Homemade Tube Developing Woes :(

So, I made some homemade film developing tubes out of grey pvc pipe and white caps that were painted black. The problem is the caps fit really tight and it's very hard to get them off. I even had one instance where I couldnt get them off and severely overdeveloped a sheet of film. I tried sanding the ends of the tubes down today, but that didnt seem to help; the caps still stick so tightly I can barely pull them off.

I decided that homemade tubes were not worth the trouble. Now i have a dillema: should I buy some tubes like BTZS tubes (which I think are overpriced) or should I try tray developing? I'd prefer to do tray developing now (but I'll admit it's because I'm still a bit upset about my tube problem to give commercially made tubes a fair chance now).

I do have some small 6x9 Rubbermade trays in the kitchen that I can use, and that should be a good size for my 5x7 film, I think. My concern is with developing times. I was able to get the top off the tube to properly develop a few sheets and figured my development time should be 9 minutes at 70F for the paper I'm using. If I start developing in a tray, how would my developing time change? Would tray developing for 9 minutes result in overdevelopment or underdevelopment? I'm thinking I'd have to extend my developing time to get the contrast where I want it. any ideas?

You should test your film for tray development, much like you did for tube development. As a starting point, I would increase the time by about 10 percent for tray development.

resummerfield said:

You should test your film for tray development, much like you did for tube development. As a starting point, I would increase the time by about 10 percent for tray development.

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Sounds like a good plan to me.

I'm not expecting any magic bullets; I was just not sure of how much of a difference there would be in contrast between the two methods and which way to adjust. I'm planning on shooting this weekend since I'm off Saturday-Monday this weekend (how the hell I got so lucky, I'll never know ). Hopefully I'll figure it out pretty quick

Why not use threaded pvc pipe?

djhopscotch said:

Why not use threaded pvc pipe?

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not a bad idea. I didnt think of that. Next time I'm at the local home improvement store I might get a tube.

I'd just need threading on one end; the other end can have just a regular cap. I say that because I'd probably have to cut it to the length I need, meaning one threaded end would be cut off. PErhaps they'd have a way to thread both ends there.... I'll check it out this weekend

I think you can glue on a threaded coupler instead of a cap, on a tube you cut to whatever length you need.

Duncan

get the threaded end with the matching cap. i've made some for 4x5 and 8x10 and they work great

ok, well looks like I'll be trying threaded pvc pipe before I give up with this whole homemade tube thing.

I'm happy I asked here before doing something silly like tray processing

I work exactly like you : I made my own developing tubes out of PVC pipes, and I glued it on PVC plates. Perfect.

One tube for each bath

I have no cap: I work in total darkness.

As I understand, ABS (black) pipe is preferred as it is lightproof. Can be a bit more difficult to find in some areas, but it's out there.