not (http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.org.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=13702)

Coastman 15th March 2021 02:39 PM

Squeegee or not
 
Hi
Every now and again I often shoot a few rolls of film, both 35mm and 120 as a nice change from the "push of a button perfection " of digital, now after I have given the film a good final rinse, and have unwound it from the spiral , and run a well washed squeegee down it, and then held it up to the light for that moment of truth inspection, I have noticed on the odd occasion some scratches of doom down the whole strip, so I have tried just running some diluted rinse aid down the negs and letting them dry, which results in small water stains on the dried negs, my question is,what would the best approach be to avoid these problems, maybe a water filter?
Any tips or advice would be welcome :)
Just noticed that this question has already been raised earlier in the forum, so ignore this thread

Cheers

Tim G

John King 15th March 2021 04:07 PM

A Squeegee Arghhhhh!
 
Use a squeegee? Nein - Non - Niet and very definitely NO. Apart from any grit that may be present, the blades of any squeegee are not as smooth as you think. When a film is wet, the emulsion is the next softest thing to a baby's bum!

A one-two minute soak after the last rinse, without agitation then hung up will let it dry flat and so long as you are no where near a Sahara sandstorm your film will dry perfectly. I have just done one this afternoon and it is now ready to be cut up into strips. It took about an hour to dry.

Lostlabours 15th March 2021 04:39 PM

Definitely not as John says. With 35mm filmI pul the film over a piece of kitchen paper toweling that prevents drying marks, final rinse with the wetting agent is with de-ionised water.

Ian

Richard Gould 15th March 2021 06:04 PM

never ever use a squegee, with 120 a final rinse in water with wetting agent, shake and hang up to dry, with 35mm a final rinse with wetting agent, then like Ian, a wipe down on the shiny side with a pad of kitchen roll, hang up to dry is all you need, films are clean and scratch free
Richard

Mike O'Pray 15th March 2021 08:42 PM

There are potential problems with any squeegee which have been already listed. In theory at least if the rubber blades are free of any grit and softened in warm water then it should not be a problem but in the time needed to carefully wash and examine the blades I find that I can draw the insides of my index and first finger down the film a couple of times to rid it of drops of water in the time it would take me to examine and wash the blades.

What I do finally is shake the film fairly vigorously fora few seconds and let it dry in the relatively dust- free enclosure of a Durst UT100 dryer with the fan on but not the heating element

Seems to work fine and in my region we have water that's hard enough to fur the inside of kettles and tap outlets

Mike

Coastman 15th March 2021 10:58 PM

Thank guys, i'll do as suggested and leave the sqeegee alone :D
Tim

Uwe Pilz 16th March 2021 05:29 AM

I always use a squeegee without any problems, for more than 1000 films. But: I always flush it with very hot water and strip it with my fingers. Wet fingers are very sensitive for any kind of dirt.

SteveW 16th March 2021 07:22 AM

I have used a job squeegee for a number of years without an issue. I leave mine soaking in the jug of wash water and then dip it in the rinse aid after removing the real. Touch wood it has always been good. I have also used a couple of other squeegees, Paterson and AP. They were definitely disastrous and went in the bin.

JOReynolds 16th March 2021 10:24 AM

Historically, if you sent 120/220 film to a lab it would have been processed in a dip-and-dunk machine. The last tank would have been the stabilizer or wetting agent with no agitation, so no froth. Next would come the last stage before the drying tunnel, an empty 'drip' tank in which the film would simply hang for 3...6 minutes.
In the lab I managed the drying cabinets (for sheet film) had a twenty-minute delay timer, so that the film dripped dry before the heated air began. Over the years I probably processed over 40 000 films - with never a complaint about scratches or drying marks.
- avoid froth
- don't touch
- be patient

photomi7ch 16th March 2021 11:14 AM

I did use a squeegee it scratched every roll of film at the time until I found what the trouble was. I have kept the offending item to remind me never to go back :D


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