Darkroom injury (minor): anybody else hurt themself in a dark darkroom?

cliveh · Feb 17, 2023

May I ask if the OP was in darkness when he dropped the scissors, or Donald when he clipped his finger. As you can trim the leader from 35mm in white light prior to loading the spiral by extracting the leader from the cassette and cutting it just beyond, as you wasted 2 or 3 inches of film when loading the camera. Not trying to teach people to suck eggs, but just wondered.

Tim Stapp · Feb 17, 2023

Injuries in the darkroom? Ha, my wife calls me an accident waiting to happen.

I had over 350 stitches before I started school. I quit counting at 1,250. I was in the ER so often that the ER nurses thought my mother was having an affair with Dr. Marston. In this day and age, she would have been turned over to protective services

grahamp · Feb 17, 2023

My uncle often cut down large paper with a ruler and craft knife. He stopped when he started getting white spots on his prints...

I got a rotary cutter when I started my first darkroom.

PrairiePhotographer · Feb 17, 2023

cliveh said:
May I ask if the OP was in darkness when he dropped the scissors, or Donald when he clipped his finger. As you can trim the leader from 35mm in white light prior to loading the spiral by extracting the leader from the cassette and cutting it just beyond, as you wasted 2 or 3 inches of film when loading the camera. Not trying to teach people to suck eggs, but just wondered.

No, I hadn’t thought of trimming the leader with the lights on. Thanks for the tip!

cliveh · Feb 17, 2023

PrairiePhotographer said:
No, I hadn’t thought of trimming the leader with the lights on. Thanks for the tip!

You can also start loading the first few inches into the spiral before lights out.

MattKing · Feb 17, 2023

cliveh said:
You can also start loading the first few inches into the spiral before lights out.

This works well with plastic reels.
Not quite so well with the metal reels that load from the inside out!

cliveh · Feb 17, 2023

MattKing said:
This works well with plastic reels.
Not quite so well with the metal reels that load from the inside out!

I don't agree for Leica users, as we waste at least about 4" of film when loading the camera.

MattKing · Feb 17, 2023

cliveh said:
I don't agree for Leica users, as we waste at least about 4" of film when loading the camera.

That is true - although once you cut off the "tongue", I'm not sure that you are wasting much more than most of us do.
Of course, the steel reels that I use probably need about 1.5 cm more wasted film than the Hewes reels do.

mshchem · Feb 17, 2023

cliveh said:
You can also start loading the first few inches into the spiral before lights out.

Hewes makes a really neat little loader for 35mm. Small stand holds the Hewes spiral and the 35mm film cassette, with room lights on you trim the tongue off, then pull out about 3 inches of film from the cassette, engage the film end on the teeth of the spiral. Turn out the lights, and turn the loader crank. Takes about 5-10 seconds to load the spiral. Cut off the cassette and it's done.
I have one, I never fool with it, but it is cool.

Maris · Feb 17, 2023

Cut finger while washing 16x20 cheap picture frame glass in the darkroom sink. The glass edge was so sharp that I didn't notice the blood until I picked up a 16x20 4ply 100% rag mount board and wondered why it had a red smear on it. Was the expensive mount board wasted? Nah, just turned it over and cut the window matte from the other side. The framed picture subsequently sold via a gallery so someone out there has a genuine sample of "artist blood".

koraks · Feb 18, 2023

Maris said:
The framed picture subsequently sold via a gallery so someone out there has a genuine sample of "artist blood".

Have you signed all your works in blood ever since?
Sounds risky. I mean, how do you know you don't accidentally forfeit your soul to the dark one and all that.

Alan Edward Klein · Feb 18, 2023

When I was staioned in Japan in the USAF in1965, the base had a wonderful and complete dark room. Being in Japan I bought my Nikon F (cheap) and took some photo classes. I was developing some 35mm film using a church key (bottle opener) to open the cassette and unknowingly sliced open my palm. I didn't notice until after I turned the light on with blood all over. I've been sending my film out to labs since then.

cliveh · Feb 18, 2023

Alan Edward Klein said:
When I was staioned in Japan in the USAF in1965, the base had a wonderful and complete dark room. Being in Japan I bought my Nikon F (cheap) and took some photo classes. I was developing some 35mm film using a church key (bottle opener) to open the cassette and unknowingly sliced open my palm. I didn't notice until after I turned the light on with blood all over. I've been sending my film out to labs since then.

There is no need to open the cassette to extract the film.

Alan Edward Klein · Feb 18, 2023

cliveh said:
There is no need to open the cassette to extract the film.

It's been almost 60 years since I tried. So I really don't remember how it's done. Maybe I cut my palm drinking beer in the darkroom?

Sirius Glass · Feb 18, 2023

cliveh said:
You can also start loading the first few inches into the spiral before lights out.

I save the cut off leaders for testing the developer before starting the development process.

Pieter12 · Feb 18, 2023

Sirius Glass said:
I save the cut off leaders for testing the developer before starting the development process.

I use them to test fixer.

logan2z · Feb 18, 2023

cliveh said:
There is no need to open the cassette to extract the film.

I also started out using a cassette opener since that's what many of the online tutorials suggest. After slicing my hand open in my changing bag, I decided it was time for a better approach. Now, when rewinding the film, I don't rewind all the way but I leave some of the leader sticking out of the cassette. I then feed the film onto the reel directly from the cassette. This also allows me to trim the edges of the leader for easier loading onto the reel without having to do it in the dark. A film picker is another option for pulling the leader out if the film has been rewound all the way, but those can be fiddly and not all of them work that well.

Vaughn · Feb 18, 2023

Maris said:
Cut finger while washing 16x20 cheap picture frame glass in the darkroom sink. The glass edge was so sharp that I didn't notice the blood until I picked up a 16x20 4ply 100% rag mount board and wondered why it had a red smear on it. Was the expensive mount board wasted? Nah, just turned it over and cut the window matte from the other side. The framed picture subsequently sold via a gallery so someone out there has a genuine sample of "artist blood".

If I get a beard hair into the gelatin when I am mixing it up, it might end up in a carbon print. Centuries for now they'll be able to grow a 20th century photographer if they so desire...and also test the hair to see what drugs they'll need to supply said artist to make him feel at home.

But the fact remains that time photographing can be a lot more dangerous than time in the darkroom!

mshchem · Feb 18, 2023

This discussion prompted me to buy a wireless remote for the overhead lights. Less likely to crash walking around in the dark. (Note to self, turnoff power to prevent electrocution during installation.)

Alan Edward Klein · Feb 18, 2023

I notice that LED lights dim more slowly than old fashioned bulbs. Do you have to wait longer to start doing darkroom work?

guangong · Feb 18, 2023

Guilty of what the New York Times describes as heightism, I sometime bump my head at the bottom of the stairs on the way to my darkroom. Incidentally, the NYT’s solution to marry a short person didn’t work for me. My wife’s height was 5ft, but our daughter is very tall.

Kilgallb · Feb 19, 2023

Alan Edward Klein said:
I notice that LED lights dim more slowly than old fashioned bulbs. Do you have to wait longer to start doing darkroom work?

Some LED lights dim slowly. The ones in my bedroom are visible for 30 seconds. (Gives me time to get into bed without tripping)

In my darkroom I use a single Philips LED light bulb that is almost instant off. You have to just try until you get a lamp that turns off quick.

mshchem · Feb 19, 2023

I'm 6'1" I bump my head constantly. Maybe I should wear my bike helmet in the darkroom

Donald Qualls · Feb 20, 2023

cliveh said:
May I ask if the OP was in darkness when he dropped the scissors, or Donald when he clipped his finger.

Yes, I was in darkness. As I recall, it was the tail I was clipping from a roll I'd left the leader out on and pulled out of the cassette as I loaded. The cut was minor (enough to bleed well, not enough to require a stitch), just a little surprising since we normally don't think of scissors as flesh-cutting devices...

BTW, I've only managed to retrieve a leader once using another piece of film, though I haven't tried it with a dedicated tool.

logan2z · Feb 20, 2023

mshchem said:
I'm 6'1" I bump my head constantly. Maybe I should wear my bike helmet in the darkroom

I'm 6'4", same problem. The vent hood over the stove in our kitchen is my nemesis.

Darkroom injury (minor): anybody else hurt themself in a dark darkroom?

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Darkroom injury (minor): anybody else hurt themself in a dark darkroom?

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