daylight fill developing tubes ??

[Calamity Jane]

Since my new (old) 8x10 is coming with 20 sheets of Velvia and I just happen to have two batches of E-6 in the cupboard waiting to be mixed, I thought I'd look around for an 8x10 developing tube.

Some of the tubes allow fill & drain in the daylight, some require opening the top in the dark to fill/drain but, in cruising the online stores they don't say which is which.

Can someone recommend the economical brands that have daylight fill/drain?

(And NO, I do NOT need to do 11x14 or 22x28! 8x10 will be fine.....)

[Nick_3536]

The Jobo 2830 print tank is daylight safe. If you're buying used on Ebay you might have to accept the 2840. It's a 11x14 tank-) You'll find a few threads here on using print tanks for film processing.

[Robert Musgjerd]

I use a Jobo for 8x10. You can develop 5 sheets at a time.It does a fine job.If you only want to do one sheet
at a time a paterson multi reel 8 tank works great I use it for 8x10 and 11x14. You will need some kind of roller. Have fun.

[Steve Feldman]

Unicolor *print* &/or Beseler tube should work. They have light baffel fill funnels. Maybe Patterson too.

I thought that Velvia was a cheese spread.

~:o)

[Calamity Jane]

It may be Curmudgeon but apparently it makes a pretty good colour transparency film to ;-)

Gonna check my Patterson tank when I get home and see if I can fit an 8x10 in it - it just might fit!

[Steve Feldman]

Calam,

Personally I like the sharp cheddar with port wine spread. And a chilled 68 deg. HC-110.

. . . . . for 7 min.

~:o)

[Darin Cozine]

The besseler/unicolor 8x10 print drums will do the job nicely. I use a cibachrchrome/chromega tube.

Either of these will are daylight safe filling and inexpensive.

The one thing you will have to watch out for is that some of these are smooth on the inside, so they may not allow the anti-halation layer on the back to be dissolved. I havent had any problem with 4x5, but im not sure about 8x10.

there is a big article about unicolor development on this site somewhere.

[Donald Qualls]

Jane, assuming you can get ABS drain pipe where you are, you can MAKE 8x10 capable, daylight fill tubes for under 5 loonies each. You need a 10 inch length of 3" black pipe with caps (you'll probably have to buy at least 5 feet -- no problem, that's enough for six tanks, you can load multiple sheets). If you want to use minimal developer, you'll need to either attach an inner 2" pipe with an end plug to one cap (just a volume filler), or make an internal filling trough like the color print drums use, and you'll need a piece of smaller pipe (with matching cap) for the filler neck and a sheet of black ABS (here, I'd look for a TAP Plastics, I don't know what they have in the wilds of Manitoba) to form a light trap baffle under the filler. I recommend not gluing the caps on the big pipe -- easier to clean if you can get both ends open.

I have tubes like this made from 1 1/2" pipe that hold 4x5 easily, though I've never bothered to make volume reducers for them so they hold about 7-8 ounces; the 8x10 version would hold close to a half gallon, however, which is a lot for a single sheet. Even with a 2" core, it would hold approximately a quart. Another way to minimize developer usage, if you like continuous agitation (I don't), is to use this tank with a prefill chamber for BTZS type agitation. The prefill chamber is just another piece of pipe ending in a union that fits the filler on the main tank; you load the film, fill the prefill, and mate the tank to the prefill chamber with the chamber down. When you're ready to start, you invert the assembly, wait about 5 seconds for the prefill to drain into the main tube, and begin agitation (the BTZS recommendation is to shake vigorously for a bit to ensure the film is quickly and evenly wetted before beginning to roll the tank -- the transition from shaking to rolling would be the time to remove the prefill chamber and install the filler cap). Of course, liquid capacity doesn't matter as much for stop bath or fixer, which are generally reused until exhausted in any case.

A final soak (in a tray) in a 2% sodium sulfite solution with about a teaspoon per quart of washing soda added will decolor any dye that remains in the film from the base being in contact with the tube, BTW.

[Pat Kearns]

The bessler is daylight safe. I have an old patterson tank that the reels are placed on a tube and the tube makes it daylight safe. Without the tube in the center it isn't daylight safe.

[jonathan smith]

Hey, be careful using the ABS plastic pipe for 8x10 drums, the stuff I used from Home Depot was light safe, but rough spots inside scratched the Bejesus out of the base side. Didn't show up on the prints, though, so go figure.

I had a JOBO 2830 for paper, and tried that. I got pretty poor uniformity. Then I bought a Cibachrome drum, and still got lousy uniformity (edges overdeveloped on both). I was just about to throw in the towel and get the big JOBO (although I like doing one sheet at a time) when I got the idea to slip the tube part of the Cibachrome drum into the bigger JOBO 2830. Uniformity is great! There's some sort of double-action going with the agitation and it seems to smooth everything out. I can use just enough chemistry for one sheet and start with pristine developer each time.

The Cibachrome thing is smooth so I don't attempt to fix the film in the tube. I take it out and fix it in a tray in the dark. When I used the 2830 by itself, I got some stains on the back from uneven fixing. There are some ribs in the thing but where they make contact you can get some problems. The ribs are there for positioning different sizes of paper, not for allowing chemistry to flow.

[Ted Harris]

BTW, be sure to check the date on your E6 kit. The first developer has a relatively short shelf life. Applies to 6 bath system ... not sure about 3 bath.