Squegee or No?

SOMEtimes, my JOBO squeegee scratches film, sometimes not. For the

record, it's HALF a JOBO squeegee (they just snap together anyway)

pulled from the other half, so squeegeeing does not SQUEEZE the film,

but rather, i wipe one side, then the other, with the film suspended

from a film clip.. SOMETIMES, scratches.. i do use the Formulary

fixer without hardener, as i only really develop film with PMK - but

should a hardener be necessary?? I thought tanning developers

rendered the emulsion difficult to damage.. Of course, the scratches

could be on the glossy non-emulsion side.. hmmmm.. I do, by the way,

soak the squeegee in some water with wetting agent before each use.

 

Of course, it ought be easy enough to run a quick test roll, and see

if the squeegee is even necessary - i use Edwal LFN wetting agent

nowadays, and haven't noticed drying marks like when i used to use

Photo-Flo.. Area the film dries is in the darkroom, pretty free of

drafts, lowest dust content of any room i've ever been in, and

meticulously clean..

 

Perhaps i will run a test roll, try not squeegeeing it off, just hang

it up and see what happens.. Anyone got any input, want to tell me to

shut up? Feel free to comment!

Shut up.. oh yeah, ditch the squeegie

There are many way to do this. I like using a Dupont photo sponge.Cut it in half wash it out wring it and store in a baggie or similar storage bag. After you do the photo flo soak the sponge halves in photo flo wring out and run them down the film one on each side. Clean sratch free negatives. You must keep the sponge clean or you will have scrathes if any dirt or grit gets on it. It works for me.

DO NOT SQUEEGEE!

 

After the wetting agent, grab both ends of the filmstrip, hold it horizontally and "snap" it a couple of times to fling off droplets, then hang to dry. And if you aren't using distilled water for the wetting agent now's the time to start.

Use your middle and index fingers as a squegee, gently! Put some hardener in your fixer. Scratches on the emulsion mostly print black, on the backside they print white.

I never squeegee. I use Paterson wetting agent at its lowest recommended concentration. I put 18 drops into about 50 ml of water and mix it up thoroughly then make up to 900 ml with more water. Then I dunk the reel in it for with gentle agitation for about a minute. The film is then hung up in the dryer for a few minutes while the bulk of the water runs off, after which I turn the dryer on.

Squeegee-ing the film is just asking for trouble. Use photo-flo or similar wetting agent, always in distilled water, then hang the film, and rinse quickly with pure distilled water while the film is hanging. I hang the film from a line in the shower. Since I've started doing this, I get no scratches, dust, or water spots.

OK - but rinsing the film after a wetting agent soak? How would you do that?? With a spray bottle? The darkroom I have is VERY small, but works well.. smallness of it leads me to try and be very clean with the film i dry there, in other words no getting water anywhere.. so i think giving the film a 'snap' is out.. tapping the reel on the sink's ridges could work..

 

I use distilled water to mix chemistry, to mix PMK, and for the final soak, the only area i DON'T use it is the series of water rinses for stop bath, and rinses after fixing..

 

It has been a month since I've processed any film, as I've been using the DR5 people's service a lot since trying it out, I will go try some test rolls in a few days..

 

Thanks to all who answered so far

I'm in the minority that squeeges film. The rubber blade thingies tend to get old and hard, the edges crack, and they scratch. Look at the edge under a strong loupe. If you see any defects at all, ditch it. I gave up on those long ago. I only use photo grade sponges, rinsed and stored in a plastic bag between uses. Mine are stuck on the prongs of an old stainless steel FR sponge holder. I soak them and the film in 1:200 Photo Flo before use. The other key to scratch free results is the water. Even small grit will give you grief. I had a scratch problem until I installed a cartridge filter on the incoming water line to the house. It took a few weeks for everything to clear out, but since then, perfect negs every time. One upside to wiping the film is extremely fast drying time and perfectly even tones. If the water beads up before drying, even if it's pure distilled, you risk changes in the grain pattern. So if you don't squeege, be sure you have a decent wetting agent and distilled water.

"Squegee or No?" - <b>NO!!!!!!!</b>

Do not touch wet film with anything.

 

After final washing dip the film in distilled water that contains a tiny amount of Photoflo. Move it about a bit and then hang to dry. As soon as the film is dry, put it in some sort of protective, dust proof sleeve.

 

The distilled water will dry without leaving any water spots because it is free of impurities or minerals. The Photoflo is not strictly needed, but helps the water flow smoothly off the film so that it will dry faster.

 

Cheers,

 

Joe Stephenson