Originally Posted by
Mick Fagan
I have the original Stearman tank, so it's had somewhere around 6 years of usage.
I've been washing my negatives exclusively in the tank since new, never once thought of putting the film in a specialised film washing apparatus.
Washing without running water is easy, a 1 litre kettle (or saucepan) of hot water then mix with tap water to around 23ºC as I use 23/24ºC for film developing. I need approximately 3 litres of water for washing over a 5 minute wash period. The Stearman takes around 465ml of water to cover the film, combined with a slow continuous inversion regime of ever lengthening wash periods, 30 seconds for the first wash, 1 minute for the second wash, and so on.
After the washing is over, I remove the film and using a 5x7" paper tray, I soak in a wetting agent for 30 seconds then hang up to dry.
An easy removal of the film from the film holders, is to have some water in a dish/tray, place the loaded and developed film, still in the holder onto the water, then removal of the top sheet is as easy as anything. Immediately after removing the first sheet, turn the film holder over so the remaining film is on the top. It only remains there until I have finished the wetting bath of the first sheet.
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