I vow no more plastic!

I worked for a time as a lab technician in the photo dept. at a daily newspaper. We ran a hell of a lot of film through a Wing Lynch and hand prcessed B&W. We used stainless reels. It was fun. When a photographer would get back on deadline from something that generated a lot of film, like an NFL football game, he or she would usually seek help rolling rilm for the W.L. The machine held 10 rolls at a time, IIRC. We'd go into the film room, line up the reels and canisters and the race was on. Head to head competition....one counter mounted opener...

Point of pride not to get skunked, rolling less than half before the other person did. The aim was to do 6 to the other's 4, skunking them.

We got fast.

I've broken one film - through being too heavy-handed on the film advance lever. But that was outdoors, in winter, in temperatures below -40...

Yet another vote for the Hewes/King Koncept/Jobo Stainless reels. Whatever brand they're being sold under, the 35mm ones are super easy to work with, because they have these little squared-off teeth at the core which make it very easy to line up the start of your roll. Just get the teeth in the sprocket holes, bend your roll of film widthways a litte, and start winding. The 120 reels are a little less convenient because of the spring clip, but still quite easy. Once you have it started, either it pulls a Barbra Streisand and goes like buttah, or you'll know real fast that you're out of alignment, so you just back it out and start over, slowly.

Oh, Stainless tanks CAN go bad... although it is rare. I had one that the side of the tank actually cracked. After some discussion, it was considered that the tank probably had a flaw in it, which explains why it broke there.

Looking at pictures of a Hewes reel, I don't see how they are any different than the impossible to load Omega steel reels I have now.

Can someone explain how they are better?

DieHipsterDie said:

Looking at pictures of a Hewes reel, I don't see how they are any different than the impossible to load Omega steel reels I have now.

Can someone explain how they are better?

Click to expand...

One of the biggest difficulties of loading SS reels is getting the film initially straight and centered at the start. Hewes reels grab two opposite sprocket holes at the very beginning making sure that all the roll starts right every time. After that winding the rest of the roll is a breeze. Also, the wires are are a bit thicker making them sturdier than others.