Im looking for a 4x5 film dryer, nice desk top size, not the long roll film cabinets we all know.
Do they exist or is it a DIY job?
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Im looking for a 4x5 film dryer, nice desk top size, not the long roll film cabinets we all know.
Do they exist or is it a DIY job?
I've never seen anything like you're looking for (though it could be out there). This is an option but may be bigger than you want, and it's not cheap:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...et_CD_10_.html
I used to have a small Durst dryer for rollfilm. It had a heater/blower unit on top and basically a thick plastic bag that hung down to enclose the film. Something like this might make for an easy DIY project, since you could use the heater/blower on top of whatever size cabinet you want.
I don't remember the manufacturer but I used to have a unit like you describe. It was made of a tan plastic, would hold 2-120 reels. It looked very much like a film washer, but was opaque and had a lid plus a fan in the base. Try a call to some business like Midwest Camera Exchange (mpex.com)
Jim
A little pricey, but this might fit your needs.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FISHER-TABLE...#ht_569wt_1057
Roger
Looks interesting but the shipping is $941 to the UK
Wow, did look that closely at the shipping, sorry about that.
Roger
Rudgey,
you might want to also search for a "x-ray dryer". Some medical labs/facilities/clinics occasionally would do a chest x-ray, and their x-ray processors wouldn't be able to handle the larger piece of film in the dryer. A friend of mine here in LA called a few local hospitals and medical offices, and within 10 phone calls had a FREE x-ray film dryer in his hands(a tabletop unit like you're looking for) because the lab had gone completely digital with their x-ray department, and this dryer was going to be scrapped.
Ask for the radiology/x-ray dept
-Dan
Salt Hill used to make a dryer like you're looking for. I owned one and IIRC it did a good job on 4x5 (not such a good job on roll film, tended to leave spots, but on 4x5 it was fine). Of course Salt Hill is long gone but you might be able to find a used one somewhere.
FWIW I found the exact dryer on local E-bay for $75 + a $10 pick-up fee. It works good for 4x5 and 8x10 film and prints but I usually let the film air dry in it (~4 hours) and also use a womens wardrobe for drying film. You could blow dry 4x5 and 8x10 with a hair dryer quickly. I've been doing that with 8x10 RC prints - takes about 2 minutes per print.
Thomas
I built mine. I used a plastic filing bin and a computer fan from radio shack. I cut a hole in the lid to match the size of the fan about 4 or 5 inches wide. Drill some evenly spaced smaller holes along the bottom to let the air pushed in by the fan out. I then ran some string in rows across the top that I attached some hanging clips from and there you have it.