Drying 5 x 4 negatives

numnutz · May 30, 2007

Hi - I have just purchased a 5 x 4 Wista Field Camera outfit - this is to try to start some Alternate Process photography. With the outfit I got a 5 x 4 daylight developing tank as I have no permanent darkroom.

I have past experience with processing B&W and colour film so the processing should not be a problem. However I am stumped as how to dry the negatives.

For the first few shots while I am re-learning I can use 'clothes pegs' on a clothes line above a radiator.

But I wish to use something more permanent. I cannot have a proper drying cabinet as I don't have the room or the money for one.

Has anyone got any bright ideas?

Thanks in advance

nn

P.S. In the past for 120 and 35mm film I used a length of drainpipe with a rod at one end to hang the film from and a fan at the other and it worked fine.

David A. Goldfarb · May 30, 2007

You don't need a fan or heat unless you are in a particular hurry. I use retractable clotheslines over the bathtub.

If you need to dry a lot of film in a small space, I recommend Jobo sheet film clips. They aren't cheap, but they pierce the film with a pin, so they are very secure with any format, and they hang the film perpendicular to the line.

tony lockerbie · May 30, 2007

Agree with David, the Jobo or similar clips that pin the neg are the safest. Clothes pegs can let 'em drop, with nasty results. A fan is probably not a good idea as it stirs the dust up, maybe just a convection heater of some sort if you are in a hurry.
Tony

MurrayMinchin · May 30, 2007

I use wooden clothes pegs on a line without a drying cabinet. I would suggest you let them drip dry by hanging them from a corner (after a dip in something like Photo-Flo) without any heat source at all, and let gravity do the work. The 'sheeting action' of the Photo- flo doesn't leave any droplets of water behind to cause water spots in the emulsion...I'm thinking a heat source may speed things up and actually cause some droplets to be left behind.

I'm lucky in that our water supply is good, but I've heard from others who have to use distilled water as a final rinse and for their Photo-Flo to stop mineral deposits.

Have fun with your new toy

Murray

Baxter Bradford · May 30, 2007

Small metal bulldog type clips work well (about 1/2 inch wide). I place them on very edge of film above the film notches and hang on indoor line in laundry room. Leave plenty of space between them due to curling.

Also find it helps to remove water from bottom edge by tissue touched very lightly up to the film edge.

Curt · May 30, 2007

No fans, air dry, film hangers made of stainless steel clips to the corner of the negative after photoflo. That's what I do and it works well, also I leave the room and let them dry with a minimal of air movement so any room dust isn't disturbed and attracted to the negatives. I found a long time ago that when wood pins get wet they tend to become slippery and the negatives can pop right out, sometimes after you have left the room.

Good luck,
Curt

jmdavis · May 30, 2007

As others have suggested, I dry my 4x5 and 8x10 over the tub in the bathroom. I have found this to be the most dustfree area of the house. Usually I finish a session in the darkroom, hang up the negatives and then put them in sleeves before taking a shower in the morning.

Mike

KenM · May 30, 2007

I hung a string down the length of my big sink (10'), and put about 25 closepins on it. However, to make them more secure and to optimize the space required, I drilled a hole through the handle end of each closepin, and then threaded the closepins onto the string. They can't fall off, they never bind when you're trying to slide them, and the take up much less space since the film is hung perpendicular to the string.

You have to make sure that you hang the film with the emulsion facing the same direction, since the film will curl as it dries. You don't want the sheets to touch!

Unlike Curt, I've never had a sheet of film fall out of a wooden closepin. I have, however, had the entire string of closepins hit the sink - I secured it more after that incident

argus · May 30, 2007

Curt said:
...stainless steel clips to the corner of the negative after photoflo...

Curt,

I use the same method with great success for 4x5 and larger negatives.
I just hang them to dry in the darkroom and have no problems with dust, even if my darkroom could use a cleaning .

I usually develop my negatives before bedtime so I am not seduced to go and look if they are already dry.

Greetings,
G

Ole · May 30, 2007

I found 12 strong metal clips in a box of "stuff". I opened up a wire clotheshanger, put the clips on, and closed the hanger again.

Depending on the sice of sheet (6.5x9cm to 12x16") I use every clip, every second, every third, or one each end. Then I hang the whole thing from the shower curtain rod.

radiantdarkroom · May 30, 2007

I have to agree all methods above work well. These days I develop 5x4 in 1/2 gallon plastic tanks with stainless steel hangers and just hang them up in the hangers without any fan or heat source. They dry perfectly fine.

numnutz · May 30, 2007

Thanks for all your input - I shall look for some proper clips but in the meantime I have a few small bulldog clips that I will press into service.

nn

rootberry · May 30, 2007

Hrm.. Is dust really such a huge problem when drying LF negs?? There is cat hair all over my house it seems ( I keep them out of my darkroom). I just run my 8x10 negs through photoflo, hang them up with clips I get from office depot and let them dry. If dust sticks to them when they are wet, thats no big deal, because ones the whole neg is dry- so's the dust, and comes off easily with a small blast from the air can..

phaedrus · May 30, 2007

Plastic clothespegs to hang them diagonally from one corner, and I use Tetenal Mirasol in the last water exchange. That makes them dry insanely fast, under an hour for a 4x5.

KenS · May 30, 2007

sheet film hangers

numnutz said:
Has anyone got any bright ideas?

About 25 years ago, I spent more than I intended on a number of Kindermann dental x-ray film clips that I use for hanging my sheet film to dryness. While they do not 'pierce' the film they do leave a small dimple in the chosen corner... but they are probably the most secure hang-to-drying devices I have used over a long period of time. I am not sure if Kindermann still markets these clips due to 'automated' x-ray processors that express the film as dry.

The clips can be set well into the corners, within a milli-meter, quite accurately. If necessary, I find the small dimple easy to remove by cutting off the offfending corner

Ken

eclarke · May 30, 2007

here is a link to some clips I bought for hanging sheets. They are very well made and 100 can be bought for $30.00 US...Evan Clarke

http://www.craft-inc.com/prod_detail.aspx?riIDItem=147&riIDClass=8

eclarke · May 30, 2007

The link did not take, sorry. Please cut and paste this:
http://www.craft-inc.com/prod_detail.aspx?riIDItem=147&riIDClass=8

Jim Noel · May 30, 2007

I use dental x-ray clips which put a tiny pin through tje corner of the film. Since dental x-rays have gone digital, many dentists will give them away.

jstraw · May 30, 2007

eclarke said:
The link did not take, sorry. Please cut and paste this:
http://www.craft-inc.com/prod_detail.aspx?riIDItem=147&riIDClass=8

Those are the same clips as the Delta clips but the Delta's have a cut in the ring so you can hang them on a line.

paul ewins · May 30, 2007

My method is similar to the others here, but taken a step further. I have a piece of wood about a meter long with six eye bolts screwed into it at regular intervals. A piece of string is threaded through them and on the string I have threaded small plastic clothes pegs - they came with holes in the ends already. The negatives are hung by one corner and spaced out evenly along the line. Using a number of eye bolts prevents the line from sagging too much.

The big difference is that I have another identical set up that gets clipped to the opposite corner of the negatives which holds them flat and lets them dry without curling. Even just 5 or 6 negs is enough to hold the weight of the bar without pulling the negs out of the top pegs.

Thorney · May 30, 2007

Yankee solution from a Canuck

Hi Num..

I recommend for sheet film that you dry it in an enclosed area that is vented. Large open areas have too much wind and dust that will weld itself to your film. I use a small closet where I hang 4x5 negs in the insert from a Yankee developing tank that I use for washing and photo-flo. Any type of cupboard would work and if you cut a hole in the door and cover it with screen there should be very little dust.

I also use Polaroid type 55 which gives negatives so I also use the tank to clear the negs in sodium sulphite solution. I use distilled water for all film processing except for washing.

The only drawback with this method is that if I put more than about 4 sheets in the holder to dry, there is a risk of two negs sticking together.

Clothespins work but I recommend wood over plastic. I've seen film slide right out of the grip of a plastic clothespin but have never had a negative fall from a wooden pin. The downside is the little square mark that the clothespin makes on the film. I hear Fuji Neopan Acros comes with a little hole on each sheet in a corner so that you can string them up to dry.

Good Luck and welcome to the LF fold!
Thorney

Drying 5 x 4 negatives

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