Re: [Largeformat] Unicolor drum for neg development

[Joshua Wein <jayelwin@yahoo.com>]

From: Joshua Wein <jayelwin@yahoo.com>


For $10 at home depot I obtained a 10 foot segment of
1.5 inch dark grey PVC pipe (light tight specifically
for electrical conduit) which I cut into 6 inch and 2
inch pieces. On each piece I used PVC glue to place
PVC pipe caps on one end and then I put a threaded
connector piece onto the other ends so that the longer
tube can screw into the shorter piece. I made 4
shorter setups for each longer setup. In my dark bag I
unload the film holders and with the emulsion side in
I load them into the 6" tubes and screw on a 2" "cap"
dry. Into each of the otehr caps I place 50 cc Xtol
with 50 cc water, 100 cc indicator stop, and 100 cc
rapid fix. I let these temper in a water bath at 68
degrees. In the dark closet (the only dark place I
have) I switch the dry cap for the cap that has the
developer. I keep it upright so the film stays dry
until I start the timer. THen I lay it on it's side
and roll it around floating in the tempering bath.
When time is up I switch caps with the stop cap in
subdued light, not pitch darkness. Roll the stop cap
for 30 secs, then w switch to the fixer cap. Roll that
for 3 minutes and then dump the fixer and the film in
a tray with the lights on. Fix for 10 more minutes
(tmax 100). I have had great consistent streak free
results with no fogging despite the use of total
darkness only when placing the developer cap on. The
only thing I had to do was paint the glued on caps
with black paint since they were from plumbing and not
electrical and therefore were not light tight. If you
want I can take pictures of the setup and its parts.
Works great for me.

-Joshua Wein

--- Don Wilkes <don.wilkes@gems9.gov.bc.ca> wrote:
> Greetings, all...
> 
> I joined this list about a week or so ago, and
> posted a message about using
> a Unicolor (colour print)drum for 4x5 b&w neg
> development. Did this message
> actually make it to the list?
> 
> Until I can rebuild my darkroom to be light-tight
> enough for neg
> development, I'm scambling for some options. I have
> a very small closet in
> which I can do film loading etc, but there's no way
> I could develop in
> there. Hence my thoughts about having a shot at
> using my old colour print
> drum. I anticipate some streaking issues, so was
> hoping someone else out
> there had some hints, or a whole other way of
> tacking this problem.
> Daylight tanks for sheet film aren't exactly common
> out there, it seems...
> 
> Cheers,
> \don wilkes, Victoria, BC, Canada
>