How to remove curl from black and white negs

Recently I shot family photos with Bergger ISO 200 speed 120 film, which I

had never used before. I processed the negs myself using Rodinal and

hanged them up to dry as I usually do with clothspins at the bottom. I let them

hang for only about a couple of hours, but they seemed dry to the touch. After i

started cutting them, they began to curl. This never happened to me with Ilford

films. I'm not sure if it was the film or just maybe I needed to let them hang

overnight. Anyway, I would really appreciate any suggestions to get the curl

out. I put them in sleeves and under a stack of books for four days now but

they are still curly. I'm now soaking one of the strips in water and photoflo and

am going to try and hang it up to dry overnight. Any ideas? Thanks.

This film, and other Forte brands in 120 all seem to have a fairly forceful curl after drying. I keep my negs in a three ring binder with their contact sheets, and after a few months the curl seems to diminish some, but I haven't seen any that lay flat yet. I think Freestyle carries a brand of anticurl liquid. Sorry, I don't remember the name of it, but check on their site in the B&W chemicals section. I haven't used it, but it could be worth trying if your neg curl is too bothersome.

I do not think there is a way other than stacking them under books to lessen the curl. See this previous thread on <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00ATmt" >severe curl</a>. The cause is the emulsion itself.

Put in plastic sleeves or sheets and weight them down. If you can ever find an ancient Mioplex contact printer, these remove curl as the film must be curled toward the base to be installed. Flat as a pancake in 24 hrs. I don`t know way to duplicate this effect.

Put them in contact sheets and weigh them down. I use volumes 8 and 9 of my now useless Encyclopedia Brittanica...Curl is gone in a few days.

I have not used Bergger films. However, I routinely roll my Tri X (emulsion side out) for a day before cutting and proofing. About an inch and a half diameter is a good roll size. I cover the roll with paper or scrap film and a rubber band. The negatives stay flat.

Well thanks to everyone for your responses. I was unable to find any solution

at Freestyle that flattens negatives. Maybe you were thinking of Edwal's fiber

print flattener. I was quite hopeful with that one... I took most of the negs and

have them pressing in sleeves under a huge stack of books, and then I

selected a few sacrificial negs and tried to roll them emulsion side out with a

rubber band to try and see if that helps. In the meantime if anyone else has

any ideas, I would appreciate your help. Thanks again!

My curl issue is a little different. I'm using Ilford FP4+ in the 120 size and the curl is from _side to side_, not lengthwise. This creates a problem because the convex side is now the emulsion side and much more vulnerable to scratching in the enlarger's negative holder - even if I load the strip carefully. Most negatives curl slightly side to side with the emulsion side the _concave_ side, which affords more protection of the emulsion.

 

I posted this question a while back but I worded my problem poorly - so most answers suggested weights on the bottom, etc. But I had no lengthwise curl, just edge to edge. I don't have this problem with Kodak Tri-x in 120, by the way.

 

Anyone experience this? (oh, btw, I dry my film in a six-foot long plastic sheet cylinder I made - about 18" in diameter. A friend thinks the film dries too slowly this way and that slow drying is the cause of my problem.)

Just about any film dried on the reel in a heated forced air dryer like the Senrac will be curly. These were really popular in newspaper darkrooms back before digital. Dry film in under 10 minutes! What I used to do is take the film off the reel after the wash and put the wet film back emulsion side out before the wetting agent and putting it in the dryer. They'd dry with a bit of reverse curl but you could print them easy enough. I'd then hang the film over night and it would be pretty straight. Now I rarely have that much of a rush but I still use the same kind of dryer. I usually just give it 1/2 hour with no heat. The lower edge should still be damp at this point. Then I take it off the reel and hang it over night. As for the Bergger film I've never used it, but I think 10 minutes emulsion side out in a Senrac dryer WITH heat should cause the emulsion to "set" in a stretched condition.

Thanks, Al, but perhaps I didn't describe my dryer well. Mine is nothing like you describe, there's no fan or heat involved. It's made of shower curtain material - it's a large cylinder with circular pieces of plywood about18" in diamter at top and bottom. There are wires at the top from which I hang my film, weighted at the bottom with heavy metal clips. Again, I get no curl at all in the lengthwise direction, it's from side to side, ie edge to edge, with emulsion side on the convex side, hence more vulnerable.

 

Since there is no heat or fan involved the film dries slowly and naturally, and shielded from any room dust. This curl only occurs with Ilford HP+, not Tri-x (120).

 

Thanks for your thoughts!

Same problem with Efke 100...spring steel film base. It's almost impossible to slide this stuff into a 120 page (though old Hassleblad glassine pages are fine), so I'm using full 8.5X11 pages and will abandon this film after I use my remaining 30 rolls...love this stuff otherwise.

Oops... make that Ilford FP4+ (see my message two messages back)

 

Paul

I've found all of the Forte films, and J&C Pro 100 to exhibit severe curling. I've not found any Kodak, Ilford, or Agfa film to exhibit similar curling. I use Beseler Negatrans negative holders, and the curl is not really much of a problem. If the major manufacturers' films were priced the same as these repackaged films, I'd buy the major stuff and enjoy the little perks like, flat negs, edge numbers and emulsion identification, and lightproof paper backing in 120 films. Until then, I'll continue to use and enjoy these bargain films, warts and all.

It seems that using Al's technique of reversing the curl is working the quickest.

Today I was able to make multiple prints for the extended family of our holiday

group photos I shot with my Rolleiflex. I had them rolled inside out and stored

in cut strips in metal cannisters which I set on a shelf a few inches up from a

radiator. It's still curly but better than before and much easier to handle. Still I'd

have to say even though the image quality is to my liking, the fact that it curled

up the way that it did, I'll probably never want to deal with Bergger film again.

thanks again to everyone for your help.