A Reel Mystery

[thuggins]

I was recently reading thru the manual on the Kodak Folding Pocket Brownie 2 and was interested to see that a significant portion of the manual was devoted to developing the film. They list two methods. The darkroom method involved pouring the solution into trays and running the film back and forth thru it while holding the strip by the ends. This strikes me as a real pain in the ass to do constantly for ten minutes or so.

The tank method looked quite similar to the modern developing tanks, except instead of a reel, the film was wound (paper and all) onto some kind of cloth strip that had rubber teeth along the edge to create a space for the film as it was wound. There was a box with cranks and clips and other various accoutrements to facilitate this spooling operation. Also, the strip couldn't be reused until it was dry, so the instructions for developing multiple rolls said you needed multiple cloth strips.

The concept of the reel seems so simple you don't think that there was time before it was invented. Does anyone know when this simple device came along to obsolete these two cumbersome and ungainly options?

BTW, the manual also states that the film can be exposed to subdued white light after developing and washing... yes, before fixing. I can only assume that the films were so slow and that there was so little undeveloped silver remaining that a small amount of light could not fog the film.

 

[AgX]

The tank method looked quite similar to the modern developing tanks, except instead of a reel, the film was wound (paper and all) onto some kind of cloth strip that had rubber teeth along the edge to create a space for the film as it was wound. There was a box with cranks and clips and other various accoutrements to facilitate this spooling operation. Also, the strip couldn't be reused until it was dry, so the instructions for developing multiple rolls said you needed multiple cloth strips.

The second method was quite popular here under the name Correx, though under other brands (even Leitz) it was employed too:
A celluloid belt with corrogated or dimpled edges is wound together with the film, acting as distance yielding device.

 

[GRHazelton]

My first processing was done with a Kodak tank which used aprons, made of a clear plastic, with dimpled edges. They looked like transparent lasagna. The dimples kept the film spaced away from the aprons and itself. A metal disk rested on the roll of apron and film to keep the roll submerged. I can't remember whether I could do only one at a time or two cassettes. With the transparent apron the E 2 reversal process, which used a photoflood lamp, was possible. This was in the very late 50s and early 60s, I presume it was E-2 Ektachrome. I processed 35mm, 120, and 127 film; on the latter two there were occasional spots from the dimples, but rarely detrimental, since they were at the extreme edges.

IIRC agitation involved swirling or rotating the tank; there was no rod and the top was not watertight. Seemed to work okay, my BW negs and E-2 slides were fine. BTW, those ancient slides are still good. The Great Yellow Father was good to me....

 

[John Wiegerink]

My first processing was done with a Kodak tank which used aprons, made of a clear plastic, with dimpled edges. They looked like transparent lasagna. The dimples kept the film spaced away from the aprons and itself. A metal disk rested on the roll of apron and film to keep the roll submerged. I can't remember whether I could do only one at a time or two cassettes. With the transparent apron the E 2 reversal process, which used a photoflood lamp, was possible. This was in the very late 50s and early 60s, I presume it was E-2 Ektachrome. I processed 35mm, 120, and 127 film; on the latter two there were occasional spots from the dimples, but rarely detrimental, since they were at the extreme edges.

IIRC agitation involved swirling or rotating the tank; there was no rod and the top was not watertight. Seemed to work okay, my BW negs and E-2 slides were fine. BTW, those ancient slides are still good. The Great Yellow Father was good to me....

No, you were good to your slides! Improper storage kills slides. Ask me, I know!

 

[darkroommike]

The see saw method in trays is much easier with orthochromatic films but I have souped Verichrome Pan using this method, too. (I literally souped it in some soup bowls I borrowed from the Kitchen.)

 

[Marcelo Paniagua]

I still have some Kodak strip-reels for 120 and 35mm Really easy to use actually.

Those where my first reel-tanks (Koday) but started using stainless steel reels because my dad keep on bugging me that that's the way pro did it


Best regards

Marcelo

 

[Paul Howell]

Before Patterson and Yankee reels the apron was popular with folks who never got the knack of using stainless steel. We used Kodak aprons in high school, even in college there were few apron and tanks. I recall seeing a new version listed in Freestyle Cat, maybe 5 to 10 years ago, don't know if it is still on the market.

 

[Arklatexian]

Before Patterson and Yankee reels the apron was popular with folks who never got the knack of using stainless steel. We used Kodak aprons in high school, even in college there were few apron and tanks. I recall seeing a new version listed in Freestyle Cat, maybe 5 to 10 years ago, don't know if it is still on the market.

The first films that I developed (verichrome ortho) were developed by the see-saw method under a red safelight. There was no problem if the development time was in the five minute range. One time I got brave and bought me some microdol developer which required much, much longer developing times. My arms gave out before I finished the first roll that I tried. Almost immediately after that I bought an FR (Fink & Roslieve ?) tank which I think that I still have. You loaded that in the dark, put the lid on, turned the lights on and poured in the chemicals. Been using tanks ever since.....Regards!

 

[MattKing]

A picture is worth a thousand words:

(Subscribers can) see my APUG gallery for a bit more of the story.

 

[thuggins]

Some interesting history there; thanks for all the input. A number of years ago I bought a Kodak E-6 kit that had one of those ratcheting plastic reels. I never could get it loaded in broad daylight so eventually ended up tossing out the whole kit. So when I first saw that spooling outfit it did seem a bit more fool proof.

With a Hewes reel loading 120 is so easy I can do it with my eyes closed. ;-) 35mm is still a bit of a challenge but I made a tool that helps a great deal.

 

[Paul Howell]

The first films that I developed (verichrome ortho) were developed by the see-saw method under a red safelight. There was no problem if the development time was in the five minute range. One time I got brave and bought me some microdol developer which required much, much longer developing times. My arms gave out before I finished the first roll that I tried. Almost immediately after that I bought an FR (Fink & Roslieve ?) tank which I think that I still have. You loaded that in the dark, put the lid on, turned the lights on and poured in the chemicals. Been using tanks ever since.....Regards!

I have copy of the Kodak 1943 How to Make Good Pictures which shows how to see saw roll film, never did it myself. My high school had a rather nice dark room, with 30 students to a class we used a changing room to load our Kodak tanks then in the front area under room light developed the film while the printing room was in separate area with a revolving door. I was taught to use stainless steel reels by a local photogprher, in college we used a changing room but most of us used stainless steel. I bought a Yankee tank that took 2 35mm reels at a Kmart, it was on sale, then in the 70s started to use Patterson and Unicolor and never looked back, still have Stainless steel which I occasionally use.