• Welcome to Photrio!
    Registration is fast and free. Join today to unlock search, see fewer ads, and access all forum features.
    Click here to sign up

Developing 8x10 X-ray film in non-stick metal pan

mark

Member
Allowing Ads
Joined
Nov 13, 2003
Messages
5,704
Quick question.

I thought I read someone was developing X-ray film with pyrocat in a nonstick pan. Then I read that metal pans should not be used.

which is it?
 
If the inside of the pan is completely sealed with the non-stick...and the the non-stick will not react with photochemicals (likely not to)...and one does not have spouses/kids who can't keep metal utensils out of the pan...and if one does not plan to cook with the pan again, the yes, using the pan will probably be okay.
 
I use dedicated non stick oven trays and the only issue I have had is with the type that has small dimples, you need to keep the double sided film moving with these, single sided is fine. If it sits too long the dimples leave dimple marks.
I also made trays out of Colorbond to fit 14 x 17 film, they are also ok.
I found plastic photo paper trays prone to scratching, but that may just be me. Far less likely to scratch with metal trays.
 
Some folks just put a piece of glass on the bottom of the tray. I would suggest single weight window glass with sanded edges (to prevent cuts and reduce breakage)...but double strength window glass is fine, too...still get the edges sanded.
 
Vaughn said:
Some folks just put a piece of glass on the bottom of the tray. I would suggest single weight window glass with sanded edges (to prevent cuts and reduce breakage)...but double strength window glass is fine, too...still get the edges sanded.
Click to expand...
How do you find this method with double sided xray film? I have tried it with single sided and found the film was inclined to get capillary adhesion as well as needing more chemistry than a flat bottom tray.
 
Gloves and keeping the film above the glass worked. But I decided against x-ray film due to the softening of the image caused by two emulsions.
 
So I can use the brand new nonstick cake pan?

it won’t be used for anything else ever.
 
mark said:
So I can use the brand new nonstick cake pan?
Click to expand...
I did it for a while. I still have it, but it has started to rust through the nonstick coating. So expect it will work for a while, but it'll die sooner or later. I prefer plastic storage trays; they last longer.

BTW, I completely gave up on double sided xray film. No matter what I tried (and I tried literally everything), I never got a perfectly corner-to-corner scratch free and even development. The non-stick tray with a rather involved agitation scheme gave the best results - but still not good enough for my taste.
 

have given up on X-ray film all together or do you use single sided?
 
What do 9x12 Pyrex baking pans cost these days? Those would be ideal for processing 8x10, except for the rounding in the corners (but they're enough bigger than the film they shouldn't cause problems).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register