Don't buy used SS reels without checking them first.

[Paul Howell]

A friend of mine against my advice bought 6 used SS reels on an auction site, sad story, 5 of the six are bent and will not load without warping the film and touching in spots, what a mess, he is trying to get a refund. The seller is saying that he post the reels as is. My SS reels are getting long in the tooth, just ordered a set of 4 new reels.
(Thread title updated by moderator)

 

[cjbecker]

Ive bought all of my reels second hand. Most have been nice and straight. But i just know going into that they could easily be bent.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Stainless steel reels can be bent and have problems. Any piece of equipment can be miss handled. I have found the Hewes stainless steel reels to be quiet strong and handle well. Also problems loading and unload steel or plastic reels do not occur on the Hewes reels. I highly recommend the Hewes stainless steel wheels over many other brands.

 

[faberryman]

A friend of mine against my advice bought 6 used SS reels on an auction site, sad story, 5 of the six are bent and will not load without warping the film and touching in spots, what a mess, he is trying to get a refund. The seller is saying that he post the reels as is. My SS reels are getting long in the tooth, just ordered a set of 4 new reels.

How can stainless steel reels get long in the tooth? Do you beat yours with a hammer or something? I have some I bought in the 1970s and they are fine. That's why you buy them instead of that plastic stuff.

 

[Paul Howell]

How can stainless steel reels get long in the tooth? Do you beat yours with a hammer or something? I have some I bought in the 1970s and they are fine. That's why you buy them instead of that plastic stuff.

Over the course of 60 years I've dropped a few, more than a few, one had some corrosion, our water here in Scottsdale until a new treatment went on line last month was very hard with enough salts to do some damage. I've tossed a few reels including one 120 reel that would not load properly so need replacements. Mine were a mix of reels bought in the 60s and 70s. At one time I had 20 reels, down to 3, just bought 4 more. BTW, for the most part I use plastic reels, 40 years old and work just fine. I have a couple of 1 reel SS tanks that I like to use when I've shot a mixture of different films that require different development times, and SS take a bit less chemistry.

 

[mgb74]

A friend of mine against my advice bought 6 used SS reels on an auction site, sad story, 5 of the six are bent and will not load without warping the film and touching in spots, what a mess, he is trying to get a refund. The seller is saying that he post the reels as is. My SS reels are getting long in the tooth, just ordered a set of 4 new reels.

If they were listed in "used" condition, they weren't sold as-is.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

How can stainless steel reels get long in the tooth? Do you beat yours with a hammer or something? I have some I bought in the 1970s and they are fine. That's why you buy them instead of that plastic stuff.

They can be dropped on the floor, which happened to me. Switched to Patterson.

 

[Vaughn]

They do get dropped, stored with weight on them, etc.

Other than that, you are correct...they age very well if well treated. I would never replace one that still loads well. And I have straighten some out so that they work again, also.

I ordered a bunch of new 35mm reels (not Hewes) for the university years ago...several were bad right out of the box. We finally bit the bullet and ordered all Hewes 35mm reels...heaven!

Why buy used (or cheap) reels unseen and untested? Saving pennies that will cost you dollars in lost frames and hassles loading.

 

[Sirius Glass]

They do get dropped, stored with weight on them, etc.

Other than that, you are correct...they age very well if well treated. I would never replace one that still loads well. And I have straighten some out so that they work again, also.

It helps to straighten in the correct direction. It seems some people cannot do that and it also seems some deformed reels are just incorrigible.

 

[gone]

How can stainless steel reels get long in the tooth? Do you beat yours with a hammer or something? I have some I bought in the 1970s and they are fine. That's why you buy them instead of that plastic stuff.

A quick word of praise for the cheapo plastic reels. Never had one break, and I've dropped a few of them on tile floors. Easy to load as long as they're dry. Probably cheap to replace too, never had to do that.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

While bent reels can happen, they can also be bent back. I had a Hewes reel that was off. Got out the calipers and bent it back. It didn't take much for it to be hard to load. I also had to do the same with a Kindermann. I actually prefer the Kindermann reels since they hold the end of the film solid. My method for ensuring the film is loading correctly is to push the film back onto the reel every now and then. If it binds it is loaded incorrectly. Half the time with the Hewes reels I push the film off the nubbins and have to start over...

 

[Tel]

I've had a lot of bent steel reels over the years, all 35mm (because the wire used to make them is a smaller gauge). I always preferred steel for ease of loading, but I finally gave up and got a Paterson tank for the 35mm stuff. The steel reels made for 120 and 127 are much more robust and I've never had problems with them.

 

[Sirius Glass]

A quick word of praise for the cheapo plastic reels. Never had one break, and I've dropped a few of them on tile floors. Easy to load as long as they're dry. Probably cheap to replace too, never had to do that.

However they can be bent. How I do not know, but the sides were not parallel. Some bending got it back parallel enough to work correctly. So steel reels are not alone.

 

[MattKing]

I'm going to add the words "without checking them first" to the thread title.

 

[neilt3]

If they were listed in "used" condition, they weren't sold as-is.

That's quite right .

On ebay , the definition of "used" is ;

• Used: An item that has been previously used. The item may have some signs of cosmetic wear, but is fully operational and functions as intended. This item may be a floor model or an item that has been returned to the seller after a period of use. See the seller's listing for full details and description of any imperfections

So in the case of a metal film developing spool that is bent , it won't operate as intended , and is therefor faulty and should have been listed as such .
ie .

• For parts or not working: An item that does not function as intended or is not fully operational. This includes items that are defective in ways that render them difficult to use, items that require service or repair, or items missing essential components. See the seller's listing for full details .

If you've bought anything online or by mail order , it has to be fit for the purpose it was sold for regardless of if it is new or used .
If it cannot be guaranteed to work then it must be sold as non working , rather than trying to hide behind the word "used" as some sellers do . .
This is why it's good to buy from such as ebay , rather than a free adds website where you have no buyer protection .
So when you get a shifty seller claiming their faulty goods were sold as "used" and were sold "as is" , just go straight to making a claim rather than messing about with them .

 

[neilt3]

I'm going to add the words "without checking them first" to the thread title.

How do you do that if it's on an auction site like ebay ?
That's what buyer protections for if sellers are selling untested or ( known to them ) faulty goods .

It pays to have a test roll of film for any cameras or developing spools that you buy , so you can test them in daylight .
That way you can start a returns straight away after receiving them if they turn out faulty .
It's important to know your rights .

 

[Cholentpot]

After years of failing with stainless I found a use for them.

Cine film goes on super easy. I never have luck with C-41 for some reason but the super thick cine stock goes on very smoothly. And it's no cleanup after the REMJET.

However, I did have a rubber lid crack on me yesterday which messed up a roll of film. Top roll had some 'artistic' light leaks all over it. Never happened to me with plastic yet.

 

[Sirius Glass]

After years of failing with stainless I found a use for them.

Cine film goes on super easy. I never have luck with C-41 for some reason but the super thick cine stock goes on very smoothly. And it's no cleanup after the REMJET.

However, I did have a rubber lid crack on me yesterday which messed up a roll of film. Top roll had some 'artistic' light leaks all over it. Never happened to me with plastic yet.

Any nonmetal lid or tank can crack. It is hard to crack a metal cap or lid.

 

[Cholentpot]

Any nonmetal lid or tank can crack. It is hard to crack a metal cap or lid.

Yes, but the patterson style tanks have two lids...

 

[Sirius Glass]

Yes, but the patterson style tanks have two lids...

Personally I would not crack one to see how well the other blocks stray light.

 

[Cholentpot]

Personally I would not crack one to see how well the other blocks stray light.

I generally only use one of the lids, I'm a swizzle kind of guy.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I generally only use one of the lids, I'm a swizzle kind of guy.

Stirred not shaken

 

[Cholentpot]

Stirred not shaken

Swizzled not whatever-rhymes-with-swizzle.

 

[Sirius Glass]

With olives or peeled onions?

 

[mshchem]

After years of failing with stainless I found a use for them.

Cine film goes on super easy. I never have luck with C-41 for some reason but the super thick cine stock goes on very smoothly. And it's no cleanup after the REMJET.

However, I did have a rubber lid crack on me yesterday which messed up a roll of film. Top roll had some 'artistic' light leaks all over it. Never happened to me with plastic yet.

Was this a rubber lid on a stainless tank? I've had a Kindermann lid crack. It was sitting on a shelf. I think it may be better to store the lid off of the tank??