Clips for UniColor Tubes

[Jeremy]

I'm just curious, is there any reason not to use a number of different clips to separate 4x5 negs in a unicolor tube? I'm about to test about using both wooden clothes pins and the blackplastic/metal spring paperclips.

 

[bmac]

The wooden cloths pins will work, but will soak up some chems. I wouldn't risk it.

 

[Jeremy]

The black spring clips won't lock all the way down the "V" and the wooden pins aren't sturdy enough to withstand the liquid sloshing around without popping off. I guess I may just have to try and find the clothespins from largeformatphotography.info

 

[bmac]

Are you sure they are popping off? I have used wooden ones in the past (the spring loaded ones) and now use plastic cloths pins. They have never fallen off(knock wood)

 

[Jeremy]

They are very cheapy wooden clothespins and the spring actually twisted slightly and they popped off. I think this is due to their swelling from the water. (I ran it 10 minutes with 500mL of water).

 

[bmac]

Strange. This is with a normal unicolor base?

 

[JHannon]

Did the original spacers work properly? I found a photo of an original Unicolor spacer next to a ruler so a copy could be made. Looks like an easy thing to do with some heavy plastic. If anyone is interested.

I can post the photo in the gallery, but it is not my file and I can't remember where I downloaded it if it matters.

Regards,
John

 

[BobF]

I think that photo of the original was something from tim atherton on photo.net. I have tried to make those and the problem is always finding a suitable plastic or rubber material. Every one I tried either didn't flex enough or flexed too much or crumbled apart. My best solution has been to make rings by cutting 1/4" sections from thin plastic pipe. Then split the plastic ring and you have a clip that works well and is cheap to replace.

 

[RobR]

Rings made from plastic pipe sound like a good idea!

I was thinking about putting drops of super-glue in the crease between the guides and the wall so that the film won't slide around. I wouldn't be able to slide the film in against the wall of the drum, but I don't do that anyway, since I was getting badly scratched negatives. Instead, I bend the film away from the wall, move it into place, and then push on the center of the sheet until it snaps into place.

RobR