Ilford 10x8 processing drum

[paul owen]

Hi. Anyone using Ilford's (old?) processing drum designed for 10x8 (cibachrome) prints but useable with 10x8 sheet film (according to the box). The reason I ask is that I've got one, minus instructions, and the info on the drum itself suggests "75ml of working solution". Is this a realistic amount (of chemistry) to use in a drum of this type to process a sheet of 10x8 film? I plan on hand-rolling it on work top! Any hints/tips? Thanks (as usual) Paul

[Pat Kearns]

Paul,
I use a besselar 8x10 processing tube with 4 sheets of 4x5 at a time. I use 12 ounces of developer which if I convert it correctly is about 355 ml. I don't believe 75ml would be enough. If I'm wrong someone will certainly correct me. Also, I use a motor base which sure beats hand rolling. You can pick up motor bases quite cheaply on some of the online auctions. There are some threads relating to using unicolor drums do a search of the archives to find other's methods. Good luck.

[John Kasaian]

Paul,

I use unicolor drums and follow James Phillip's advice gleaned from the large format photography home page. Fill up the drum with water, put it in the sink on it's side and let the water run out. When it stops right the drum, take off the lid and pour the remaining water into a graduate. That would be the amount of chemical I'd use for each "shot" in order to assure generous coverage of the film inside. Take a look at his excellent article---its a good system and I'm using it for all my sheet film with great results.

Cheers!

[Doug Herta]

"75ml of working solution" is the minimum amount of each solution (dev/bleach/rinse/fix) you would use to process one 8X10 Ilfochrome print. Do not assume this quantity is appropriate for any other process. You need to know the amount of whatever developer you are using that is appropriate for 80 sq in of film and how roller processing affects that amount.

Do reseach on the developer name amongst the usual suspects (here/apug.org/usenet) and you can find out what quantites people use when developing in tubes.

The suspense is killing me... What developer are you using?

[paul owen]

Just an update! AS a test I used Paterson FX39 (100ml) for 8 minutes with Classic Pan 200 in 10x8 and was VERY happy with the result! I used a pre-soak and the negatives are evenly developed without streaks/uneven density etc. I used the highly technical "hand rolling across the kitchen worktop" method! Very unscientific but the results were fine! I tried to keep the rolling as even as possible and rolled across an old, laid out towel to prevent the drum from running away!