Processing Expired Polaroid Type 55

Hi all, I’ve got about a dozen sheets of Polaroid Type 55 left from back in the day, and wanted to try shooting it in a newly acquired Speed Graphic. The trouble is, of course, that the chemical packs dried up years ago. I’m wondering if anyone has experience with shooting the film now, and processing the negative by some other means (not interested in the print). I couldn’t find any information online, so tried peeling apart the negative tray developing (in darkness) in some Ilford DD-X I had on hand, but the film turned completely black. I’ve had success with processing other vintage/expired films, so hoping I can get these to work!

The negative in Type 55 was reputed by some to be Kodak Panatomic X, although I don't know that to be true. It is possible that due to extreme age and/or poor storage conditions that your samples are fogged. The other possibility is a light leak. Are you using the focal plane shutter in your Speed Graphic or the leaf shutter that is in most lenses for these cameras? I don't mean to be condescending, but if you're not familiar with these cameras there are a lot of mistakes that are easy to make that could fog the film.

Completely black all the way to the edge?

 

Usual black and white films last a long time, though with a some fog at extreme

age or extreme speed. Verichrome Pan usually works well to 40 or 50 years.

 

Some amount of fog, along with overdeveloping, might make it pretty dark, though.

How long did you develop it for?

 

You might take one exposed sheet, cut it into four (or so) pieces and

develop each for a different amount of time.