Help Loading Stainless Steel Reels

[greg_whitten1]

I am new to film developing. I bought a used darkroom set up that

has stainless steel reels (don't know brand off hand). I tried

loading a roll of 35mm (lights on) and could not get it wound on the

reel without abusing the film. It is as if the interior dimension

(width) of the reel is a little bit more narrow than the width of the

film. What is the trick?

[john_cook1]

The hardest part is making the first turn when you start. I stuff my thumb in the bottom of the core and my index or second finger in the top. Then bend the film around them to get it started threading. I can feel it come around.

 

Once the film is threading along, don't pull it too tightly or it will slip down one row onto the previously wound film. In fact you can stop winding once in a while and push the film into the reel a little. The film should be loose and sloppy. If it gets tight, one side of the film has probably slipped out of its groove.

 

Work in total silence with no radio nor running water. You can hear when the film goes wrong.

 

Finally, if you are using an old reel which someone has dropped, it could be bent. In that case, all bets are off.

 

I struggled with this for a week in the autumn of 1967. Haven't had any trouble since. Once you have it you will have it forever.

[britt_park]

The basic trick is that you have to bow the film a bit to get it to feed into the reel slots. A gentle pinching pressure on the film as you wind will get you what you want. Unfortunately this is one of those things that is far easier demonstrated than described. Also, although it's not particularly likely, you may have a bent reel, which is preventing your success.

 

Keep practicing in daylight until it becomes second nature, then practice in the dark until it becomes second nature. It usually doesn't take all that long to get the hang of it.

[james_naughton]

Practice! I started developing my own B&W films about 3 months ago (thanks for all the advice everyone)and ran into the same problems myself.

Just sit down with 3/4 rolls of crappy film and practice, practice, practice. After an hour or two you should be pretty good at it. Squeeze the film to give a slight curvature as you feed it onto the reels. Search the archives for just about any info you will need.

Its a really cool buzz seeing your own shots coming out of the rince bath! Enjoy!

[maury_cohen]

Have an experienced film-loader show you. It'll help a lot to see it done.

Maybe someone can supply you with a jpg. image.

 

I believe the Time-Life book on film developing shows it pretty clearly.

[j._salty]

Yes, practice. Also make sure the reel is being held in the right direction or you'll never get it right. When all else fails, consider going to plastic reels and tanks.

[rob_gruber]

Buy a Hewes stainless steel reel. They are very easy to use.

They have little hooks which grab the sprocket holes of the film.

 

They cost about $20 but will save you lots of time and frustration

and probably some rolls of film. Also marketed under the "King

Concept" brand by B and H.

 

Good Luck.

[m0002a]

Apologies to anyone whose advice that I am repeating from above.</p>

<ol>

<li>Make sure the reel is not bent or misaligned. 35mm reels can be damaged by droping them because the spirals are made from much narrower steel than 120 reels.

<li>Make absolutely sure that when the film is attached to the clip near the core, that the film is spaced in the middle of the two spirals. You must learn how to determine this by feel in the dark. Adjust the film on the clip as necessary before winding.

<li>As you turn the reel with you left hand, make sure it is resting on a flat surface so it is not twisted (the reel should turn like a ferris wheel). With your right hand, gently create some tension on the slack and curl the film while it is winding.

<li>Practice with the lights on until you get it right.

<li>Get some "live" help if you need it.

[doug_bennett]

Maybe go out and buy a couple of the plastic reels? They're pretty cheap. I've used both, and much prefer the plastic; they're much easier to load. The main trick with them: make sure they're totally, completely dry, and make sure your hands are dry as well. I dry mine with a hair dryer before beginning. I've found that the slightest moisture, either on the reels or on your hands, can make a difference, but when dry they're a snap to load.

[marco_vera1]

Buy plastic reels or learn the art of loading steel reels.

 

I once found one at a sale, bought it, ruined three rolls of film and went back to my (absolutely dry..) plastic reels.

 

But I must admit the Steel Reels just look great..

[al_kaplan1]

I have over a dozen, different brands, various ages, several kinds of center clips, a pair of really old Nikor reels from when they made them with NO CENTER CLIP! They've all been dropped. They're like old friends. After all these years I know exactly how to quickly coax the film into the spirals, holding and turning the reel in my left hand, doing a quick push/pull movement with my right. Just keep practicing!

[h._p.]

I used to use stainless steel reels when I worked in a lab more than thirty years ago. I grew to loath the things. Then I discovered Paterson's nylon reels and never looked back.

[john_sutera]

I second Ron Gruber's suggestion for King Concept or Hewes reels (I think OMEGA makes them too). In the past, you would hear my expletives coming from the darkroom when I used to mess up w/ the other steel reels. Since I splurged on the Hewes reels, I sing in the darkroom now. Trust me, if you're going to use them relatively often, you won't be sorry. The reels practically suck the film from your hands (of course not as efficiently as a plastic reel).

[benjamin_ogdon1]

I kinda go the other way on this. I used plastic reels, mastered the steel ones, and prefer them over plastic---go figure. You need to practice in the light, so dig up a length of waste film. If you don't have any, well... What the heck, waste some.

 

When your preparing the end of the film that goes into the clip, instead of cutting the film straight across, cut the corners at an angle, like so: /--\ I don't make a sharp point, I just crop the corners to get rid of the sharp right angles. It's actually two steps: cut leader tongue off with a straight cut, then crop the corners. The purpose of this is to make the film easier to get down into the reel, and into the clip. I get the film into the clip with my index finger. Not sure how to describe that. I put the end of the film on top of the clip, my index finger on top of that, and just sort of drive it home.

 

The other trick is going to be hard to describe, but I'm going to try anyway, cause it really does make loading these reels a breeze.

 

As others have pointed out, putting a slight bow in the film while you wind it on is the key. What I do is hold the reel in front of me, no table surface, just standing there (naked, if I'm feeling frisky), with one side facing me, so that the edge of the reel is oriented straight up and down, more or less---kinda like you'd hold a sandwich. The film is feeding onto the reel from my right, and I'm sort of holding the reel with both hands (one, then the other, once I get going), between my thumb and fingertips.

 

The trick here is that I'm using the upper part of the fingers on my right hand to guide the film, with just enough squeezing pressure to bow the film slightly. That is, at least with 120/220, I'm almost palming the film at times. It's passing through my hand and onto the real, and the greasy, smudgy parts of my fingers are free to intermittently grip the reel while I get ready to make another turn with my left hand.

 

See? No? Humph.

 

Imagine holding the reel straight up and down, one side facing you, and rotating it using both your hands. Your left hand does the turning, your right hand steadies it. Now pick up a strip of film and hold it in your right (or left, as the case may be) hand without using your finger tips. Trap it by the edges between the upper part of your thumb, and the middle to upper-middle part of your fingers---somewhere near the second knuckle (counting from your hand); whatever works best for you. You're holding it like you would to avoid getting finger prints on your negatives, only you're not using your fingertips.

 

See how this leaves the ends of the fingers on your right hand free to guide/hold the reel? It also allows you to feel the edges of the film protruding between the wire spirals as you wind it on. You will quickly develop a feel for when the film is going on right, and when it isn't. You'll find yourself automatically backtracking a little, and redoing part of a turn whenever it doesn't feel right, which, after a little practice, won't be very often.

 

This sounds complicated I suppose, but it's not. Once you've done it right once, it quickly becomes second nature.

 

Here's what's good about this method: once mastered, it is a very gentle way to get the film onto the reel---one that is totally under your control. I was putting 120 film on a plastic auto-feeding thing-a-ma-bob once upon a time, and it jammed. Well, I was happily twisting away on this thing, when the film binds in the spool, and the torque puts a big nasty wrinkle in the film backing---really screwed it up. That was the last time for me.

 

I love stainless tanks. They're simple; they don't break, and they're cheap. I have this theory that they agitate better, but maybe that's just me... I'm sure they conduct heat from a water bath better than plastic, which is enough reason for me right there.

 

I think it's worth the effort to master the skill. It just isn't all that hard---no matter how hard I've made it seem! ;-)

[benjamin_ogdon1]

Had an opportunity to "watch" myself doing this last night; boy, it sure would be easier to show somebody, rather than describe it. I also realized that I actually do some things different than I thought. Funny, that. It's really much less involved than I made it sound in my previous post.

 

Anywho, while I was loading some reels, it ocurrs to me that, really, the hardest part of the whole deal is getting the film into that effing clip! I noticed that the way I do it really just barely gets it in there, and that, most of the time, it doesn't really matter. Once you've made that first turn onto the spiral, and as long as you don't pull to hard on the film, the clipped end could pop out and it really wouldn't matter. I got to wondering if I could just pin the film down to the spindle with a left-hand finger, and start winding it on---sans clip. It worked! Still prefer to use the clip though.

 

I played around for a while, clipping the film in, and I found that by curling my left index finger around the spindle from below, to reach the clip, I could hold the thing down all the way, *and* my finger sort of acted as a guide for the film---kind of a ramp effect. Before, I could never really get the film and my finger sqeezed in there at the same time, at least not so that I could directly touch the clip.

 

Anyway, now the tip of my left index finger hurts like hell! I never know when to quit.

 

Here's a link to a web site I googled-up for ya, that walks the beginner through the development process. I don't agree with what this person says about agitation, but there's (yet another) description of loading film reels, including some pictures---might be more helpful than my sorry effort.

 

I wouldn't use the agitation method suggested though, at least not in terms of duration/interval. I think that, when just starting out, you should use the method recommended by whatever source you're using for development times---I presume that would be the manufacturer of whatever film you're using.

 

Here's the site:

 

http://www.tpub.com/photography1/ph209196.htm