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DIY film clips

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fdonadio

fdonadio

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Just wanted to share with you guys, I came up with very good film clips using stuff that is pretty cheap and easy to find (disclaimer: darkroom supplies are hard to find in Brazil and we have to import mostly everything):

002C9DE9-BC68-418D-92B6-90E29364C068.jpeg


The clips themselves I bought at a stationery store. I don’t remember how much I paid (cheap, for sure). They come in boxes with 20 pieces and have a very good grip.

The weights are fishing sinkers, bought at a fishing supplies store. I like them because they are really small and still heavy enough (but not too much), and they also have a hole through them that makes it easy to hang to the clips. As anyone into fishing here knows, they are available at a great assortment of sizes, shapes and weights. I am pretty sure they can be found easily and cheaply in lots of places, especially in the USA, where it seems you can buy anything at the dollar store. :wink:

Hook the little weight to the clip using steel wire or fishing line and you have a weighted clip!

Been using them for the last 10 rolls or so and they won’t rust like the ones I had before (bought at B&H). They work great!
 
I've used buldog clips similer to yours for ever, cheap at any stationary store, around £2 or £4 for 10 in most stationary stores, Like the idea of a weight on the lower one, I've never tried that, I find one threaded though a clothes line I have in my darkroom and one on the bottom film works fine, and so much cheaper than a set of film vlips, also handy for hanging up prints to dry
 
Thanks for the fishing sinkers tip. Better then my DIY alternatives so far.

ps. obrigado pela dica
 
I seem to recall reading somewhere that St Ansel used wooden spring clothespins. What's good enough for him is good enough for me!
 
I used wooden clothpins at the start.
The problem I see with these clips is that they will rust easily.

EDIT:
Then just discard them. They are cheap.
 
Last edited:
fdonadio said:
Just wanted to share with you guys, I came up with very good film clips using stuff that is pretty cheap and easy to find (disclaimer: darkroom supplies are hard to find in Brazil and we have to import mostly everything):

View attachment 200475

The clips themselves I bought at a stationery store. I don’t remember how much I paid (cheap, for sure). They come in boxes with 20 pieces and have a very good grip.

The weights are fishing sinkers, bought at a fishing supplies store. I like them because they are really small and still heavy enough (but not too much), and they also have a hole through them that makes it easy to hang to the clips. As anyone into fishing here knows, they are available at a great assortment of sizes, shapes and weights. I am pretty sure they can be found easily and cheaply in lots of places, especially in the USA, where it seems you can buy anything at the dollar store. :wink:

Hook the little weight to the clip using steel wire or fishing line and you have a weighted clip!

Been using them for the last 10 rolls or so and they won’t rust like the ones I had before (bought at B&H). They work great!
Click to expand...
good idea; thanks for sharing.
 
I bought stainless steel bulldog clips years ago, they do not rust. I always find that the films dry flatter not hanging from the two pin holes in the purpose made film clips. I do not see stainless steel bulldog clips for sale these days though.
 
Some plastic clothespins come with a hole in the tip of the handle for easy stringing along a line across the darkroom.
 
Thanks everyone for the compliments and suggestions.

I didn’t know these were called “bulldog clips”.

I tried wooden clothespins before and I still use them for prints, as it’s only the bottom clip (which I only use with film) that always rusts.

I also have some of these plastics clothespins with a hook in the tip (smaller hook, though). They work well for prints too, but they tend to have a weaker grip with film (too thin, maybe?) and slide off with any weight attached to them. They’re not heavy enough to be used by themselves.

The bulldog clips are awesome for 4x5 film. They will hold the film even if you clip only a small part of a corner.
 
I do not have a picture of them, i am sure they are sold under 100 different names, but...... from our local "Dollar Store", i think they come 6 to a pack, multi colors, maybe 40mm long, steel coated with plastic.
I have been using them for about 2 years, they have help up well. :smile:

Aahhhh.....here they are.
These things.
They are not DIY, but there is no way i can compete with The Dollar Store anyway.....

s-l640.jpg
 
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If one wipes the part of the film where bulldog clamps are to grip before attaching them and has one fingers not dripping wet, there should not be much of a corrosion issue.
 
CMoore said:
s-l640.jpg
Click to expand...

These look great and the weight can be added directly. Just unbend one tip, stick a small sinker and bend it again. If I find these here, I’ll try to make weighted clips out of them.
 
Those bulldog clips are good for way more than film at home. I keep them around for reclosing chip bags, inner cereal bags, cookie bags, anything that doesnt have a ziplock. It even works in the freezer. It makes a big difference in how fresh the contents stay.
 
Cool! Granted in 1915 and long expired.

More than one 100 years and this invention is still used in everyday life and is still being cited in new patents.
 
R.Gould said:
I've used buldog clips similer to yours for ever, cheap at any stationary store, around £2 or £4 for 10 in most stationary stores, Like the idea of a weight on the lower one, I've never tried that, I find one threaded though a clothes line I have in my darkroom and one on the bottom film works fine, and so much cheaper than a set of film vlips, also handy for hanging up prints to dry
Click to expand...
Does anyone remember clothes-pins made of wood? I use these threaded onto a galvanized wire and loose pins to clip to the bottom of roll film. Sheet film, hung by one corner, does not need the second pin. Has worked for me for many years. Installed them in the mid-1980s and still working fine.......Regards!
 
Arklatexian said:
Does anyone remember clothes-pins made of wood? I use these threaded onto a galvanized wire and loose pins to clip to the bottom of roll film. Sheet film, hung by one corner, does not need the second pin. Has worked for me for many years. Installed them in the mid-1980s and still working fine.......Regards!
Click to expand...
I have a stack of wooden clothes pegs (we call the pegs over here) I use the for hanging FB prints back to back to dry and I have often used them for hanging film's with a couple on the bottom to weigh them,down, I have never used the proper film clips at the price they are, seems to me a waste of money
 
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