Slosher Tray Technique

[ParkerSmithPhoto]

I emailed Phil Bard and he was kind enough to send me this diagram of his Slosher design.

[Heroique]

...any chance you could post a photo or two of your slosher tray? I am considering building one. Thanks!

Here’s another typical slosher (4x5):

PS: And one more question that none of the above posts seem to address, when you put the films into the Slosher tray do you put them in with emulsion side down? Or up?

There are pros and cons either way, but I’ve always done "emulsion side up" since I want to avoid scratching the emulsion side on the slosher’s surface. Using this method, I’ve never had a problem with scratching the non-emulsion side.

[Richard Wasserman]

I made 2 slosher type trays, one for 4x5 and one for 4x10. I used them with Pyrocat HD and minimal agitation. I have since switched to a JOBO for the convenience and so I can also run C-41.

[Jim Noel]

Two of mine are very similar to Richards except I use a few 1/16" plexi dowels to separate the compartments. The others, which I use more often, are made of 24 gauge stainless steel wire which are welded at point of crossover. The wire are the best because there is no danger of currents forming streaks on film.
Always emulsion up. agitation by lifting corners of tray.

[ParkerSmithPhoto]

I made 2 slosher type trays, one for 4x5 and one for 4x10. I used them with Pyrocat HD and minimal agitation. I have since switched to a JOBO for the convenience and so I can also run C-41.

Very nice, are those made of polystyrene? What did you use for glue?

[Richard Wasserman]

Very nice, are those made of polystyrene? What did you use for glue?

Thank you! The 4x5 is made of 1/8 inch acrylic (Plexiglass) that I had on hand. I don't remember what adhesive I used—it was a long time ago— but I think probably Epoxy. The 4x10 tray is 1/8 PVC and I used plumbing pipe adhesive. I found that the Slosher type trays on the market didn't work well for me as they don't have enough open space which caused uneven development, so I made mine more open and they work very well.

[Edward Pierce]

The best adhesive for acrylic is acrylic cement. Weld-On 4 is “water thin”. Apply a small amount along a tightly fitting joint and capillary action pulls the cement throughout the joint. For imperfect joints, such as a piece that was cut by hand with a hacksaw, Weld-On 16 which has a consistency more like model airplane glue is better.

[Louie Powell]

I was first exposed to sloshers in a workshop with Chip Forelli, and when I got home I made my own from plexiglass. I used plexiglass cement - a specialty item that I found at a glass shop.

I always loaded them emulsion side up to avoid the risk that the emulsion might rub on the bottom of the slosher. In addition to scratching, the problem with processing emulsion down is that there is a tendency for air to get trapped under the film, and if the emulsion is down, that can lead to ineven processing. If the sheets are emulsion up, chemicals will flow over the surface resulting in very even development.

You want the edges of that hole in the bottom to be very smooth (use sandpaper), but emulsion up is just safer. That said, the issue then becomes fingernails (DAMHIKT). I found that wearing latex or nitrile gloves solved that problem while also avoiding the need to have your hands in the solutions.

Yes, the entire process is done in the dark, at least up to about half-way through fixing. After that, you can turn on the lights. It is a good idea to lift the corners of the individual sheets to make sure that fixer and all subsequent chemicals get to both sides of the sheet, but that's mainly to assure that the antihalation dye is thoroughly washed out.

[Jim Noel]

i have a couple of the slosher units that i purchased from another lfer who retired and sold all his dr gear. I also attended john sexton's workshop in 2017, where he talked (briefly) about this technique and included some info about the trays and the technique in his workbook. However, has anybody used the slosher technique with d-76 developer? if so, what times and agitation techniques for the processing steps?

Finally, i've never tried even normal b&w film development in trays (i use a jobo cpp2 and expert drums), so if i were to give the slosher technique a try i suppose i'd need to do all the steps of loading film into the slosher tray, water soak, developer, stop, and fixer in the total darkness? Is that correct? I have a full darkroom that can be totally dark, so i could try this, but i want to know what's needed as i go about this.

Ps: And one more question that none of the above posts seem to address, when you put the films into the slosher tray do you put them in with emulsion side down? Or up?

up