Buying printing paper in roll form

[pentaxuser]

I often see rolls of paper for sale, both RA4 and B&W. Clearly buying say a 8 inch roll of 100metres and cutting it into 8x10 sheets is a lot more economical than buying boxes of 100 sheets. I have kept my old boxes and black bags so storage after cutting isn't a problem.

My safelight allows me to take out a 8x10 sheet from its bag which is resealed and then cut it into 2 5x7 sheets without fogging but handling a roll is another issue altogether.

Can anyone offer a solution to this? Obviously machinery must exist to cut sheets from rolls but expense wise may be beyond my pocket. However there may be solutions which involve only a reasonable cost and which would pay for itself after a reasonable period.

Is there the equivalent of a print paper film loader which can cut the paper to size or at least allow say 10/20 inches to be drawn out and then cut on a normal paper trimmer?

All ideas welcome especially from those who currently have undertaken successfully just such an operation.

Thanks

Pentaxuser

 

[richard littlewood]

I use rolls often. Fibre base paper can be really curly - Forte especially. The 40" wide rolls are such pigs to handle and cut up - I have to be so careful not to mark the surface in any way. Smaller roll widths make things easier, and the sizes you mention should be pretty easy to cut up. I'd get some cotton gloves (Silverprint) a rotary trimmer and keep the paper in a roll, only cutting off what you think you may get through.

 

[Nick Zentena]

The rolls royce method is to get a roll easel. When you can find one used they can be pretty cheap. New they're expensive.


What I do is pretty simple and cheap.

On the left side I have a holder for the roll. It's similar to the sort of roll paper holder a butcher might have. Mine is made out of three piece of scrap wood. On the side I drilled a pair of half circles. One on each side. The bar is an old broom stick -)

I clamp the roll holder to the bench. At the other end of the table is a paper cutter. I put guides that are 8" apart on the cutter. This keeps the paper straight. Before starting I put a back guide in at the right distance from the blade. For example 10" if I want an 8x10.

Turn the lights out. Take the roll out of the bag and put it on the broom stick. Pull the paper out until it hits the stop. Cut the paper. Drop the paper into the paper safe. Repeat the process.

The cutter cost me less then $20. The rest of the parts I had laying around.

 

[Peter Schrager]

Roll Club?

Maybe we could start a Roll Club? I for one would be interesred in rolls but have no inclination to cut it. I have a roll of Maco Genius film in roll and it aint no bargain to cut. I thought I would save money but it is the reverse as I'm less inclined to use it. Paper is another animal altogether. We could save beucoup buckos by getting rolls. Anyone else might be interested?
Best, Peter

 

[richard littlewood]

Being a Yorkshire man I'm naturally inclined to cost effectiveness and I worked out that buying a roll of paper and cutting it up worked out marginally cheaper than buying sheets with the added dog of a job cutting it up, and dealing with naturally curly paper. An advantage though is being able to do unusual sized prints, like a 6x12 roll film image will do a 40 inch wide print on a 20 inch roll. I really do dislike the cutting up of these rolls though, and I'd really like Ilford (and Forte) to make 40x30 sheets without a price hike over the rolls.

 

[Nick Zentena]

I only cut colour paper. Curl hasn't been an issue for me but then I cut 20 sheets at the very least. Often it's closer to 50. That lets them sit in the papersafe for awhile.

Cost saving isn't very big but it's nice to have any format I want.

 

[claytume]

As Richard mentioned the main benefit of roll paper is the ability to print odd lengths.

I print mainly 1 metre panoramas on 8" paper, a size never supplied in sheets. I use an auto paper dispenser to cut the rolls to length, accuracy is to the millimetre. If you're lucky you may find a lab closing down selling one cheap, they were expensive new.

Next best would be Nick's idea, for the price you can't beat it.

Clayton

 

[rexp]

As for your question about fogging a roll (probably only on the edges, which will be exposed to your safelight for as long as it is out of the bag) I too have a holder made of wood with a dowel passing thru the hub of the roll. I have a little box I made from black FoamCore which I set over the roll, which keeps it nicely shaded from my safelights. This way the paper only sees direct safelight light for a short amount of time. Try doing a safelight test to make yourself comfortable with how much exposure this paper can see before it is a problem.