35mm Reels

Does it matter if they are plastic or steel? Should I put in the extra money for the latter, or does it not matter if the reels and development

tanks are plastic.

Photo of what I'm planing to buy:<div></div>

Or Should I Get:<div></div>

Stainless. New Hewes or old Nikors if they are not bent. Bring a roll of scrap with you to be sure they load properly. Off brand are junk. Some rust ( not made from 316 grade stainless). Some have poor gripping for the beginning.

 

The Patterson System 4 works if you FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS , but you need the twiddle stick for the first 30 sec agitation and the cap has to fit tightly. Do not store the cap stretched over the top. If some joker allowed photoflow or color stabilizer to touch the reel , it will not load. You can not clean it and can not see it. Beware of used.

 

Plastic is an insulator so the water bath temp control is less effective than a stainless tank.

 

Filling a Patterson 4 is foolproof. Stainless really should be loaded by dropping the loaded reel into a tank already full for developer. Less important with a single roll tank, more with double or more. Manditory with 4 reel tanks.

 

In the end, the Gold standard is stainless.

 

DO NOT get wetting agent on a plastic reel. So now you need to carry out this step some hald baked way outside the processor.

I like stainless steel reels. I only develop 1 roll at a time. I've got a tank & reel for 35mm and a tank and reel for 120.

 

I do have a plastice reel from the 1960's that I use to develop 220 but it loads from the front sending the film toward the

inside. With stainless I start from the center of the reel and work toward the outside when loading. The plastic has to be

dry or the film will get stuck. I have an old hair dryer when I need to use the plastic stuff immediately again. The

stainless doesn't have that challenge.

 

I actually find the stainless quite easy to load. And it's easy to maintain temperature with a stainless tank, with a tray of

correct water temperature to put the tank into, than the plastic as the metal transmits the water temp quickly.

 

Practice loading with a film you can destroy by loading it in daylight. Do it over & over until you are comfortable you will

get it loaded correctly. Now take the same film and load it in the dark until it is loaded correctly.

 

Hope this helps you.

I have both types, and my stainless reels are Hewes. You know which ones I use the most? The plastic Paterson stuff, just

like #1. You know what else? I never invert them, always using the twirling stick for all agitation duties. Agitate vigorously

for the first 15 to 30 seconds initial, followed by 5 seconds each 30 seconds for the balance and you'll get perfectly even

development every time. Filling and draining is fast and foolproof. The reels must be bone dry or they will jam. If they

aren't kept free of anything that can leave a deposit on the reels, they will jam. I still don't understand how Photoflo can

gunk up the reels if you wash it off before it has a chance to dry. Still, I don't dunk my reels in Photoflo or color stabilizer.

Don't ask, we all have our superstitions.

I like Hewes rolls and have never had a problem loading them - it just seems natural to me. Other people I know can never

get the hang of it and prefer plastic. I'd probably have problems with plastic if I tried - use whichever one you feel

comfortable with.

 

If you do go stainless, get Hewes rolls. Don't question the cost, just do it.

I use stainless. The trick is to spend the ~$20 for high quality reels rather than the $5 "good deal."

 

The learning curve for stainless reels is maybe a bit steeper, but they're just less finicky to use over time. It takes about 5 minutes to load two 35mm reels - from throwing everything into the changing bag (scissors, the two cassettes, bottle opener, etc.) to cracking open the zippers. 120 film is less hassle and preps even faster.

I use plastic tanks and reels and have done for 25 years. I find the reels easier to load, and the tanks fill and empty faster (though use a greater volume of liquid). The only trick you need to know is 'snifting' the tank when you put the lid on: press down on the middle of the lid while lifting the edge to force out a little air; then air pressure holds the lid down tight.

I see you have picked an "economy" stainless tank. The second pic was not up when I gave the first answer, so I need to add. Those black tops split over time from the center out and they do it when you add the lid on the loaded film tank. The split is a light leak you find when the lights are turned on, and of course the film is ruined.

 

Kinderman tanks have better lids. Old Nikor ones have stainless tops and mine have been in use for 40+ years . I have a few of the pictured stainless becouse i needed the bottom only for an open tank E6 line. As open tanks and they worked fine, but one time I tried to develope some film in one as a closed tank. Split and fog. Others have reported similar trouble.

 

Kinderman, Nikor are the gold standard, not these.

 

Understand plastic starts to deteriorate the monent it is made. In time any and all plastics fail.

 

I can develope fim in a open tank in the dark with a lift rod+ stainless reel and have done it many times. Results are perfect if done correctly.

I use the Patterson plastic tank and reels and have no problems. I bought mine used; it did not come with a "twiddle stick" (whatever that is). My negatives are acceptable, to me at least.

 

I would go with the quality Patterson tank rather than the economy stainless steel tank and reel. (As a bonus, the Patterson reels adjust for various sized film. If you ever need to develop larger sized film, you can without purchasing any additional equipment.)

I don't like stainless steel tanks, I prefer the plastic for 35mm. For 120 and larger, stainless is the way to go.

 

I don't know if a mod will slap me on the wrist for this (doing this out of good will), but e-mail me at

bonifazmichael at gmail dot com. I think $5 plus shipping will cover the 2 steel tanks I have. One is a single

reel stainless steel tank, another is a stainless steel two roll tank. 35mm reels are included (not sure if I

have 2 or 3). I don't have them in front of me, so I'm not sure of the brand. They have steel tops.

 

I recently got rid of my last 120 camera for a few reasons to spend all my time doing 35mm darkroom work. It's

all plastic fantastic now...

I use both and have no preference. If forced to choose one type it'd be stainless. One advantage to stainless reels is that the negatives can be removed for inspection and replaced on the reel easily, for example to check for adequate fixing before washing. Can't do that easily with plastic reels. But both work perfectly well. Each requires slightly different approaches, especially in agitation and pour times.

 

Wetting agents like Photo Flo will *not* harm a plastic reel in any way. Period. Pure internet mythology. If I keep seeing this posted here without some credible evidence to back it up I'll delete those references as disinformation. Show me some credible evidence from the manufacturers of the reels or wetting agents. Otherwise, please refrain from posting incorrect information.

 

Wetting agents are nothing more than surfactants, the mildest form of a common ingredient in most cleaning materials and untold thousands of other common products. If they ruined plastic reels, why don't they destroy the containers in which they are stored?

 

Sorry to seem grumpy but I'm really tired of seeing this assertion repeated without any credible evidence to substantiate it.

 

Use the Ilford method for in-tank processing from start to finish. After a tiny drop of wetting agent in the final wash, and after hanging the negatives to dry, simply rinse the tank and reel in plain water. That's it. There won't be any residual chemistry that will somehow gum up the system.

 

The high quality Paterson tanks and reels don't seem any less durable than stainless. Mine are more than 20 years old and still work well.

I would go for stainless, i never could get good results "swishing the stick", but that is just me, i use the hewes stainless, those stainless ones in the pictures would work great, good luck and keep us updated.

i use plastic jobo tanks and process as much as 5 rolls at a time. paterson reels are easier to load.

"I use the Patterson plastic tank and reels and have no problems. I bought mine used; it did not come with a "twiddle stick" (whatever that is).

 

The 'twiddle stick", or agitator, or whatever the proper name for it is, is nothing more than a stick with a notch cut into one end. The notch engages two lugs molded into the inside of the center core. You can make one with a piece of plastic rod of the proper diameter and a small saw blade. I've made replacements from wooden dowels painted over with polyurethane finish. Insert stick and twirl it back and forth. The action is similar to that of a top loading washing machine. Simple. No inversions. No spills. No leaks. The tank stays in the tempering bath for the duration of the development cycle.

To the original poster: as you can see, some like plastic, some like steel. The only way for you to know which you prefer is to try both. I hope you have the patience to get the knack of loading the steel rolls, because once you do, they are (in my opinion) far easier to use.

Thank you for the information on the "twiddle stick", Frank.

I use stainless. In addition to being easier to load, they are quicker to dry if you only have one set and need to do more than one batch.

Doesn't matter. Remember- use quality gear and good technique, and you'll be fine; crap equipment and/or sloppy technique is likely to

yield poor results.

Lex raises an important point re. the mythology of plastic reels. Another myth is that they need to be scrubbed to remove gelatin accumulation and prevent sticking. In 25 years with the same reels I have never done anything other than rinse them in clean water. Scrubbing them roughens the surface of the plastic and make them more inclined to accumulate gelatin, thus making a problem, not solving it.

 

Secondly, I use the Ilford Method for washing film but when it comes to the final rinse, I mix the water and wetting agent in a separate jug; I don't put the wetting agent in the tank. My reasoning is that while washing the film I am also washing out the tank and so I don't want to have to rinse it again to remove traces of wetting agent. Traces of wetting agent in the tank will cause frothing the next time you use it and may well cause bubble marks on the film.

Stainless. I find the technique for loading stainless reels provides a lot more control over the film--from end to end--

during loading. "Walking" film onto a plastic reels would go better if we had three hands instead of two. Good manual

control over what's happening with the film eliminates scratches, kinks, etc. I've been doing this for 40 years (as I'm

sure have many others) and have loaded many different reels.

 

That being said, I don't use the stainless 1500-series reels for my Jobo processor. I find those reels too small in

diameter for trouble-free rotary processing.