An easy way to develop sheet film
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The simplest and cheapest method of developing 5 x 4 sheet film is in an open dish using the "shuffle" method. Its drawback is that it is not easy to load the sheets of film, with wet hands, one at a time, into a pre-bath of water. It also requires some skill to avoid damaging the film when shuffling the sheets during development.
Fortunately there is a simple way round these problems. Take six 1.5" plastic rawlplugs (used for fixing screws in a brick wall) and araldite them to the bottom of a 10" x 8" developing dish, as shown in the photograph. The dish can now be used to develop four sheets of film, each of which is placed emulsion side up in its own quarter of the dish. http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.or...1&d=1262012342 During development the dish can be covered by a light-proof lid, also shown in the photograph. this allows you to have the light on during processing. Construction details are given at the end of the article. If you lack woodwork skills or facilities, you can dispense with the wooden lid, and cover the dish with a black towel. I do this when developing twelve sheets of film in three dishes, though I only have the safelight on then. The divided dish is very simple to use, partly because the film does not fall out when you tip the tray up to pour liquid out. Suction causes the film to temporarily stick to the bottom of the dish. This means that the whole process; development, stop-bath, fixer and washing, can be carried out without removing the film from the dish. Because chemicals are poured in and out of the dish in the dark, a certain amount of pre-planning is needed. I have wide necked containers for stop-bath and fixer, but they are different sizes and easy to identify in the dark. Developer is mixed in a measuring cylinder of a different shape, and all three containers are placed in order of use, in a line, at the start of a developing session. I check that the dish is dry, and standing on its baseboard with the lightproof lid propped up behind it. Then with the lights off I remove the sheets of film one at a time from their holders and place them in the dish, emulsion side up. Development then proceeds as follows. 1 Pour in the developer, start the timer, place the lid over the dish, check that it is covering the dish properly, then switch on the light. 2 Agitate gently and continuously until end of development. 3 Turn off light, remove cover, pour out the developer. Pour stop-bath into dish. Pour stop-bath back into its wide-necked container (the only slightly tricky part of the entire process). 4 Pour in fixer. Replace light-tight lid. Light on. Remove lid after fixing. Pour out fixer. 5 Wash film using several changes of water. Add wetting agent. Soak. Hang film up to dry. This method of working has several real advantages. a. Cheap, and easy to set up. b. Easy to keep track of individual sheets of film. I always place them in the same order in the dish, starting back-left and moving clockwise to end front-left. c. Very even development. Developer flow not restricted by rawlplugs. d. No damage to film emulsion. I do not claim that the method is foolproof, but I have used it for over 25 years and found it very easy to get good results right from the start. To make the light-tight box use 3" x 1.5" softwood for the sides. Cut two lengths at 12" and two at 17". Make sure the ends are square or the box will not be light-tight. Join these four lengths together to make a rectangle with inside measurements of 12" x 14". This will fit over the dish nicely. Glue and pin a lid onto the sides, using 5mm thick MDF, or plywood. Fit two handles to the sides of the box, and glue thick black felt to the bottom edge that sits on the base. Make the base from a flat sheet of 18mm thick chipboard, MDF, ply or blockboard. It should be at least 17" square if you make the box to the above sizes. Pin four thin strips of wood to form a guide to allow you to place the dish in the middle, in the dark. Fit some feet to the base, so you can get your fingers under it to agitate the dish during development. I almost forgot. If you use 5" x 7" film, you can use this method to develop two sheets at a time, with a different rawlplug configuration. Happy developing! |
Seems to be a very cheap and simple solution Alan, thanks for posting.
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Alan I don't do 4x5 but this is the kind of article I like. Easy to read and understand, complete with good photos and backed by successful experience.
Thanks for taking the time and effort to post. Mike |
Thank you Mike. My pleasure!
Alan |
I'm seconding Mike's comments. Thanks Alan.
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Don't forget the Paterson Orbital! See
http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subsc...20orbital.html I find this easier than any other method. EDIT: I see Dave Miller has already posted another (and probably easier) way of doing this. Sorry! Cheers, R. |
Hello Roger; welcome to the forum.
I agree that a Paterson Orbital is convnient to use. As my darkroom takes a few minutes to set up I use one myself if I only have three or four sheets of film to process. I load up in the cupboard under the stairs and then work at the kitchen sink. But Paterson Orbital processors are neither cheap nor particularly easy to come by, and I wrote the article to show that sheet film can be processed using very cheap and readily available equipment. Alan |
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From what I've seen, the prices are all over the place: £5 to £50. I fully take your point but I'd advise others to keep their eyes open in case they come up at under, say, £20. Cheers, R. |
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This is simple and brilliant!
I tried the shuffling the stack method and must admit it was more like trying to count 15 tons of elvers, so have been developing sheets individually in 5x7 trays. Must get the araldite out. Phil |
Personally, I would like to see Paterson Ltd design a series of light-proof trays with dividers and a ribbed base specifically for processing sheet-films of various format sizes.
I`m sure it is well within their capability provided that Large-Format camera users show enough interest in buying such products. |
Thanks Phil,
Good luck to you. Alan |
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Welcome to FADU Roger. Nice to hear from you again since you disappearerd from APUG. Steve. |
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I think that it would be something worth having, but I don`t know if anyone else thinks the same. If there was enough interest from large-format camera owners, then perhaps Paterson Ltd might consider designing something like it. :) |
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Steve. |
Have moved Bill's ready-made Slosher post to: http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.or...2740#post22740
as an option for those without the necessary Blue Peter genes... |
Mike, your developing box looks good. My current method uses 1300ml of chemical, so anything that will reduce that is going to be better for me. I happen to have a handy husband, who I am sure will be only too pleased to make me one. Thanks.:)
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This is also a good option for those using unusual film formats eg whole plate, 7x11... Different tray size and plastic plug layout.
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Alan, you have a novel approach there and I'm sure it is very effective. I often process sheet film one at a time in a tray. If I could offer one bit of advice;
You don't need to worry about the light getting in after processing is complete (development). You can lift the lid once the dev is out and pour the stop, then fix in with the room lights on. There will be no difference in density, because the exposure you are giving it, isn't developed. |
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Alan |
Here is how to make the Paterson Orbital bombproof!
http://freepdfhosting.com/f640343f29.pdf richard |
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This is something I should have emphasised more in my original article, though I did say the agitation should be gentle. To be clear about this, when I use a tray as described in the article, and when I use a Paterson Orbital, I lift the corners by the absolute minimum amount I can manage, i.e. no more than a few millimetres. After gently lifting one corner like this I move straight to another corner, lifting sucessive corners in a random fashion. The objective is to get the developer to move very gently. That way you get even development. Alan |
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richard |
Richard,as you are getting even development you will no doubt stick to what you are doing as it is obviously working for you. But if anyone is getting uneven development along an edge of the sheet of film adjacent to the outside of the container, then very gentle agitation is worth a try.
Alan |
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richard |
Richard, I notice you list angling as your main interest. I used to live not too far from you and used to fish the Dove a lot. Happy days!
Alan |
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You might enjoy this blog http://dryflyexpert.blogspot.co.uk/ Happy days indeed... ;) richard |
Thanks for the link Richard. What an interesting site; complete with black and white photographs too. I take it you are "Regular Rod". It's the ideal thing to read through as I await the start of the trout season. (All those non-fishing types on FADU don't know what they're missing!)
Alan |
Richard - This isn't the only thread that refers to the Orbital: there are a couple that started more recently and you can easily Search for them.
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The divided dish has been a game-changed for me, when using Pyro developer.
I just made a small one so far, for two-off 5x7" sheets. I drilled the dish and epoxied plastic bolts through from below, for a little more sturdiness. Easy to use when wearing rubber gloves, and no sign of flow-marks on negs as far as I can see ( the 5x7 sheets can move around a little, relative to the pegs, which helps) . Next step - a bigger dish for 4-off. Thanks Alan ! |
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Alan |
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