DIY sheet film notching??

[Mike Bates]

I'm using a Rototrim to make sheets of 4x5 film from some leftover 8x10 film I have in the freezer. The slicing works fine.

I'd like to add a notch to the sliced film, mainly for detecting the emulsion side in the dark when loading film holders or development tanks. Any ideas?

 

[DWThomas]

When I shoot 8x10 x-ray film I theoretically don't have the emulsion side problem, as it's double sided. But since I do like to keep track of which side was facing the lens/pinhole, I take a paper punch and overlap a corner of the film with part of it to make a notch. Now that I can do under a dark red safelight, for panchromatic film I think one could rig up a jig of some sort to position it in the dark. The x-ray stuff I have (Fuji HR-T) is remarkably tough, it takes some serious effort to operate the punch!

 

[darkroommike]

Just use a craft store one hole punch, index it in the dark with your finger to just cut a half moon out of the edge.

 

[fdonadio]

The paper punch is the cheapest option, but it be difficult to do it right, at least in the beginning.

One option is a floppy diskette notcher: https://www.ebay.com/itm/182597757293

Simple to use, will do it right and consistently, but costs a little more.

 

[darkroommike]

The paper punch is the cheapest option, but it be difficult to do it right, at least in the beginning.

One option is a floppy diskette notcher: https://www.ebay.com/itm/182597757293

Simple to use, will do it right and consistently, but costs a little more.

That's tech I haven't seen in 30 years! Originally used so you could flip your floppy and use the other side for more storage. Most people that tried this just used a paper punch, but I like the way you think.

 

[AgX]

There is a US punch manufacturer who offers hundreds of punch shapes off stock. Though not cheap.



A further option would be employing a standard office binder-punch, mounted on a base plate with a additional board on punching height. Adding some guides will enable you to punch several half-circle patterns in the dark.

 

[BrianShaw]

I've just clipped the corner with a pair of scissors and called it good enough.

 

[pdeeh]

I've just clipped the corner with a pair of scissors and called it good enough.

Yep

 

[Mike Bates]

Thanks for the suggestions, especially the floppy disk notcher. I'm surprised the price those things go for now. I think I had one back in the day, but probably threw it out when I threw out floppy disks and such. Who would have ever thought I'd want it now?

I've been clipping the corner with a small pair of scissors. That's mostly been good enough, but loading film holders depends on my ability to determine which is the short side of the rectangle by feel in the dark. The notch code gives me that feedback instantly where a clipped corner doesn't.

I'll try the single hole punch near the edge. I think I have one of those around. The "pattern notcher" for sewing looks interesting, but it makes a deeper notch than I probably want.

 

[fdonadio]

Thanks for the suggestions, especially the floppy disk notcher. I'm surprised the price those things go for now. I think I had one back in the day, but probably threw it out when I threw out floppy disks and such. Who would have ever thought I'd want it now?

It was the first thing that came to my mind! I think that because I am trying to revive an Amiga 500 and keep remembering my C64...

 

[pdeeh]

loading film holders depends on my ability to determine which is the short side of the rectangle by feel in the dark. The notch code gives me that feedback instantly where a clipped corner doesn't.

I don't understand.

If I clip the top right hand corner then it's exactly the same feedback as if it is notched at top right. Just a few mm difference in position.

Not telling you you don't experience it as different, just don't understand how you do.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Cut the top, right hand corner off with scissors. Works for me.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

Take a look at these punches.

http://www.michaels.com/cutting-tools/punches/809188603

 

[AgX]

The "pattern notcher" for sewing looks interesting, but it makes a deeper notch than I probably want.

What is that for a kind of punch?

 

[Mike Bates]

I don't understand.

If I clip the top right hand corner then it's exactly the same feedback as if it is notched at top right. Just a few mm difference in position.

Not telling you you don't experience it as different, just don't understand how you do.

Clipping the top right corner off is the same feedback as the regular notch code as long as you're holding the film in, for lack of a more descriptive term, "portrait mode." You can be holding the film in "landscape mode" with the clipped corner in the top right and the back is the emulsion side. I hope that makes sense.

It's not especially hard to determine if the film is being held in portrait or landscape mode, since it isn't square, but the feedback isn't as immediate as the notch code a few mm away from the corner.

 

[Mike Bates]

What is that for a kind of punch?

Here's a sewing pattern notcher. This one cuts a 1/4" x 1/16" notch. The 1/4" is too long. 1/16" x 1/16" would be ideal.

 

[Luckless]

I don't understand.

If I clip the top right hand corner then it's exactly the same feedback as if it is notched at top right. Just a few mm difference in position.

Not telling you you don't experience it as different, just don't understand how you do.

Clip the corner off a business card, and put your finger on the clipped corner. While feeling that clipped corner with your finger, is the card up right and facing you, or is it on its side and facing away from you?

An edge clip, rather than a corner clip, lets you reliably tell portrait from landscape without having to also double check the full lengths of the edges, and makes for less fumbling around.

You could of course clearly clip an angle well away from 45 degrees and get the same effect, but clipping an edge just seems more user friendly in my mind as it leaves less room for second guessing yourself.

 

[DWThomas]

With that sewing pattern notcher I picture taking a strip of aluminum or brass about 3/16 wide and forming a 'C' shape to wrap around the big lower jaw with the ends bent to create a limit to the jaw depth. It could be anchored with some silicone adhesive (or epoxy or whatever). (As cheap as that is, one could even afford to make a mistake!)

 

[MattKing]

Nail clippers might be good.

 

[BrianShaw]

Clipping the top right corner off is the same feedback as the regular notch code as long as you're holding the film in, for lack of a more descriptive term, "portrait mode." You can be holding the film in "landscape mode" with the clipped corner in the top right and the back is the emulsion side. I hope that makes sense.

It's not especially hard to determine if the film is being held in portrait or landscape mode, since it isn't square, but the feedback isn't as immediate as the notch code a few mm away from the corner.

I'm confused. Upper right in portrait orientation is lower right in landscape. But I've never loaded film based on orientation...

But I suppose if one is cutting film for square format I would understand.

 

[Mike Bates]

I'm confused. Upper right in portrait orientation is lower right in landscape. But I've never loaded film based on orientation...

Upper right in portrait orientation WITH EMULSION SIDE UP is upper right in landscape orientation WITH EMULSION SIDE DOWN.

In other words, if the film was square, a corner clip wouldn't definitively show which side was the emulsion side. If the film is nearly square, you can determine the emulsion side, but it's not as simple as finding the clipped corner. You have to find the clipped corner AND make sure it's upper right with the shorter side of the rectangle across the top.

Everybody loads 4x5 film by orientation whether they intend to or not. It will only fit in the film holder in one orientation.

 

[BrianShaw]

I should have mentioned that my response was rhetorical. But thanks for the clarification. One of us is overthinking I believe. I totally agree... the film only fits in the holder one way! If I get confused about notching, traditional or corner clips, I lick the film to get the situation understood.

 

[Mike Bates]

I've been a corner clipper but I asked the question because I figured some of you must have already figured out a better method. I was right. The floppy disk notcher is just about perfect if I can land one for a reasonable price.

I don't cut down that much film, but I have a few boxes of 8x10 left in my freezer I decided to use for 4x5. One of those boxes is Portra 400 which goes for more than $160 these days. I hate to screw up a $4 sheet of film because I was careless about keeping track of the emulsion side.

 

[AgX]

Here's a sewing pattern notcher. This one cuts a 1/4" x 1/16" notch. The 1/4" is too long. 1/16" x 1/16" would be ideal.

One could easily add two stops to make the cut shorter.

 

[pdeeh]

Clip the corner off a business card, and put your finger on the clipped corner. While feeling that clipped corner with your finger, is the card up right and facing you, or is it on its side and facing away from you

if it was laying on a flat surface and i was only touching the edge of the clip i could be unsure I suppose.

But if I hold it in my hand then I would have other haptic feedback to go on and couldn't mistake it, and with 5x4 film I can hold the whole sheet in my hand too. There's no possibility of making a mistake unless one is momentarily distracted or had clipped the wrong corner to begin with.

Anyway, sorry to have derailed your thread.