Drying 8 x 10 film

[Stewart Ethier]

I'd like to process my own 8 x 10 film (mainly TMY), partly for convenience and partly because commercial processing is expensive. I'll use either BTZS tubes or a JOBO 3005 drum, the latter only if it can be use d by hand. But my main concern is drying the film without it being covered with dust. Electrostatic film drying cabinets are too pricy fo r my small-scale needs. Are there any other solutions?

[MTHOMPSON_162]

First off, I have a dedicated darkroom; one that I only use as a darkroom. If yo u don't have that luxury, then you need a place that can be "sealed off" from as much air borne debris as possible. Then all you need is a taut line and some cl othes pins. If you can dedicate a spot to dry film, just run the line throught t he center of the spring and attach it at either end to the wall. WARNIG! WARNING! WARNING! Donot hang the negatives to close together. As they dry they curl, and the negatives can touch , drying the emulsion of one negative to the back of the other, creating one negative out of two, and ruining both. I han g my negatives by the notch corner, and I have found no need to use a wetting aj ent with any film larger than 35mm. In my case it tends to make the negatives di rtier, and I personally, have never had a water spot on a 4X5 or 8X10 negative, when I hang them in this manner. Once you hang the last negative to dry, get out of the room and don't come back until they are dry. The biggest cause of dust i s movement, and the less movement the less dust.

[AtlantaTerry]

To prevent your drying films from touching each other, simply tie small knots in the line every couple inches. Then hook your clothes pins or film racks next to a knot and it is guaranteed to not slide down to the next one.

[vinny]

https://www.google.com/search?q=diy+...-US%3Aofficial
I use binder clips from the office supply store, no wood fibers to stick to the emulsion.

[Rick Olson]

Old original post, but this might help others getting into LF and ULF:

Here is my solution for everything up to 8 x 20:

http://www.amazon.com/Hanging-Garmen.../dp/B00AR0HU06

And a little less expensive than an antistatic cabinet :-)

This gets hung in my laundry room and my negatives get loaded and zipped in this until they are dry. I can usually get 4 in there at a time. No problems with dust.

Rick

[andreios]

https://www.google.com/search?q=diy+...-US%3Aofficial
I use binder clips from the office supply store, no wood fibers to stick to the emulsion.

I use those as well but sometimes they leave as if rusty mark on the film (even if I use brand new ones) - have you any idea how to prevent it?
Thanks!

[ShawnHoke]

I just use ordinary metal clips attached to a fondue fork that's wedged under some heavy books on my bookshelf in my office. My drying room/office is shared by a few cats and a long-haried dachshund.

I would love to have a hermetically sealed room to protect my drying negatives, but this works just fine.

[John Kasaian]

I squeeze on a piece of glass and use a piece of clothes line strung up in either the wc or kitchen and suspend the film with a wooden clothespin on one corner. It works just fine

[Andrew O'Neill]

Stretchy cord and plastic clothes pegs.

[Michael Kadillak]

For hanging sheet film pick up a used pin registration device and use it to punch a couple of holes in the edge of the sheet film before you process it. Use a wire cutter to cut paper clips in two and use these to hang the film to dry. I acquired an Arkay sheet metal cabinet that I let the film dry in and have never turned on the blower motor. Never in that big a hurry and it does a great job of keeping the dust off of the film.

If you can't fine a pin registration device you can acquire a small circular hand punch from a hobby store and put a couple of holes in the processed film edge to hang them up. You get the hang of it pretty quickly. I do this with all of my sheet film from 4x5 through 12x20.