DIY passive film dryer cabinet

bonk · Sep 8, 2018

Hello, I built a dark room in the cellar of our fairly old house so its a bit dusty there. Now I would like to build a passive film dryer cabinet (that does not need electricity) that keeps the circulating dust out at least a little bit.

I was thinking to simply buy a IKEA detolf glass door cabinet put the wet film in there an close the door and be done with it.

My question is, will this most likely dry the film properly? If the cabinet is closed will the climate inside be too wet?

Laurent · Sep 8, 2018

Hi,

not sure it'll help, but I have a similar problem, and I dry my film in the shower. Just rinse the walls with very hot water before putting film to dry, works fine for me.

ozphoto · Sep 8, 2018

Not sure if it helps but they have these as well which I was thinking of using:

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30246468/

Certainly safer from an accident POV, but as always YMMV.

removed account4 · Sep 8, 2018

hello bonk
i use passive system .. i'd keep away from glass anything
look for sterite 4 shelf cabinets they sell online and in big box stores for between 80-90$
i have used one for almost 20 years, works great ..
if you have dust issues in your basement, you might think of a suspended ceiling
too, not expensive and not to hard to install oneself

MattKing · Sep 8, 2018

You need some air flow, so a sealed glass cabinet wouldn't be the best.

wyofilm · Sep 8, 2018

MattKing said:
You need some air flow, so a sealed glass cabinet wouldn't be the best.

Especially, depending where you live. I live in a dry area, so the film would be dry before I closed the cabinet door.

Pieter12 · Sep 8, 2018

Before I realized the shower would work just fine, I considered the Josef cabinet from Ikea. https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products...ef-cabinet-in-outdoor-dark-grey-art-00168990/

jimjm · Sep 8, 2018

You can try using a hanging plastic garment bag like these https://www.containerstore.com/s/cl...a-hanging-storage-bags/12d?productId=10000081
Easy to fold up and store when not in use. Just cut holes in the top and bottom for air to circulate, and cover them with a piece of ventilation filter material to keep dust from entering.

Jim Jones · Sep 8, 2018

I've dried roll film on the reels in a tube that gently forced filtered warm air down through the reels. It was commercially made, but one could be improvised.

Arklatexian · Sep 8, 2018

Jim Jones said:
I've dried roll film on the reels in a tube that gently forced filtered warm air down through the reels. It was commercially made, but one could be improvised.

I built something similar out of stainless steel. Put in a heating element but found it was not needed. The fan was enough. Then founfd my darkroom was dust free enough. and the film dried with no coil so quit drying on the reels......Regards!

bonk · Sep 9, 2018

jnanian said:
look for sterite 4 shelf cabinets they sell online and in big box stores for between 80-90$
i have used one for almost 20 years, works great ..

That one is not buyable in Germany, but I found this plastic cabinet:
https://www.otto.de/p/universalschrank-armadio-mit-3-boeden-530226466/#variationId=530226992

With a height of 168cm (5,5 feet) it should be just high enough to also be able to also hang 36 exposure 35mm films. (I mainly do 4x5 and medium format, but just in case ...)

removed account4 · Sep 9, 2018

these cabinets are not airtight and work great !
i have several wires across mine and dry LF film
( i think i have dried 30 sheets at once ) and a enough
space in the middle so if i run out of room where i usually
dry 120+35mm i can hang a couple of rolls in there too
have fun drilling

rpavich · Sep 9, 2018

Before I tried to hang film in a cabinet without positive air pressure I'd make a film dryer like the previous poster said. I've made them out of 1.5' length of PVC 4" diameter with a 4" duct fan taped to one end with a dust filter taped to the end so that the air being sucked in is filtered. Your film will dry in 45 minutes or less perfectly without spot or dust.

I have to add: before I put the film in the tube, I put it in a salad spinner and give it 20 spins and that takes off 99% of the water before it goes into the tube.

The negs go straight to a Printfile sleeve and I never ever have dust problems.

bonk · Sep 9, 2018

jnanian said:
have fun drilling

You mean for the wires? Or did you add additional holes for additional air circulation? If so, where?

removed account4 · Sep 9, 2018

yup for the wires .. i think i have 4 levels, i just made sure to stagger them a little in case
i used bigger than 4x5 film so they wouldn't touch the lower wires ...

DIY passive film dryer cabinet

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