developing 8x10, with out a darkroom?

[John Kasaian]

Unicolor processor. $30-40 on ebay. Take a gander at the link on the LF Home Page on the blue banner above. You'll want a print (or paper) drum not the film drum (which is for roll film reels) An 8x10 drum will hold one sheet of film, the 11x14 will take two (but it takes some practice!) You'll only need a dark space to unload your film holder and load the drum, but apparently you've got that if you're loading your film holders, right??

It's what I use

[Daniel_Buck]

I'm using a changing tent to load/unload my holders and tank.

I'll see if I can get one of the unicolor rollers, I see a few online right now. That would probably be better than standing development, I assume.

Thanks!

[Jim Jones]

A totally dark room, a few trays, and a digital kitchen timer would also work. With continuous agitation you won't need much chemicals.

[Daniel_Buck]

unfortunatly, I don't have alot of space. My tub has a sliding door, so only 1/2 of the tub is available to lean over, my sink counter in the bathroom is very small (only a bit larger than the sink itself) same thing with my kitchen, almost no counter space. I suppose I could get a table and make my whole living room dark, but that's more than I want to get into right now.

[Daniel_Buck]

Thanks for the vote of confidence DannL, hopfully I can snag one of the Unirollers, there are a few of them online right now. 475ml of fluid is not bad at all! That's about 1/2 of what I'm using to develop my 4x5's with inversion! haha! I might have to switch my 4x5s to the roller, if I find I like it.

[John Kasaian]

FWIW I've never had a problem with scratching in the Unicolor. I "operate" in the kitchen (closer to the beer!) and use the buzzer on the oven clock for a timer. In Greywolf Phillips' article you'll notice he's got some little plastic mixing cups for chemicals. I use the same stuff (.39 cents at Wal-mart IIRC) and even color coded them with tape just like Mr. Phillips. That way I've always got the next "shot" ready to pour in. This saves a bit of time.

[cotdt]

Just send out the sheets and get it developed as a positive. then you won't have to worry about making prints.

[Daniel_Buck]

how do you tell which is which, (paper, or film drum/tank) without seeing inside them? The ones I'm looking at on ebay only say either "Unicolor Uniroller #352 with 8x10 drum" or "Unicolor Uniroller #352 with 8x10 tank" and don't show any photos of the inside

[John Kasaian]

One thing to be aware of if you go the Unicolor route is that there is a gasket for the lid of the drum. Sometimes you'll find a leaker and Unicolor replacements are no longer available, however they are easily home made---there are posts in the archives on different ways to do this (search "unicolor" and that should turn up a wealth of info) sooooo the first thing you do when you get one is put water in it, replace the lid and roll it around, then check the gasket for leaks.

[Daniel_Buck]

Thanks for the tip John!