Cutting large roll film

[John Bartley]

Just an FYI in case anyone was curious. It's how I do it.

http://www3.sympatico.ca/oldrad/Photo/Tech/FilmCutter/FilmCutter.html

cheers

 

[Bob Carnie]

hi John

What size and type of roll film are you cutting??
Also where do you purchase the roll film??

 

[eumenius]

Just an FYI in case anyone was curious. It's how I do it.

http://www3.sympatico.ca/oldrad/Photo/Tech/FilmCutter/FilmCutter.html

cheers

Oh my, John, that's great! Maybe I would improve your construction a bit, suggesting to put two film guiding pins on a left side (when looked from the knife side) of board. Of course, with corresponding holes in pressure plate to let it cover properly. Also you may want to put a piece of neoprene foam on the underside of your pressure plate, to press the film down without any risk of scratching it. A close-cell foam from, say, mouse mat will hold no sand or dust to tarnish your emulsion (but I assume you're blowing out the dust from the loaded holders?).

Cheers eh?

Zhenya

 

[Changeling1]

Are you sure you're talking about 8x10? The roll of Plus-X is only 5" wide. Assuming you're loading 4x5" holders, how much money do you save with this method?

 

[John Bartley]

Hi folks,

The film that I am using is 9-1/2"w x 125' long in one roll. It's Kodak PlusX Aero and it came from eBay. I guess if you cut to an actual 8x10, then you'd have to cut the 10" first and then shorten the 9.5" to 8" to make them the correct size. That would give 150 frames (assuming no waste) at about $100US per roll incl shipping. That's about $0.68 / frame for film that works at about 25iso.

Because I'm a cheapskate , I leave the 9.5" dimension as is and only cut once, to 8", giving me negatives that are 8"x9.5" and that produces 187 frames per roll, or $0.53 / frame. The film is very rigid and naturally curls into the emulsion, so being supported on three sides instead of four makes no difference at all.

There is also 5" x 125' rolls available and if you cut them to 4", you'd get 375 frames per roll.

Zhenya - I hope you're not freezing to death in your new lab. Remember, lots of potato juice to keep the flu away eh? I thought of putting a pad under the pressure plate, but instead what I did was run the plate (which is wood) through my surface planer to get a glass smooth surface. In the 5 dozen negatives that I have cut so far, I have not yet had a single scratch. This film is tough, tough, tough. I do like your idea about the pins though, not necessarily just as film guides, but also as pressure plate guides. I may just do that this weekend ....

 

[eumenius]

John,
I'm not freezing at all - I've seriously sprained my knee, fanfares go here Just sitting home far away from my newly-acquired half-broken in post Toyo-Omegaview 45D

An idea with surface planer is okay, while you've got one, and made your pressure plate from the wood hard enough... if it gives no scratches, it's OK And the guiding pins can be made from brass rod, or be just wooden - what's more attractive to your design They'll keep the film in place, and prevent the plate from swinging on elastic hinge.

There's a simple way to turn your appliance to continuous-cutting machine - just make a delimiting "stop ruler" for the film side opposed to knife, maybe from a piece of metal angle, sliding on your existing screw-nailed delimiter, and entering a narrow dedicated slot in the base board. You have to raise the delimiter the way it would allow the newly cut sheet to escape to the left of roll. You put the delimiter over this hole - adjust film and put down the pressure plate - cut - raise the delimiter, and push the film sheet to left - lower the delimiter - adjust - etc. Maybe that's faster?

Oh, and you may also add a small rack for your roll over the whole thing, so the dusty box won't be needed...

Cheers from cold cold Moscow,
Zhenya

Zhenya - I hope you're not freezing to death in your new lab. Remember, lots of potato juice to keep the flu away eh? I thought of putting a pad under the pressure plate, but instead what I did was run the plate (which is wood) through my surface planer to get a glass smooth surface. In the 5 dozen negatives that I have cut so far, I have not yet had a single scratch. This film is tough, tough, tough. I do like your idea about the pins though, not necessarily just as film guides, but also as pressure plate guides. I may just do that this weekend ....

 

[mrwestphal]

Hi John, I have often wanted to buy a roll of the PlusX Areo from that dealer but was afraid too due to age. How do you feel about te quality of the product? does it live up to his hype? I just have not found anyone cutting and using there own out side of the praise that they offer. so, I am thinking if you you are liking it them I am going to buy a roll myself. thanks in advance!

P.S. It looks like all your gallery images are with this film and I like what I see!

 

[John Bartley]

Hi John, I have often wanted to buy a roll of the PlusX Areo from that dealer but was afraid too due to age. How do you feel about te quality of the product? does it live up to his hype? I just have not found anyone cutting and using there own out side of the praise that they offer. so, I am thinking if you you are liking it them I am going to buy a roll myself. thanks in advance!
P.S. It looks like all your gallery images are with this film and I like what I see!

Hi Doug,

I have nothing but good things to say about Ed on eBay. He treated me very well with my film purchase and I will be buying from him again.

Thank you for the compliment on my photos. I know from having looked at other peoples work that the quality of my images is nowhere near as good as it could be, but this has to do with me, not the film. The film has lived up to all my (amateur) expectations.

When I first used this film, I rated it at the 125iso that was suggested and it makes negatives that would be ideal for enlarging - good detail, but not too thick. I bought it specifically for contact printing and so I now rate it at 25iso for metering, BUT ... I know that even rated at 25, you can overexpose at least one stop and I have gone two stops over and I have yet to see a ruined negative, so could you rate it at 6? I think so, but I haven't done any tests and don't plan to. I'm having a lot of relaxing fun just playing with it .
I think this would be an ideal film for panoramic pinholes, seeing as it's cheap and big and easy to work with.
Is it important to note that this film supposedly has no anti-halation layer?

cheers

 

[noseoil]

John, great idea for cutting film. Looks like it works well and is simple. One option you might consider for the "fence" arrangement is something I use for small work on the table saw. The cutting table you have has a dado slot already, so this would work well for your system, no more holes in the table.

Make a strip of hardwood which will fit properly in this slot and slide easily, with gentle pressure. On the bottom side of this slider, drill two holes and countersink for a countersunk machine screw (100 degrees), so the heads are just slightly below flush. Carefully, slice a kerf through these two holes along the axis of the slider with your router (1/16" kerfing cutter) or a fine table saw blade (small diameter is better here). Push two countersunk machine screws up through the holes in this slider and through the wood platten (drill through both the slider and platten at the same time, 90 degrees, exact for platten and slider, eh?) so they protrude enough to get a wing nut in place with a flat washer on the top side. With the slider in place on the table, the wing nuts are tightened gently and the sides will expand the wood against the sides of the slot and lock it in place. That way you can move it with a stop block in the dark and do both sides of a cut if you wish. tim

 

[mrwestphal]

OK John,
you have talked me into it! I am going to buy a roll today.
Thanks for the quick reply. Now I am getting excited to try it!
What do you normally develop in?
do you normally rate it at 25 all the time or does it depend on the scene you capturing?
So many questions!!!
Sorry for being a pain, I am like a kid in a candy store when something new is coming to me!!

 

[John Bartley]

Tim : Good idea. I can visualise that quite easily from the description. It will be incorporated into the next cutter. I have to build a wider cutter soon, probably next month.

Doug : No pain at all . I use D23, the Adams variant and I extend it with Borax for the second bath. I always meter with the iso on the meter set at 25, but if I think it's marginal for exposure (I'm not sure how to explain a "gut" feeling - I'm no scientist ), then I add a stop and expose a bit longer. I guess the two bath development is what keeps the highlights from blowing out. My standard development for a normal 25iso exposure is 5 minutes in bath A and four minutes in bath B. Then it's stop and fix with whatever juice makes you happy. If I really overdo the exposure, I reverse the times - 4 min in A and 5 in B. The only reasons I use D23 are convenience and ease of use. Besides, it lasts forever and ever and ever ....

cheers

 

[bobfowler]

There is also 5" x 125' rolls available and if you cut them to 4", you'd get 375 frames per roll.

Or 214 frames of 5x7...

hmmmmm... maybe something I have to try...

 

[Donald Qualls]

Will a 4x5 holder accept film that's actually 5 full inches long? Normal film is 125 mm, 2 mm under five inches -- but 2 mm isn't much, and the length dimension might have tolerance; I've got some 4x5 holders but haven't used them yet. I do know the 4" dimesion needs to be undersize as well, 99 or 100 mm instead of 101 to 102; the 4x5 film I have on hand is the J&C 100 miscut that's a full four inches wide and won't fit standard holders. No worries; I bought the film for pinhole cameras that will have handmade film retention, and don't yet have a camera that accepts the 4x5 holders so no immediate need for film -- but those 5" rolls of Plus-X Aero are tempting...