[Michael]

I want to return to this subject, as I managed to get a Paterson Orbital processor on eBay last week. As I'm not keen on modifying things unless it's quite necessary, I re-invented the wheel yesterday and processed four sheets in it as bought.

Brief details: Delta 100 exposed at 100, developed 5'6" in Ilfotec HC 1+31 at 20C. I used 150 ml for developing, stopping and fixing and 200 ml for pre-soak and washes.

Narrative: There's no motor (R. Hicks argues against them, by the way); so I gave more or less continuous manual agitation right through. I washed (several changes, each double the length of the last) but didn't give a wetting agent rinse without inspection. That made sense, as there was still anti-halation coating when I opened the Paterson; so I transferred the sheets into my Doran tank and gave several more rinses. When the sheets were clear, I gave them a wetting agent bath and then hung them up to dry overnight. This morning, there was a tiny residue of anti-halation coating on the "drip corner" of one of the sheets. Apart from that (and it was on the rebate only), the sheets seem to me to be better processed than I have ever managed with the Doran (3 years' experience with LF processing).

Experiment: My next plan is to make a removable insert for the processor, to see whether it is feasible still to use it unmodified by drilling or resin bumps. In a cook shop on Thursday I found a "Silicone baking mat" (you can Google that expression), thin, flexible and, I hope, chemically inert. I plan to cut it to shape, punch holes in it for the pegs and try it out. It is quite smooth on one side and should adhere to the processor base in the way that film does: the other side has a small, regular bubble pattern, which should allow fluids to reach under the film.

Note: I've never given Delta 100 a pre-soak before; and I've never noticed the spent developer discoloured by anti-halation coating. CHS 50 is quite different in that respect. If the silicone mat works, then I hope that it will help the pre-soak. If it doesn't, then transferring to a deeper tank as I did is not a huge bind and I might just carry on that way. I'll be using Adox APH09 for CHS 50, the stronger dilute.

If you've read this far, thank you! Comments welcome, polemical or encouraging.