Home-made film drier

Basically I'm looking for a compact means of dust-free film drying. I

know of the various cabinet-style driers to hang the film in on

clips ... but I really don't have the space. I've thought of using a

piece of 4 inch plastic pipe with fan at one end and a filter at the

other to draw air across the film whilst it's still on the reels ...

does anyone have experience as to whether this is this likely to

work, or will water sit in the plastic reel grooves? Time isn't a

factor, and I can provide a modicum of heating, from a light-bulb or

similar.

What you're describing will probably work, but the dried film will have a lot of curl to it. Also, you're concern about water in the grooves is probably justified. Using a fan to speed things up might result in a lot of dust stuck in your emulsion.

 

I constructed a portable drier using a section of 8" cylindrical ductwork. The bottom is sealed with a ductwork cap. I have a 15W lightbulb near the bottom to provide a little heat, which is useful for E6. A metal pie tin is taped just above the bulb to prevent drips of water from hitting the hot glass and shattering it. I cut holes in the side just above the where the pie tin sits, and covered them with some flexible air filter material. A metal rod runs across the top to hang film clips on. I also have a cap constructed from a small (lengthwise) cylinder that fits perfectly on top of the whole thing. The top side of the cap is covered in the same filtering material used for the holes near the bottom.

 

This drier was inexpensive, and can easily be picked up and moved around. When I'm not using it, I move it to the corner. The only downside is that I have to feed the film down into it from the top. I attach both clips and then, standing on a chair, slowly feed the weighted clip down into the drier. If I'm careful, I can hang 4 rolls side by side.

My solution was a little different. I bought a cheap plug in fan and a large vinyl bag that people use to store clothes in (2' by 2' square top, about 4-5 feet long, hook on top). I cut a piece of plywood to fit the top with a cut out for the fan (blowing out). I took a pleated furnace filter and fit it into the bottom cutting out the vinyl and sealing it with hot melt glue. The bag even has a rail in it to hang the film. I actually have it in a pretty dusty room, but all I need to do is turn it on as I start to develop a roll and it seems to clean itself out well. Between this and a distilled water final rinse, I finally have clean negs. It could also collapse to a pretty small package. The only downside is that it is too short for a 36 exp roll of 35mm so I need to cut it before it goes in if I am doing 35mm. Small price to pay for flat, clean negs!

I agree with Marks idea...I originaly was going to go the 12 diameter PVC pipe routine (we have tons at work that I could have for free). Then I started to think just how was I going to load the five foot long strip of film into it...was I going to get up on a stepladder to do that? Then I thought about cutting a hinged door into the pipe but I was to lazy for that. What I ended up with was a bank of three school lockers I bought for $5. I put a small electric heater turned way down and on a timer into one locker. I hang film in that one. Convection keeps the air moving...no fans mean less dust. And the other two lockers in the bank are used for storage. Works great. And I should add that I was about to buy a vinyl clothing bag for my negs just before I stumbled upon the lockers.

I just hang my film up after photo flo and squegee, I find that my film will get dusty no mater what I do to it, I just remember to use some compressed air on it before I make a print.