Wooden film holders- I've found some leaks. Now what?

[timbo10ca]

Well, I tested my holders this weekend, and I only have a couple with light leaks that would affect the photo. They seem to all have a tiny little slit leak right in the bottom corner where the flap meets the body of the holder though. Perhap the darkslides were not pushed all the way in? (I'd expect the whole bottom of the film to be affected though, and this is not the case)

The "bad" leaks are all along the bottom of the holder, either in the corners or along the bottom itself. I can see how some hockey tape would fix the leak along the bottom, but what do I do about the corners? I can't see where the light would be coming from. How are these usually fixed, while leaving the flap mobile and not adding any material to the face of the holder (which would thereby cause an uneven interface with the camera back)?

Tim

[MIke Sherck]

Can you give us a scan of the paper showing the leaks? Does the wood look badly worn?

Mike

[C. D. Keth]

The best way to avoid these leaks is to cover the edges of the holder with the darkcloth whenever possible. If the leaks happen at another time other than during exposure, however, they have to be fixed.

I had a couple holders with a similar problem that was fixed by a couple coats of flat black paint all around and a retaping. The thickness of the paint was just enough to tighten up the joints.

[timbo10ca]

The best way to avoid these leaks is to cover the edges of the holder with the darkcloth whenever possible. If the leaks happen at another time other than during exposure, however, they have to be fixed.

I had a couple holders with a similar problem that was fixed by a couple coats of flat black paint all around and a retaping. The thickness of the paint was just enough to tighten up the joints.

Great- thanks. I taped them, and will try another test. If there is still a problem, I'll add some paint. I think I will load them and put them directly into a bag of some sort, and try to minimize exposure as much as I can, but they have to see the light sometime!

Tim

[timbo10ca]

I tested out my repairs, and the leaks are very marginal now, if present at all. They are now just tiny light black slits right at the edge of the paper. I don't have a flatbed scanner, but Here's a drawing of what they looked like before the fix:

[timbo10ca]

I actually have 2 plastic holders that I can't seem to figure out how to fix. I covered all the joins in the plastic at the corners where they were leaking, but it only improved things marginally. The light seems to be coming in from the sides on an angle. Here's my rendition (I don't draw much, but it looks pretty close....)

[MIke Sherck]

The problem Edward Weston complained about was warping of the film holders; i.e., they weren't completely flat so light would leak in around the edges. He talked about "straightening" them somehow (I'm not a wood worker and have no idea what he meant, but have you checked to see how flat the holders are?

Mike

[timbo10ca]

I layed them on the table and they seemed good, but I'll take another closer look. Wouldn't this warping be a problem in-camera only though? These leaks are out-of-camera, with the darkslides in place.

Tim

[Frank Petronio]

They make great photo frames for contact prints when you give up on fixing em. Since they are so cheap on eBay it makes me wonder why you'd invest in fixing them?

[timbo10ca]

Well, the only thing so far I've invested is about 15 minutes and 8 inches of hockey tape. I was using the chemicals already for a printing session... They're not perfect now, but there is very minimal leakage (just a bit at the bottom corners on some- I don't know if they'll even be in the frame of the film yet)