35mm steel reels inquiry

[ljwest]

<p>I saw here a mention of a steel developing reel for 35mm that has tangs that grab the film's sprocket holes to help make loading the reels easier. I tried several searches, but can't seem to come up with the right set of keywords.</p>

<p>All the steel reels I have from processing film long ago just have a clip in the middle, which doesn't help at all in aligning the film. </p>

<p>Does anyone have the name of these reels, and/or a place to get them?</p>

<p>Thanks,</p>

[jean_yves_mead]

<p><a href="http://www.hewes.co.uk/">Hewes</a> reels are the ones to which you refer. Accept no substitutes.</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>Only my medium format stainless reels - Hewes and older Nikor - have those spring clips at the axle. None of my 35mm stainless reels have 'em - can't recall ever seeing a 35mm stainless reel with those spring clips.</p>

[ljwest]

<p>Jean-Yves: Thanks for the info. Is there a US reseller?</p>

<p>Lex: You must buy better reels than I did! All the 35mm steel reels I have use the spring clip.</p>

<p>Thanks for your replies!</p>

[lars_holtgrewe]

<p><a href="http://www.freestylephoto.biz/140135-Hewes-Pro-Stainless-Steel-Reel-35mm">http://www.freestylephoto.biz/140135-Hewes-Pro-Stainless-Steel-Reel-35mm</a><br>

I could never figure out why I had problems learning to roll 35mm reels until I found these. I will never use spring loaded 35mm reels again. These are so incredibly easy to use, it didn't take me more than twice to be able to easily, in the darkroom, load these reels. The best advise for it is to make sure you cut the leader off straight.</p>

[ljwest]

<p>Thanks, Lars. Found them there just before reading your post!</p>

[kelly_flanigan1]

<p>One can go back say 30 to 40 years ago and there were stainless steel 35mm reels sold under about 2 dozen brand names; a clip was just a variant.There was not even a Hewes brand even marketed then in the USA. It must be a decent clone since it gets mentioned a lot. 35mm reels in Nikors go back to the 1930's; thus an old ebay reel can be 75 years old.</p>

<p> There were even two different wire thicknesses available with old Nikors; the thicker ones often for schools; ie they took more abuse.</p>

<p>There were so many brnbad names on reels; one might as well worry about coat hangers or clothes pins too!.</p>

<p>Here I really do not like a clip on a 35mm reel at all; in fact I have removed them with a dremel too. Some of my 120 reels have them; adn they are toleratred; but I do not need them.</p>

<p> Here I have loaded nikors for so long I can load 2 rolls back to back to place 2 36rolls on one reel; 1960;s press style.</p>

<p>I learned to laod by feel and LISTENING how the film goes on.</p>

<p>Old used reels of any brand can be dropped; bent and harder to load. My ones that 1 bought new are easy to load; whether a 1960's Nikor; a Spiratone; a Bass camera; a Cambridge reel; a Porter camera reel.</p>

<p>In teaching photo lab in the the 1970's; we purposely banned that spring clips and catch type 35mm stainless reels; ie crutches so folks could work in other' labs who did not have the newcomers crutch. Most folks who load 35mm reels never had any of these gizmos; thus "removing the training wheels" was once common; ie preparing one for the real world.</p>

<p>It is interesting how Hewes gets preached on Photo.net; when 55 years of folks used Nikors with zero issues at all. It comes across like one needs to by a Hewes camera; because Leica; Nikon; and Canon are no good. Nikors go back to the original Leica and Retinas in the 1930's; that is why preaching Hewes seems so darn funny and oddball. One has Nikors made for 220 films; 616/116 roll films; old Postcard rolll film sizes that is 3x5" image; for 4x5 sheet films; for 127 films; for 16mm film cameras. As there slogan was "Minox through 89mm 100ft X-ray films". Nikor is what the US Miltary used and bought; there was a MIL spec on many of the Nikor models. Nikor would build a custom reel too.</p>

<p>Most Nikors were made out of 316 Stainess Steel. Some cheapie reels that came out in the 1960's from overseas were 316 too; or sometimes a lessor grade taht had less chrome content and corroded more. Some real cheap oned had muffer grade Stainless. These worked well if one cleaned them up afterwards.</p>

<p>Since the *average* Nikor reel out there is probably 40 years old; the chances of one being bent are more than a brand new Hewes reel.</p>

<p>Whatever brand you use; many stainless lids and stainless caps are matched; and that Ebay buy often has a missmatched set and thus leakes a tad.</p>

[jean_yves_mead]

Hewes 135 reels are regularly recommended because their twin-prong (not clip) design holds film securely

while making it impossible to load the film in any way other than straight and centred.

[john_shriver]

<p>Hewes reels are made of much thicker steel wire than other brands. This helps keep them very square and precise. They are even relatively resistant to damage when dropped. The downside is that you can't get two of them into the common Nikor Q15 tank, you need at least a Q18 tank (which is quite rare). Also, they are hard to extract from a tank full of Photo-Flo, as you can't stick your pinky in the hole in the middle -- it's too small.<br>

A good undamaged Nikor reel is every bit as easy to load as a Hewes reel. A dropped one can be hell on earth. They aren't that hard to get back into square using a flat surface and a square to check them.<br>

Unfortunately, many house brand "Made in China" stainless steel reels come "bent" from the factory. That's why Hewes are so preferred if you're buying new today, there's only junk and Hewes, and nothing in-between.<br>

By the time you get to 120 size, a spring clip is rather helpful. By 116/616 size, it's getting rather essential, at 122 size (yes there were reels that wide) it is absolutely essential.</p>

 

[frank.schifano]

<p>And that's my experience with house brand stainless reels - they came pre-bent straight from the factory. I know the old Nikor reels were good too, but you can't get 'em new any more. I wouldn't take a chance on used ones unless I was able to examine them for trueness. So where does that leave us? It leaves us with Hewes reels if we're looking for high quality, reliable stainless reels. Yes, they're pricey compared to the el-cheapo brands, but this is one of those items where you shouldn't look to cut corners. Treat them well and they'll last you a lifetime. Oh yes, Hewes is the brand with the hooks that engage the sprocket holes of 35 mm film. Get the film hooked onto the reel hub and it practically loads itself from there.</p>

[jtk]

<p>Kinderman reels seem as good as Nikors (I use both). Don't be afraid of used reels, just assume some of them will be nfg. </p>

[hoshisato]

<p>Would the Hewes reels for 35mm fit into a Paterson System 4 tank? With the central column of these tanks, and all?</p>

[profhlynnjones]

<p>All of the Nikor (Massachusetts made) SS reels were AISI 316, the best of the rest were 308 (Brooks or Kinderman), most were 304 or 303 or worse. You can tell the difference, if you don't wash them after each process, you will find corrosion. </p>

<p>Nikor made all kinds of reel systems including 120 or 70mm up to 100 feet. I believe the Nikor company was sold and gradually disappeared. I know that when we created 220 roll film (fall 1966) I had my friend Jack Callahan president of BBOI create the specialized Brooks reels for us at Calumet.</p>

<p>Lynn </p>

[mike_king3]

<p>Today your options are Hewes or Kindermann for good reels. The Kindermann's have a little "crank" on the reel for use with their loader (can you say Dremel?). Both are easy to load, my preferred setup is Hewes reels and Kindermann tanks. The Kindermann tanks are much thicker Stainless Steel than most others and are the only ss tanks that stand up to C-41 bleach (used to run a mini-sinkline at work with Unicolor C-41 in 1 liter tanks, the Omega and other Brand-X junk OK for everything but the bleach). And the Kindermann PVC tops fit tight and don't leak. Hewes has been imported over the years by different wholesalers: the Omega King Concept reels, the earlier Tundra reels, Calumet(?), etc. You can recognize them by the double hooks on the core. I have an LPL reel with both a double hook and a single hook that was my favorite reel until I found the real reel deal. The LPL was Japanese, well made, lighter gauge wire but the sides were parallel. Any Nikor reels you find will be 25-30 years old and probably have made many trips to the darkroom floor by now.</p>