How to make a shaved negative carrier for 4x5

[KyledeC]

Hey I was wondering if there is a way to make a shaved negative carrier for 4x5 film?

Any ideas/advice would be greatly appreciated!

[CG]

Shaved as in filed open so that the edges of the negative show ala Dianne Arbus?

[Mark Sawyer]

A glass carrier might fit the bill.

[Mark Sampson]

I had a friend with a Dremel rout out my Omega carriers, a beveled edge like a window mat on each side. Then painted flat black. Not that I want to print black-border, necessarily, I never have in 4x5, but often I want one edge or another.

[Jim Galli]

If you have a mat cutter and some black mat, cut 2 windows the right size and tape them back to back with a tape hinge. I did this 17 years ago for my D2 because I had no $$ to spend on a proper 4X5 neg holder and figured it would be a temp solution until a real one came along. Still using it.

[KyledeC]

Thank you all! The problem that I am having is figuring out a way to hold the negative in the carrier. I would like there to be a decent amount of space between the negative and the carrier to give the print a nice affect. But by doing so the negative just falls out of the carrier. I think I am going to try to make something using glass to hold the negative.

[Bill Burk]

Hi Jim,

My 35mm and Minox carriers are cut-out cardboard and I know what you mean. Once you get something that works the motivation to replace it just vanishes.

Hi KyledeC,

I recently cut out my DII carrier. A jeweler's saw and a saw sharpening vise is well-suited to the job. It took a long time and I ran through 2 dozen blades (about an eighth-inch in fifteen minutes. I made four cuts. If I had to do it over I would make it three cuts. You have to center on the pins for support but no real reason to center left to right. I measured the image dimensions of a typical negative and added 3/32 in (for 3/64 all around). Negatives are adequately supported by the cut-out carrier, they don't fall through.

[Jim Jones]

The right files should do the job quicker than a jeweler's saw. Many vises may mar the carrier unless it is protected between two sheets of plywood or mat board.

The 35mm negative carrier for my 4x5 DeJur is made from tempered Masonite. It's even older than Jim Galli's mat board version. Pins guide the film, as in OEM carriers. The DeJur required a lens board recessed 1.5" for 50mm lenses. This was fabricated from Masonite and a PVC coupling.

[ic-racer]

If Bill had not posted, I'd say that there is not enough rebate to both hold on to and to print through.

Anyway, I'd use a glass carrier if I wanted to show the rebate in an enlargement. Before doing this you might want to confirm with you focal length lens and your mixing box you have a big enough illumination area. In both my Omega 4x5 enlargers and 10x10 enlarger, printing the rebate involves exact centering on the light box and it barely covers.

[Jon Shiu]

Hi, just try using a sheet of glass and some black tape or paper to mask off around the edges of the film.

Jon