A Conundrum with my Stearman Press 8X10 Tray

I thought the final solution for my alt darkroom would be the SP 8x10 but I'm dealing with light trap challenges. I haven't had as much luck as others with this guy by now. Since last Friday it arrived I have not had a negative without registering the finger pockets at the bottom of the tray. At first I thought it was about the middle and outer baffle having to be with the text oriented to the outside but I've already tried all the ways and I can't get the light trap to finish working. I have done tests with different types of agitation and durations, usually mimicking the undulating movement of the Orbital Paterson tank since the tray is light even with 500 ml of developer. For instance, in this case, I developed a one hour stand with some pieces of fuji hr-u with 1 minute of agitation each 30 mind. The background marks are clearly registered. In that test I have not put the divider for the 4x5 configuration, it is the negative moving in the entire perimeter of the tray.



Then I put in an 18x24 sheet with agitations each 20 minutes. You can see how the points are blurred, not as in the first case.





I`m wondering if the interior baffle is the problem (now I think this is the most critical baffle) despite the fact that it descends to the step that adjusts it, a very slight margin of movement can be seen. I don't know if it's because of that. In any case, I have tried to have them flush with the tray and when I have to shake, do it carefully just in case that is why the light trap is misconfigured. Yesterday I tried to mount a thin glass at the bottom to cancel the finger pockets and be able to reveal 8x10. It would seem to work but I am left without the 4x5 reveal option...

I have not tried such long development times with mine. I've been using the standard 7 minutes developing with HC110 dilution B. What if you placed a dark cloth over the entire tray while you were developing?


Kent in SD

Two23 said:

I have not tried such long development times with mine. I've been using the standard 7 minutes developing with HC110 dilution B. What if you placed a dark cloth over the entire tray while you were developing?

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the shortest process has been 6 minutes. I have also had marks. I would have to try putting a thick cloth as you say, although this option, like the glass one, leaves me a bit dissapointed

Sorry to hear you're having issues. I doubt this is a light leak issue, looks like the gelatin on the back of the film is sticking to the tray.
Several questions:
Are you using artificially softened water? Distilled water is best. Related info: https://shop.stearmanpress.com/pages/blotches-of-doom-solved
What film are you using?
Are you agitating during the presoak? You should gently rock the tray until you hear the film "clicking".
Tim

Hey Tim, it is definitely not this problem that you mention in your blog. I can feel and hear the "clic" each time that I´m developing so I know the neg is moving in the tray. Also I have measured each of those marks, which are the same rectangular shape with the same edges at their angles and are equal. The tray has 2 columns with 3 finger pockets, two of them are around 4cm and the big one in the middle is like 6cm so they are the same ones I see on my negs. All those tests are done with X-ray film (Fuji HR-U) because I wanted to test first before developing a panchromatic film.

Here are more tests. All of them with the same film: FUJI HR-U.







I´m using here a contaminated fixer. That´s why you see some black little dots, but they´re not the same as the light rectangle shapes. Both are 4x5 pics and they were 10 min for developing time with d-76, dil.1:2 (300 ml.) with constantly agitation.



This one is a 18x24 sheet ( exposed twice, my mistake). D-76, dil. 1:2 300 mil. 10 minutes of developing time.




This one is an almost 4x5 piece. In this case, I did a stand development about one hour with 3 times to agitation each 20 min. That´s why you see overlapping the same mark thrice. I even have the same hole dots for the 4x5 configuration. All of them are white, such as bokeh effect but they are not. D-76 dil. 1-4. with 500 mil. of developer

The Fuji HR-U is a double emulsion film. In my (mostly uneducated) opinion, the developer in the depressions of the tray is being exhausted and is causing underdevelopment on that side. Constant agitation might take care of it if you aren't going to use a traditional single emulsion film.

Yes, I believe that Cramej is correct and that HR-U has emulsion on both sides. However, it may be the opposite problem: the pockets hold more developer and thus that section of the negative is darker. I doubt that you can fix this with agitation.

It may be my imagination but I think I can see the texture of the tray on the negative in some places. You could try putting a thin sheet of glass or even a scrap sheet of film on the bottom of the tray to provide an even surface. (It's probably a long shot.)

Frankly, I'd also worry about scratching the bottom side of the negative (a common problem with double sided film, even just loading the camera's film holders.)

Algo después said:

fuji hr-u

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Try normal (dare I say...'real') film. Apart from x-ray film often being double-sided, it's also rather finicky when it comes to agitation.

Algo después said:

one hour stand with some pieces of fuji hr-u with 1 minute of agitation each 30 mind.

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Very seriously pushing your luck here with stand development in particular with this kind of film.