How do you agitate your film in tray developing?

[welly]

Hi Welly,

I watch the luminous dial on my GraLab 300 timer. Sometimes the luminous dial of my wrist watch.

How do you time time development in total darkness?

I've got a Paterson Triple Timer - its a non-back lit LED timer and I just roughly guess the agitation intervals. It's not a perfect solution for tray development but I might have to try my luminous wrist watch. I was just concerned about any light/brightness fogging the film.

[Ken Lee]

You might find this interesting: Plastic Storage Containers for Sheet Film Development

In a similar vein, to save money (and water) and make things simple, consider a Dish Rack Film Washer

[Leigh]

I usually develop six sheets at a time (emulsion down as per St. Ansel), 4x5 in an 8x10 tray
and 8x10 in an 11x14 tray, both deep with a large quantity of developer.

My trays are the dimple-bottom style by Cescolite, which are ideal for this purpose.

I always use Diafine for tray development for many reasons, not the least of which is
that it does not care about temperature, so no heroic temperature control required.

Diafine is a two-part developer. You cannot use a pre-soak with it.
The instructions forbid it, as it kills the mechanical operation of the developer.

Diafine is a compensating developer, so it wants minimal agitation. I shuffle
through the stack once in rather rapid order, then let the stack sit for the remainder
of a 60-second interval. Total time is 5 minutes in each solution, but it's not critical.

Then to a water stop, fix, etc.
Using PermaWash between two washes yields total wash times of a couple of minutes.

- Leigh

[Andrew O'Neill]

Calamari,

5x7 tray should be fine for 4x5. When I develop in a tray I use a tray that is one size bigger than the film. I prefer flat-bottomed trays. Vigorous agitation is the ticket. By vigorous I mean, when you pick up one side of the tray, you should hear the film "clack" against the other side. Grab the sides, not the corners.
There is nothing wrong with developing one sheet at a time. I prefer it this way. Just takes longer, but I'm in no hurry.

[Jim Jones]

Schoolboy question here. You say you watch the timer - what timer are you using that you're able to watch it in the dark?

I use cheap kitchen timers. The kitchenware section of a large store has lots of darkroom accessories, although not labled as such.

[welly]

I use cheap kitchen timers. The kitchenware section of a large store has lots of darkroom accessories, although not labled as such.

And luminous displays don't have any impact on developing? Well, that's useful to know.

[Leigh]

You say you watch the timer - what timer are you using that you're able to watch it in the dark?

I use a Gralab 900 timer. It beeps every 30 seconds, and continuously during the last 10 seconds.

It has a multi-digit red LED display that can be turned off completely for film development.

It's a multi-step programmable, so you set up the entire processing sequence as a series of periods, and
it automatically advances from one to the next.

You start it with a footswitch, and don't touch it again. The programmed sequence ends after the first wash.

- Leigh

[welly]

I use a Gralab 900 timer. It beeps every 30 seconds, and continuously during the last 10 seconds.

It's a multi-step programmable, so you set up the entire processing sequence as a series of intervals, and it
automatically advances from one to the next.

It has a multi-digit red LED display that can be turned off completely for film development.

- Leigh

Awesome, that's exactly what I would like. I'm going to find one. Thanks for the tip!

[mike rosenlof]

I've got little bits of glow in the dark tape and luminous displays all over my darkroom. It's never seemed to be a problem. I don't own a densitometer. I guess it's possible there is a tiny tiny increase of film base plus fog, but not that I'm aware of.

The Gra-lab 300 that was mentioned is an old standard for darkroom, that is the timer I stare at when developing LF.

Back to the original topic, Just conincidentally, I did a single 8x10 sheet in a tray this evening. Rock one side up and down - the side closest to me. Rotated the tray 90 degrees every 30 sec, came out fine. Still wet, so not examined closely yet. HP5+ HC-110 1:50 9 min at 20 deg C.

[Bill Burk]

My Kodak timer, a wind-up clock, ticks four times a second and has no glowing parts... I use it to time shuffles (12 a minute).

My CompnTemp chimes at the start, on the minute, and five times at the end. The computer screen is behind an Amberlith sheet, and I keep a flap of cardboard over it when developing film...

I use an IR viewer, but I don't have to, all my work can be done in the dark.

---

There's been a lot of discussion about the luminous dials. In my mind I sum up the discussion as: Yes it can affect film, keep it several feet away. No, there is not much incidence of fogged film from luminous dials. Most everybody is aware of the light and tries to keep it from being too close to the film for too long. That's why there's not much to worry about.