Drying roll and 35mm film in reels

[Ryuji]

Does anyone routinely and successfully dry films in the spiral reels? What are the good and bad points compared to hanging? Thanks!

 

[dianna]

We use a home-built device - it's made of length of PVC pipe that the reels fit into. We hang it up vertically with a hair dryer pointing into the top end, and a bolt threaded through two holes in the bottom end to hold the reels in place. It works great, cheap and easy to build, and saves space, too.

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

I routinely dry both 35mm and 120 rollfilm on SS Hewes reels. I use closed system driers designed by Statham Instruments and marketed by Honeywell (as the Honeywell Clean Dry). These driers circulate filtered air at low velocity across the film and through a vented (metal) dessicant canister - no heat is used. You dry out the dessicant cannisters in a oven.

The film dries very clean - but you need to be careful not to over dry it. I usually turn off the drier when the film is nearly dry and then hang it for a few minutes, cut it and sleeve it.

 

[MattKing]

I routinely dry both 35mm and 120 rollfilm on SS Hewes reels. I use closed system driers designed by Statham Instruments and marketed by Honeywell (as the Honeywell Clean Dry). These driers circulate filtered air at low velocity across the film and through a vented (metal) dessicant canister - no heat is used. You dry out the dessicant cannisters in a oven.

The film dries very clean - but you need to be careful not to over dry it. I usually turn off the drier when the film is nearly dry and then hang it for a few minutes, cut it and sleeve it.

Same for me.

The advantage, is that it really cuts down on how much I have to handle the newly washed film.

The disadvantage - don't over-dry, because the curl will drive you mad!!!

Matt

 

[Ryuji]

Is there any special precaution to avoid dust, scratch, etc. with this method? In particular, if the reels are stacked up, is there any problem with water mark due to dripping water from the top reel?

I'm considering to replace a tall vertical film drying cabinet (film is hang straight) with a shorter drying cabinet with forced air flow, to save space in my darkroom.

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

Is there any special precaution to avoid dust, scratch, etc. with this method? In particular, if the reels are stacked up, is there any problem with water mark due to dripping water from the top reel?

I'm considering to replace a tall vertical film drying cabinet (film is hang straight) with a shorter drying cabinet with forced air flow, to save space in my darkroom.

is there any problem with water mark due to dripping water from the top reel?

I have never had a problem with this - no water marks - no dust - no scratches. I do a final rinse before drying in DIW or distilled water with a droplet of low foam wetting agent added. I shake the excess water off the reels before placing them in the drier.

I get my (20 megaohm) DIW from the continuously monitored Millipore Filter Chain in my Lab at work.

 

[Earl Dunbar]

The only time I did this the curl drove me nuts. I use a hanging garment bag to air-dry film. Mine is canvas, not plastic. It's not tall enough for a 36exp roll of 35mm, but I simply clip both ends to the hanger bar, and it works well for me.

 

[Konical]

Good Evening,

I always hang film for drying--no particular reason, just always did it that way.

Is there any significant curling problem with modern film, Kodak and Ilford especially, when it's dried on the reel?

One film I would definitely NOT dry on the reel is Fomapan in 120. It has a fairly strong tendency to retain its curl even when weighted and dried by hanging; in fact, I routinely reverse load it (emulsion out) back onto a SS reel when it's dry and leave it for a few days before trying to contact print.

Konical

 

[Mark_S]

I have one of the Senrac dryers. I don't use it myself, mostly because I shoot very little roll film, and out of habit, I hang everything in a drying cabinet. My wife teaches an intro photo class mostly to teenagers, their typical day involves a morning of shooting, and processing, then they have lunch and print after lunch - the senrac dryer helps to get that time from processing to printing down to make this feasable.

I do notice that the students negatives curl more than mine, but then they are shooting 35mm and I shoot MF if I shoot roll film, so that may have something to do with it.

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

Is there any special precaution to avoid dust, scratch, etc. with this method? In particular, if the reels are stacked up, is there any problem with water mark due to dripping water from the top reel?

I'm considering to replace a tall vertical film drying cabinet (film is hang straight) with a shorter drying cabinet with forced air flow, to save space in my darkroom.

This should work well with a couple sheets of open cell foam in the air path for filtering and a small fan to circulate the air through the filters and past the film.

The only time I've had problems with film curl were when I overdried the film.

 

[Scott Murphy]

If you remove it from the reel and wind it back on with the emulsion side facing out, it does a lot to reduce the curling.

 

[runswithsizzers]

I made a simple device to blow filtered warm air (from an incandescent light bulb) through a plastic pipe which hold the reels. A couple of computer-type fans pull air through the foam filter, on right. There is a light bulb in the box that warms the air flow to about 80-90*F as it exits through the plastic chimney. Compared to just hanging the filmstrips up in my basement, this method is faster (15-20 minutes) and the film is exposed to less dust. It also takes up less room than a conventional drying cabinet. There may be slightly more curl than hanging the strips, but that has not been a big problem with the few different films I've tried, so far. If you decide to make something similar, keep in mind, a hot bulb inside an enclosed wooden box could be a fire hazzard, so take precautions to be sure the wood does not get too hot. Also, the bulb should not be directly under the plastic pipe because you don't want water dripping down on the hot bulb.

 

[mshchem]

I have a nice tall drying cabinet, it works great. I use it about 50% of the time, otherwise I just hang the negatives from hooks and come back the next morning

 

[eli griggs]

I use a modified traveling closet, with HVAC (?) filters, one fitted to the bottom, the other to the top.

I have a small heater/fan unit that blows heated air onto the bottom filter, with the zipper shut closed.

This hangs in my darkroom, from a celling hook and I used velcro at the top/bottom, so when no in use the bottom can be secured high near the celling, velcroed top, where it'll wait for a new run of film.

I do no like drying film on reels, based on my experiences and my second choice for drying, is in a bathroom shower full of steam or just cleared of steam, so all dust is felled by the moisture and I do no use a fan to move air, with the doors shut.

I have paper dryers, for both RC AND FB papers but I would no used the hard shelled RC units for drying film on reels or sheet film holders (4 x 5 inches).

 

[AgX]

In particular, if the reels are stacked up, is there any problem with water mark due to dripping water from the top reel?

That is always my thought, when I see the respective devcises. Or rather water remaining stuck in the spirals, leading to uneven drying, affecting the image rebates.

 

[mgb74]

I have a Kindermann Rapid Dryer but have never used it. Perhaps I should try. It's rather noisy, so I assume the fan may not be in great shape or its mount is loose. Doesn't appear to be any filter in the airflow, which is a concern (I could tape a filter over the air intake).

 

[eli griggs]

I have a Kindermann Rapid Dryer but have never used it. Perhaps I should try. It's rather noisy, so I assume the fan may not be in great shape or its mount is loose. Doesn't appear to be any filter in the airflow, which is a concern (I could tape a filter over the air intake).

It occurs to me a basic food dehydrator the round plastic type that you can but additional screened, stackable shelves/layers for, might just make an ideal dryer if you have the room for me be.

These can be set to low or no heat, with a fan pulling in air gently, across all segments.

I have this type, but before a minute or so ago, I'd never considered it an option in the darkroom, already having screens, fabric film"locker" plus, the FB and RC dryers I am super fortunate enough to have.

The thinner segments may hold a steel 135 or smaller reel, if you want to dry cleanly , with film on.
But I do no know if thicker segments are made, for this brand/type, and I see now reason why they would be for drying fruits, veggies, or thin meats.

No matter, if you want thicker spaces, some flashing or other flexible material could be made into deeper rounds, with a cheap Harbor Freight Hand Riveter, Duct tape, heat resistance glues, such as Loctite Red, and fine window screen, metal or plastic, close fitted with into the bottom of the section.

You could also make sheet film holder rack, or for clothes pins, photo clips for sheet film out of the dark room tank film holders.

You could use the top and bottom of the dehydrator, on a taller cylinder, like a concrete footing form from Home Depot or Lowes for drying extra large sheets or tools of film, ie, a span of 5" wide film less than five or six feet long.

I'll look for my dehydrator this week, and get a brand name and diameter to share, with a snap.l, in case someone wants to know more and, do their own research.

These can also be used to dry prints, face up.

Cheers and Godspeed to All.

 

[Yuan Francois]

It occurs to me a basic food dehydrator the round plastic type that you can but additional screened, stackable shelves/layers for, might just make an ideal dryer if you have the room for me be.

These can be set to low or no heat, with a fan pulling in air gently, across all segments.

I have this type, but before a minute or so ago, I'd never considered it an option in the darkroom, already having screens, fabric film"locker" plus, the FB and RC dryers I am super fortunate enough to have.

The thinner segments may hold a steel 135 or smaller reel, if you want to dry cleanly , with film on.
But I do no know if thicker segments are made, for this brand/type, and I see now reason why they would be for drying fruits, veggies, or thin meats.

No matter, if you want thicker spaces, some flashing or other flexible material could be made into deeper rounds, with a cheap Harbor Freight Hand Riveter, Duct tape, heat resistance glues, such as Loctite Red, and fine window screen, metal or plastic, close fitted with into the bottom of the section.

You could also make sheet film holder rack, or for clothes pins, photo clips for sheet film out of the dark room tank film holders.

You could use the top and bottom of the dehydrator, on a taller cylinder, like a concrete footing form from Home Depot or Lowes for drying extra large sheets or tools of film, ie, a span of 5" wide film less than five or six feet long.

I'll look for my dehydrator this week, and get a brand name and diameter to share, with a snap.l, in case someone wants to know more and, do their own research.

These can also be used to dry prints, face up.

Cheers and Godspeed to All.

WOW! Did you try this? This may be the solution to all my problems. Also is it problematic to use plastic reels in these things or would it cause the plastic to crack?

 

[guangong]

For 70 yrs I have always hung film vertically with leaded clips at bottom in order to have film strips that had little or no curl. Was I following an incorrect procedure all these years. Film fried while still in reels had no curl? I see no advantage in rolling film again opposite curl. If anybody can show me that hanging film with weighted clips offers no advantage, I’m always open to change.