Insert Rods for Unicolor Drum

I bought an 11 x 14 paper drum for processing 4x5 film on Ebay. The seller listed the drum as an Unicolor, but it is actually a Beseler drum. Unfortunately, the drum arrived without the needed insert rods that trap the film in place. Could someone suggest a solution as to how I might come up with a fix. Does anyone have three spare insert rods in the 14 inch size?

Thank you.

John MacKechnie

ABS stops w/ ABS solvent to attach them?

If you are dedicating the roll to 4x5 film, then consider cutting up a generic black DWV pipe for the bits of plastic needed, sand then smooth, and postion them inside the tube with some cardboard spacers for templates. Then glue them in place, soak in water to dissolve any carboard that got stuck in the glue, and trim the extra glue that gets squeezed out with a dull matt cutter blade/xacto, etc.

Thanks for the comment.

I'm not sure that I'm following you. What is DWV pipe?

John

Macwax said:

Thanks for the comment.

I'm not sure that I'm following you. What is DWV pipe?

John

Click to expand...

DWV = Drain, Waste, Vent i.e. not carrying pressurized water for plumbing.

Black DWV pipe is made from ABS plastic (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, not PVC, which is polyvinyl chloride, used for delivering water under pressure), and is a bit softer and less brittle than PVC.

You might be able to find ABS rod (made for heat welding plumbing) that you could glue in for permanent film dividers. The original dividers have a dovetailed edge to slide into the drum slots, and would be difficult to replicate. I don't know of a source for them new.

Lee