3005 expert drum and paterson washer

[Luca Merlo]

I do not have a darkroom and I wish to start developing 8x10 B&W sheets. I am wondering if a Jobo Expert drum 3005 agitated on a Jobo roller base + a Paterson washer (the one for RC papers) for washing the sheets would do the job.

[Ron Marshall]

I do that with 4x5 in a Jobo 3010 on a roller base. I am completely satisfied with the Jobo and my set-up. I use D76 1:1 and roll at 50 RPM, reversing direction every two revolutions. I wash in a Combi-plan tank. Email if you need any other info.

[Bruce Watson]

You can wash in the 3005. Dump the fix, then pour in water and agitate as you normally would for a minute or so, then dump that water and refill... Use a wash aid to cut down on the number of water changes.

Yet another alternative is to use something like a Gravity Works film washer. Doesn't take up much space. I don't remember if they have an 8x10 version or not - I'm using the 4x5 version.

[tim atherton]

I've a feeling you are not in N America?

If you are, this system:

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/unicolor/

works very well with the Jobo 3005 tank instead of the Unicolor ones

Not sure if the base would be compatibel with the Italian el3ectrical system? But they go very cehaply on ebay.

For filling the tank while it rolls, get a plastic funnel with a flexible tube on it - the sort they sell for home oil changes on the car.

Is that the rocking/agitating Paterson print washer? I find that also works very well for 8x10 sheets - just be careful sliding the sheets in and out

[Luca Merlo]

Many thanks to all of you. After your answers I will be definitely purchase the Jobo 3005. I will have to stick to the manual rotation since the American electrical equipment has a different frequency and it requires to be modified if we want to use it in Europe. This is expensive and sometimes not very reliable. So it is out of the question to get a motorised roller base through ebay. The only thing that really amazes me is that I will be required (as Tim states) to pour the developing agent into the tank while it is rotating. Well, the developing times of the Efke sheets + Rodinal (or Calbe 09) that I will be using range from 10 to 13 minutes. In principle this should be sufficient to avoid uneven development in case one pours the agent directly from the bottle while the tank stands still. Am I correct ? The Paterson washer I was mentioning is exactly the one Tim mentioned. So most probably it works OK.

[Ron Marshall]

Luca, When I hand roll I don't do a presoak and I pour my chemicals in through an ordinary household funnel with the Jobo drum stationary and inclined. 300ml fills in 5 seconds, drains in 10 seconds. My development times are all over 5 minutes and I have never had any streaking or uneven development. Good luck!

[Luca Merlo]

Ron, thank you for the encouragment. I am amazed how fast you were with the answer. I could not even finish my daily ration of pasta .........