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Stewart Ethier
22-Jun-1998, 20:17
I'd like to process my own 8 x 10 film (mainly TMY), partly for convenience and partly because commercial processing is expensive. I'll use either BTZS tubes or a JOBO 3005 drum, the latter only if it can be use d by hand. But my main concern is drying the film without it being covered with dust. Electrostatic film drying cabinets are too pricy fo r my small-scale needs. Are there any other solutions?

MTHOMPSON_162
22-Jun-1998, 21:48
First off, I have a dedicated darkroom; one that I only use as a darkroom. If yo u don't have that luxury, then you need a place that can be "sealed off" from as much air borne debris as possible. Then all you need is a taut line and some cl othes pins. If you can dedicate a spot to dry film, just run the line throught t he center of the spring and attach it at either end to the wall. WARNIG! WARNING! WARNING! Donot hang the negatives to close together. As they dry they curl, and the negatives can touch , drying the emulsion of one negative to the back of the other, creating one negative out of two, and ruining both. I han g my negatives by the notch corner, and I have found no need to use a wetting aj ent with any film larger than 35mm. In my case it tends to make the negatives di rtier, and I personally, have never had a water spot on a 4X5 or 8X10 negative, when I hang them in this manner. Once you hang the last negative to dry, get out of the room and don't come back until they are dry. The biggest cause of dust i s movement, and the less movement the less dust.

AtlantaTerry
16-Sep-2013, 06:46
To prevent your drying films from touching each other, simply tie small knots in the line every couple inches. Then hook your clothes pins or film racks next to a knot and it is guaranteed to not slide down to the next one.

vinny
16-Sep-2013, 07:01
https://www.google.com/search?q=diy+drying+cabinet&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=diy+film+drying+cabinet&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial
I use binder clips from the office supply store, no wood fibers to stick to the emulsion.

Rick Olson
16-Sep-2013, 14:12
Old original post, but this might help others getting into LF and ULF:

Here is my solution for everything up to 8 x 20:

http://www.amazon.com/Hanging-Garment-Clothing-Organizer-Pattern/dp/B00AR0HU06

And a little less expensive than an antistatic cabinet :-)

This gets hung in my laundry room and my negatives get loaded and zipped in this until they are dry. I can usually get 4 in there at a time. No problems with dust.

Rick

andreios
17-Sep-2013, 00:38
https://www.google.com/search?q=diy+drying+cabinet&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=diy+film+drying+cabinet&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial
I use binder clips from the office supply store, no wood fibers to stick to the emulsion.

I use those as well but sometimes they leave as if rusty mark on the film (even if I use brand new ones) - have you any idea how to prevent it?
Thanks!

ShawnHoke
17-Sep-2013, 16:02
I just use ordinary metal clips attached to a fondue fork that's wedged under some heavy books on my bookshelf in my office. My drying room/office is shared by a few cats and a long-haried dachshund.

I would love to have a hermetically sealed room to protect my drying negatives, but this works just fine. :)

John Kasaian
17-Sep-2013, 16:32
I squeeze on a piece of glass and use a piece of clothes line strung up in either the wc or kitchen and suspend the film with a wooden clothespin on one corner. It works just fine

Andrew O'Neill
21-Sep-2013, 19:54
Stretchy cord and plastic clothes pegs.

Michael Kadillak
28-Sep-2013, 21:32
For hanging sheet film pick up a used pin registration device and use it to punch a couple of holes in the edge of the sheet film before you process it. Use a wire cutter to cut paper clips in two and use these to hang the film to dry. I acquired an Arkay sheet metal cabinet that I let the film dry in and have never turned on the blower motor. Never in that big a hurry and it does a great job of keeping the dust off of the film.

If you can't fine a pin registration device you can acquire a small circular hand punch from a hobby store and put a couple of holes in the processed film edge to hang them up. You get the hang of it pretty quickly. I do this with all of my sheet film from 4x5 through 12x20.

Jerry Bodine
29-Sep-2013, 16:08
Here's some food for thought. Years ago I acquired a bunch of individual stainless steel dental clips that grip the corners of the film with little teeth so well I was not concerned about having film slip out. These may still be available from dentists who've gone digital. They also do not allow negs to swing around far enough to allow contact between adjacent films. When I built my darkroom I installed two ss cables (one small, one a little larger) from wall to wall (14 feet long) over the sinks and attached them to the studs in the walls, them tightened them with turnbuckles so there's almost NO sag. All film hangers (4x5, 5x7, 8x10) are also on these wires, so quite a load. My notion was that if there was any swinging of the films into one another, I'd simply place some slit rubber tubing of appropriate length on the wire between each clip. Here (http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190911416665&item=190911416665&lgeo=1&vectorid=229466) is a Kodak clip that would hang the film with its plane parallel to the wire, but if space is insufficient to do that I'd put a split ring on the wire and hang the clip on the ring so that the films are parallel to one another - and would likely need the split rubber tubes to separate them.

Michael Kadillak
29-Sep-2013, 18:52
After years of experience and dealing with lint on film I am firmly convinced that film should dry in a confined space sealed cabinet with a high efficiency air filter to the outside. Drying film open in a darkroom is something that I have had nothing but problems with. When I look at negatives from people that tell me that they do so it confirms my belief. The air in homes circulate on its own continuously and being active in a space only attenuates the problems to a higher degree. Isolating this issue is the only real solution. Facing facts, we all pay a Kings ransom for sheet film so doing what we need to do to eliminate this issue should be a self imposed objective.

ROL
1-Oct-2013, 17:42
...But my main concern is drying the film without it being covered with dust. Electrostatic film drying cabinets are too pricy fo r my small-scale needs. Are there any other solutions?

Are you developing in a sawmill? A dedicated enclosed space, as previously mentioned, if possible, is a good start. I have found zippered vinyl hanging clothes wardrobe bags available (http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/Crystal-Clear-Vinyl-Clothing-Storage/113533?Keyword=hanging+wardrobe+storage) at home decor stores to be valuable as a portable and inexpensive confined space for drying film – roll film, that is. For some reason I am able to dry sheet film by hanging in the open within my lab, even though the general environs can be fairly dusty. I've never had to dry in the bags as I do with roll film. Now if only I could find a way to prevent dust on film up to the moment of exposure...

Regular Rod
2-Oct-2013, 03:52
I'd like to process my own 8 x 10 film (mainly TMY), partly for convenience and partly because commercial processing is expensive. I'll use either BTZS tubes or a JOBO 3005 drum, the latter only if it can be use d by hand. But my main concern is drying the film without it being covered with dust. Electrostatic film drying cabinets are too pricy fo r my small-scale needs. Are there any other solutions?

Don't be too hasty in dismissing the idea of a good film drying cabinet. They can be obtained very cheaply if you put a search on eBay and wait a few weeks. Just go on eBay now and look at this already sold item, numbered 141034768160 a very nice buy for very little money.

RR

Michael Kadillak
2-Oct-2013, 06:52
Don't be too hasty in dismissing the idea of a good film drying cabinet. They can be obtained very cheaply if you put a search on eBay and wait a few weeks. Just go on eBay now and look at this already sold item, numbered 141034768160 a very nice buy for very little money.

RR

Spot on.

That is how I got my Arkay metal drying cabinet. All I needed to do was reseal the door gasket. $2.69 at Home Depot.