Anybody Use A Kodacraft Tank w/ Aprons?

[F4U]

I'd like to hear about your experiences and methods.

 

[BrianShaw]

I’ve never used them but a former boss of mine swears by them. He was using them as recently as recently.

 

[Hunter_Compton]

Have used one. It's very easy to load the film, just roll it up with the apron. However, the tank is not very well sealed, so you can't do inversions or even very vigorous swirling, so development can sometimes be uneven. For me, a Paterson tank is by far the better choice.

 

[mshchem]

Agitate it like Analogue Andy!

 

[Paul Howell]

When in high school (1960s) we used them, easy to use compared to winding film on a SS reel. My only issue was that the tank filled very slowly so there was a chance of uneven development. I found a set at yard sale. In the late 80s and early 90s I taught photography at a local community college there was always someone who could not use a SS reel or Patterson but could manage the old Kodak system. There was a similar set sold by Freestyle made 20 or more years ago, have not seen any new stock in a very long time. My tanks and aprons must be in my storage unit, I have a tall tank with 2 35mm aprons and a 120 apron. After sitting in a un air conditioned storage room in the low desert the aprons are likely too brittle to use.

 

[MattKing]

I still have a couple, but haven't used one for a while.
But if you have one of the aprons sized for 616/116 or 70mm film, we should talk .
They are well suited for use by us folks with one dexterous hand. And they are a really good solution for extremely old roll film that curls like crazy.
Unfortunately, the lids don't permit inversion agitation.
For those who aren't familiar with how they look, from my Photrio Gallery uploads:

Portal of a different Sort

• MattKing
• Dec 29, 2007
• 7

I thought I’d try something different for this assignment.

In my mind, a “Portal” is an...

 

[F4U]

I only have the 120 apron,. I bought my Kodacraft 50 years ago brand new. Just pulled it out, still in the box w/instructions tonight. When i bought it, it was just for kicks. Never used the apron. Since I had already been using my Honeywell Nikor tank when I bought it, I laughed at that apron as a recipe for uneven development. although I DID use the tank with a steel reel 3 or 4 times. It only takes 4 days to pour out all the developer and pour in the stop bath. IF you don't mind chemistry leaking out all over everywhere the whole time. I've kept it in the original box all these years. Still looks brand new. Still smells like it did when I first bought it. Smells like vomit, if my crude description is permissible by the moderators. I still wonder if people actually used that thing way back when? To me it was always a nostalgia piece and nothing more. PS. Thanks for the photo. I miss that old Kodak logo and all those neat products.

 

[Don_ih]

If the tank leaks, use the apron with a tank that doesn't leak.

I have one but never used it.

 

[Paul Howell]

I only have the 120 apron,. I bought my Kodacraft 50 years ago brand new. Just pulled it out, still in the box w/instructions tonight. When i bought it, it was just for kicks. Never used the apron. Since I had already been using my Honeywell Nikor tank when I bought it, I laughed at that apron as a recipe for uneven development. although I DID use the tank with a steel reel 3 or 4 times. It only takes 4 days to pour out all the developer and pour in the stop bath. IF you don't mind chemistry leaking out all over everywhere the whole time. I've kept it in the original box all these years. Still looks brand new. Still smells like it did when I first bought it. Smells like vomit, if my crude description is permissible by the moderators. I still wonder if people actually used that thing way back when? To me it was always a nostalgia piece and nothing more. PS. Thanks for the photo. I miss that old Kodak logo and all those neat products.

I think the idea was to in the dark pour in the developer then put the top on then the light with what passed for agitation, then again in dark pop the top, drain the developer and pour in the stop bath, then the fixer. At the community college I taught at we had very small total dark room, the size of small closet for loading film, not enough room for chemistry, and any spill would need to be cleaned up right away. It was the slow pour out and in that I thought was the problem. when a student needed to use a Kodacraft apron I had them use D76 1:2 or Microdal X 1:3 for the longer development time which I think prevented uneven development.

 

[MattKing]

If the tank leaks, use the apron with a tank that doesn't leak.

I have one but never used it.

There is a prong on the bottom of the tank that keeps the end of the apron in a particular position wrt the walls of the tank, and tends to keep the apron leaves spaced. Other tanks don't have that prong. You can use the aprons in those other tanks, but results are more prone to problems.
And figure 8 agitation works reasonably well with them.
You need to make sure as well that you have the weighted disk on top of the apron.

 

[MattKing]

I think the idea was to in the dark pour in the developer then put the top on then the light with what passed for agitation, then again in dark pop the top, drain the developer and pour in the stop bath, then the fixer. At the community college I taught at we had very small total dark room, the size of small closet for loading film, not enough room for chemistry, and any spill would need to be cleaned up right away. It was the slow pour out and in that I thought was the problem. when a student needed to use a Kodacraft apron I had them use D76 1:2 or Microdal X 1:3 for the longer development time which I think prevented uneven development.

The pour out and pour in steps were slow, but worked fine if you reserved them for the end of development and each step thereafter.
For the beginning of development, yes you should have the tank filled with developer, the top off, and the film and apron added to the filled tank in the dark.

 

[AnselMortensen]

I last used one in...oh....1976?
I seem to remember that it is important to use a perforated round metal plate on top of the apron to keep things in place during development, as Matt said previously.
I am remembering the smell of the tank just thinking about it right now...

 

[F4U]

I last used one in...oh....1976?
I seem to remember that it is important to use a perforated round metal plate on top of the apron to keep things in place during development, as Matt said previously.
I am remembering the smell of the tank just thinking about it right now...

Does that mean your always smelled like barf also, or is it just mine? I bought mine brand new in '74 or so. It was not some old must unsold stock. It was brand spanking new. When I first opened it I about ralphed. Still smells like that.

 

[AnselMortensen]

I suspect that your barf smelled different from mine.
My tank smelled like 1970's out-gassing plastic...one distinct photographic odor from the era.
Others:
The smell of a hot slide projector.
The smell of Kodak plastic film canisters.
The smell of Dektol, Kodafix, etc. on your hands (nitrile gloves weren't 'de rigeur').

 

[Besk]

Up until a few years ago, I had a handicapped friend who did a lot of photography of sports in our town.

He did photography and liked to develop his own photos. Physically he was unable to load SS reels and had to use the aprons. I was always on the search for them since they would wear out (break) and had to be replaced.

 

[LibraryTroll]

I used the Kodacraft "lasagna" system (colloquial term) as recently as July 2019 for developing Film Washi "V" film in 120 format. Sadly, this film now appears to be discontinued. The paper negative film is impossible to use with traditional SS reels and would be a lot like trying to roll a tissue thin, wet noodle into the spirals! The original Film Washi "W" (orthochromatic) can be tray developed under red light with a basic variation of the dip and dunk method. The "V" is panchromatic and is really kind of interesting, but that's another story.

During that summer of 2019, I attended a Film Washi workshop featuring the founder, Lomig Perrotin, visiting from France. He provided a lecture on his founding of Film Washi and demonstrated the best practices (tips and tricks) for using and processing his films. His lecture also talked about the old "lasagna" system and we got a hands on demo of how to assemble his recreated version of the old Kodacraft aprons. The idea is to just use them with a small Paterson-type tank thus solving the drip/leak issues. It doesn't appear that he offers this product anymore as it is not currently on his website.

I have an old, well used tank with 35mm and 120/620 aprons. Yes, the aprons do out gas a rather putrid acrid chemical smell from their decay process, which may be accelerated by contact with photo chemicals over the years. Note that the little wavy bits are a pain the ass to clean! I also have a NOS boxed set whose aprons do not seem to exhibit the same extreme odor. They just smell like the typical old photo equipment smell, which isn't always pleasant either. (My wife thinks it all smells like "old man" pee, but that's her olfactory perception.)

When I processed my first roll, it was the first time that I've used this process. My grandfather and dad had probably last used this set so I felt connected in a small way! I don't think I've ever seen these sets come with a cap for the lid, but these are easily made. I have a cap that fits and I have no idea where it came from as it was with the set when I got it. The NOS in the box set does not have a cap. It also include a perforated metal plate. Many of the Kodacraft tanks/apron sets that I've seen online do not have the metal plate so these might have been lost or tossed over the decades. I did use mine to hold the film/apron sandwich in place to keep the film from separating from the apron. I don't think this would actually happen, but why take a chance was my thought.

I think my results were successful, but I may have over-agitated a little. Yes, I was able to agitate in a more of less standard SS tank fashion, which may not be necessary or desired in this specific case. It could also just be the nature of the paper film since the emulsion is very delicate and rubbed off in some points of contact with the apron ridges due to agitation. I didn't have another roll to shoot/process and try a stand-type development as a comparison. It seems like this would lead to unequal development in all probability.

Samples below taken with a Kodak No.2 Cartridge Hawk-Eye, Model A, using Film Washi "V" (120 format, ISO 100) = Extreme Fun!

 

[Paul Howell]

I last used one in...oh....1976?
I seem to remember that it is important to use a perforated round metal plate on top of the apron to keep things in place during development, as Matt said previously.
I am remembering the smell of the tank just thinking about it right now...

I had forgotten the perforated round metal plate, kept the aprons from floating in the developer and separated the 2 35mm rolls when used with the large tank. I recall there were 2 tanks, a small tank for one roll of 35 or 828 film and taller tank for 1 roll of 120 620 or 2 35mm aprons.