Cassette Opener

markbarendt · Jul 4, 2008

Does one style of opener work better than the other?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/220455-REG/Kaiser_204125_Film_Cassette_Opener.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/100728-REG/Dot_Line_DL_6060_DLC_Film_Cassette_Opener.html

pnance · Jul 4, 2008

Frankly, I just use an old church key (bottle/can opener).

Paul

TracyStorer · Jul 4, 2008

I haven't used either of those, but an ordinary bottle opener works fine, and you probably already have one in your kitchen drawer.....if not, pick one up for $0.25 at the next yard sale you pass.

rwyoung · Jul 4, 2008

Wow, both of those seem like a lot of work for a simple process.

Re-loads and most factory loads I can open just by holding the cartridge near where the spool sticks out and pressing down on the spool with my thumb. Factory loads need more pressure but more than 50% of the time I can get them to pop.

Stubborn factory loads get a pry with a gizmo I got once for free at a paint store. Bottle opener on one end and a miniature pry bar on the other. I guess they wanted me to paint with a beer buzz (to sell more paint maybe). But it works great on stubborn 35mm rolls.

Steve Smith · Jul 4, 2008

I never bother opening the cartridges. Just wind the film back and leave a leader out (or use an Ilford leader retriever).
Load the reel from the cartridge and tear off at the end.

Steve.

markbarendt · Jul 4, 2008

Steve Smith said:
I never bother opening the cartridges. Just wind the film back and leave a leader out (or use an Ilford leader retriever).
Load the reel from the cartridge and tear off at the end.

Steve.

Good advice all, thanks. I thought about the leader retriever too since it has other uses.

For now the church key sounds good.

Enjoy the fireworks tonight.

Ole · Jul 4, 2008

With really stubborn cartridges, I hold the cartridge in my fist with the spool end sticking out, and slam it hard on the desk, floor, wall or whatever. Any hard flat surface will do. This always makes the end pop off.

23mjm · Jul 4, 2008

Good day all

I have an old Nikor cassette opener I got when I got some reals on eBay, it looks like the first generation of the Kaiser. It works really well, I use to use the bottle opener, but when I got the Nikor I tried it and have never looked back it works well. I have never had a stubborn cassette!!!

yellowcat · Jul 4, 2008

I make my own leader retrievers. Just cut a strip of thin plastic but fairly stiff plastic about 15mm wide ans about 80 mm long then stick a strip of double sided adhesive tape down the middle.
To use remove the backing from the double sided tape and with the tape down push into the cassette while turning the spool as though winding the film into the cassette.

The back of the leader will stick to the tape and can now be pulled out with ease.

The thin plastic I used was black, I would not use clear as it could act as a light guide and cause fogging.
You may be able to use thin card rather than plastic, not tried it but should work.

rwyoung · Jul 4, 2008

The only caveat to the leader retriever method is to make sure the cassette felt is clean. You will be pulling the film back across it again and so if it has sand or grit (ever drop a cassette in the dirt... very bad scene) you run the risk of scratching some or all of the film.

Many ways to skin this cat!

Steve Smith · Jul 4, 2008

rwyoung said:
The only caveat to the leader retriever method is to make sure the cassette felt is clean. You will be pulling the film back across it again and so if it has sand or grit (ever drop a cassette in the dirt... very bad scene) you run the risk of scratching some or all of the film.

That is true but fairly uncommon. The scratching on the exit slot is often mentioned however, the film has already passed through the slot twice in the camera and possibly once in production (not quite sure how they are loaded despite an Ilford tour last year!).

I don't think I have ever had scratches caused this way.

Steve.

raucousimages · Jul 4, 2008

Am I the only one who just tears the can open? I put my thumbs in at the felt and pull it apart then pop one end off and the spool falls into my hand.

Christopher Walrath · Jul 4, 2008

I second (or how ever many) the church key.

Gary Holliday · Jul 4, 2008

Steve Smith said:
That is true but fairly uncommon. The scratching on the exit slot is often mentioned however, the film has already passed through the slot twice in the camera and possibly once in production (not quite sure how they are loaded despite an Ilford tour last year!).

I don't think I have ever had scratches caused this way.

Steve.

Your camera is moving the film in a very precise way, pulling it out yourself can potentially crease or damage the film.

I too just rip the cannister open with my thumb when I can't find my 1980s London flat metal key ring film opening thing.

raucousimages · Jul 4, 2008

df cardwell · Jul 4, 2008

Bare hands.

"I will be merciful and quick", The Gorn

.

.

selenium96 · Jul 5, 2008

rwyoung said:
Stubborn factory loads get a pry with a gizmo I got once for free at a paint store. Bottle opener on one end and a miniature pry bar on the other. I guess they wanted me to paint with a beer buzz (to sell more paint maybe). But it works great on stubborn 35mm rolls.

Wow, I got a kick out of this because I use the same tool. My darkroom is in the basement and I have a workbench on the other side of one wall. I needed an opener one day and this paint can opener/bottle opener was hanging on a peg above the workbench and was the closest one. Now when I open a paint can I have to retrieve it from the darkroom!

Markok765 · Jul 5, 2008

I can open reloads by hand, and I use scissors[opened, and use the edge to pry it off] for the factory rolled.

DWThomas · Jul 5, 2008

In the "good ol' days" before they crimped them semi-permanently I would hold the cartridge in the fingers and bang the long end of the spool on the table, popping the end off. Nowadays, I use a pair of heavy diagonal cutters, grab the rim (of end without spool extension) on one side with the cutting edges, and with a twist, roll the end cap off. (You won't reload it after that however.) Initially, the electrician-sized dikes were the first tool I stumbled across in the workshop that looked like it could work.

DaveT

David Brown · Jul 5, 2008

rwyoung said:
Stubborn factory loads get a pry with a gizmo I got once for free at a paint store. Bottle opener on one end and a miniature pry bar on the other. I guess they wanted me to paint with a beer buzz (to sell more paint maybe).

If the "gizmo" is what I think it is, the "bottle opener" end is actually intended to be used to close the paint can, rather than using a hammer.

rwyoung · Jul 5, 2008

David Brown said:
If the "gizmo" is what I think it is, the "bottle opener" end is actually intended to be used to close the paint can, rather than using a hammer.

Nope. It is a bottle opener. I go to a FUN paint store.

I'd rather have a free bottle in front of me than a pre-frontal lobotomy.

Thanasis · Jul 5, 2008

A bottle opener works fine for me. Ilford cannisters seem to open with much greater ease than kodaks.

raucousimages · Jul 6, 2008

The paint store "bottle opener" in in fact a bottle opener. It is a hold over from days when paint pigments and aditives came in a seperate bottle. These were replaced with pigment in lead tubes then pre mixed colors well over a hundered years ago.

rwyoung · Jul 6, 2008

raucousimages said:
The paint store "bottle opener" in in fact a bottle opener. It is a hold over from days when paint pigments and aditives came in a seperate bottle. These were replaced with pigment in lead tubes then pre mixed colors well over a hundered years ago.

And yet, this is a relatively "new" acquisition. Stamped on the opener is "China" and I think I got it no more than 10 years ago. Didn't scan the side that had the stamping.

I still say it is to make it easier to have beer while painting (and thus sell more paint).

David Brown · Jul 6, 2008

rwyoung said:
Nope. It is a bottle opener.

Nevermind. I was thinking of a totally different tool.

Cassette Opener

markbarendt

pnance

TracyStorer

rwyoung

Steve Smith

markbarendt

Ole

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23mjm

yellowcat

rwyoung

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df cardwell

selenium96

Markok765

DWThomas

David Brown

rwyoung

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