Jobo back in US

[eclarke]

I will post a youtube video early next week with it actually running drums and all the finish touches applied. I am using a 260 oz/in NEMA 23 stepper motor and controlling it numerically as a rotary axis in CNC G-Code. Will be able to drive the Expert drums in fine fashion and with a couple variables, be able to do cycle times easily. The next one will be a two axis drum, tank and tray agitator which can be programmed to do semi stand with very articulate routines.It will be able to shake in an xy pattern, angular, swirl in a circle or elipse or combinations of all the above and will have programmable dwells. I'll be able to walk away and have it do an agitation routine once every ten minutes and repeat it for an hour..I am pretty excited about it.

 

[newtorf]

I read lots of talks about the difficulty to load film on those plastic reels when the reels are not absolutely dry. I am wondering if this is also true for jobo reels?

On the other hand, I have used stainless steel reels all the time when I hand-developed my black and white films, and felt very comfortable of using them.

Why not use the (easily found) plastic ones?

I use them for everything from 35mm up to 4x5" and think they're fine.

 

[DREW WILEY]

I dunno if I want to build another drum processor. Gotta change a gearmotor in my 30X40 soon, so
thought about building a 40X60" unit. Of course I could simply install a 50" Kreonite roller processor,
but the more techie something is, the more that can go wrong, and I'm not terribly excited about
replenishment systems with pumps and circuit boards, and difficulty finding spare parts. The bigger
they get the better the temp control and insulation needs to be. This is for color paper of course.
The Jobo system has always been a little underbuilt, but it's been available and otherwise generally
reliable. And the new gear isn't really all that expensive if you extrapolate what the old gear once cost relative to inflation. With do-it-yourself you can in fact build something a lot nice for personal
use at modest rates which would be impossible for a reseller of multiple units, esp if patents are involved.

 

[Roger Cole]

I read lots of talks about the difficulty to load film on those plastic reels when the reels are not absolutely dry. I am wondering if this is also true for jobo reels?

On the other hand, I have used stainless steel reels all the time when I hand-developed my black and white films, and felt very comfortable of using them.

I always heard the same thing. I've never tried to load them wet.

I think it's really what you get used to. I tried using SS reels for a while and never managed to load even one roll of 36x entirely onto the reel. Hell, I couldn't even manage it with the lights on. And yes, it's possible the reel was bad but I doubt it. It was brand new and shorter loads fit fine but there just wasn't enough reel for the film. Even loading shorter rolls lights out was problematical for me. I could usually manage it but often with much cussing.

I started with plastic so moving to the SS ones seemed backwards from the start.

I have to repeat though that I find the Jobo reels the easiest to load of any I've used, whatever the material. Oddly enough the smaller 1500 reels seem easier to load to me than the 2500, but both are easy enough it's a no-brainer. Moving to 120 took some getting used to in order to not crimp the film while dealing with the curl in the dark, but a sacrificed roll of Arista EDU Ultra with the lights on fixed that.

I use the loader base for the 4x5 reels and it's even easier than 35mm. I know some people load those reels without the loader base and I'm sure it's possible (I can do it ok with the lights on) but the loader base makes it extremely easy.

 

[frotog]

The amount of chemistry needed for a 50" rt would make having such a machine for personal use prohibitively expensive unless of course you're planning on opening a custom c-print lab, in which case your balls are probably bigger than that kreonite machine.

Eclarkes machine, on the other hand, sounds really cool. I can't wait to see this Jobo-killer!

 

[canuhead]

I am so looking forward to seeing this in action Evan !

 

[PKM-25]

I'm looking forward to a product I can buy that has an actual warranty and supports a company we need around, to keep it back on topic.

Eric Joseph from Freestyle has stated that production is to start next month so he is looking to see what the interest is on the initial order. It's expensive indeed, $2999 with no lift.....I have to think about it a bit even though I can write it off. I also kind of like the knobs on the CPP2, no menu diving to make an adjustment on the fly.

Even though I use my RH Designs Process Master-II with the CPP2, I do like the idea of it in the unit it self.

 

[bill@lapetelabs.com]

In reference to SS reels for use in the 1500 series JOBO tanks, I use HEWES 35mm and 120 reels in my CPP2 JOBO processer. Its a later model with a stronger motor able to stand up to the added weight of SS. If you can find the 1561, 1562, 1563, 1563 or 1564 SS cores, you have to replace the plastic center core with the SS core (1561 through 1564 to match the 1500 series tank you choose. Replace the standard light trap with the plugged funnel supplied with the SS kit and install a cog, due to the alteration in the light trap it is necessary that the tank system be used in conjunction with a JOBO-Lift.
I use a 1520-1530-1530 tank combination with a 1564 SS core, it will take 5-120 or 8-35mm reels and works extremely well.
I love the HEWES reels, they are well built with heaver gauge SS stock and load like a dream, they also have a longer, thicker spiral so I never run out of room for the film. I can't say that about some of the other SS reels I've used!

 

[CatLABS]

I will post a youtube video early next week with it actually running drums and all the finish touches applied. I am using a 260 oz/in NEMA 23 stepper motor and controlling it numerically as a rotary axis in CNC G-Code. Will be able to drive the Expert drums in fine fashion and with a couple variables, be able to do cycle times easily. The next one will be a two axis drum, tank and tray agitator which can be programmed to do semi stand with very articulate routines.It will be able to shake in an xy pattern, angular, swirl in a circle or elipse or combinations of all the above and will have programmable dwells. I'll be able to walk away and have it do an agitation routine once every ten minutes and repeat it for an hour..I am pretty excited about it.

Is the video up? are there any photos of the machine in action?

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

I remember over 25 years ago, I worked in a college photo lab and we had a system that used Jobo drums. It had a nitrogen system to pump chemistry into pots to get heated and the machine would dump the chemistry into the drum at the right time. The drum was housed in a heated cabinet. It was sure slick. We ran mostly E-6 and made Kodak R2000 prints.
As for me, I don't process enough prints or film to justify having one. I just use my thrift store Beseler agitator base and Ebay drums. Ghetto, but it works.

 

[CatLABS]

Tank is welded together, lift is mounted, motor and control are finished..programming it is spectacular..millions of possible variables in the rotation and cycle. Need to install the drum pan, a couple fittings, machine a spindle adapter to accept the drive gear, fill it with water and develop film!!! Evan Clarke

Even, you promised a video of your machine...??

 

[EASmithV]

Holy shit, for the price of the CPP3 i could buy a minilab on ebay

 

[Roger Cole]

But what would you do with a minilab? Where would you put it, can you wire it and keep it in chemistry? And how versatile is it for different sizes of film and different processes?

A CPP3 is a far better machine for how most home hobbyist users process film.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I have my CPP2 on the kitchen counter all the time ready for use. Where would I put a minilab?

 

[Alex Bishop-Thorpe]

Holy shit, for the price of the CPP3 i could buy a minilab on ebay

To be fair, you can buy a minilab on ebay for the price of a cup of coffee most days Mine was two bucks - And I still don't know where to put it.

 

[derwent]

My minilab was free........but if I ever fire it up the chems sure won't be!!!

If I could figure out how to stop them going off I would set it up....by a couple of rolls a week just ain't gonna cut it!

 

[CatLABS]

Holy shit, for the price of the CPP3 i could buy a minilab on ebay

You can get a brand new minilab with chems to last 10 years for less then 1000$ on ebay, however, you can only run C-41, and then you can only run 35 and smaller, and maybe if you get a nice one you can run 120 but it will be a bit larger. Most machines can be programmed to do pretty much anything for push\pull or timed\temp changes.
The cost of chems per roll would be negligible if you keep it running.... BUT - if you ever want to run BW, E-6 or any sheet film it just wount work... Power and water consumption might be an issue as well.

Any jobo can do pretty much anything you want it do, with fairly few build in restrictions...

Who says you need to buy a brand new machine? Spare parts and service is here, CPP2 and CPP3 upgrade options are available, so there really isent a need to break the bank.

 

[Illegible]

I have a CPA-2 and will at some unknown future time want parts.

 

[jon.oman]

I will post a youtube video early next week with it actually running drums and all the finish touches applied. I am using a 260 oz/in NEMA 23 stepper motor and controlling it numerically as a rotary axis in CNC G-Code. Will be able to drive the Expert drums in fine fashion and with a couple variables, be able to do cycle times easily. The next one will be a two axis drum, tank and tray agitator which can be programmed to do semi stand with very articulate routines.It will be able to shake in an xy pattern, angular, swirl in a circle or elipse or combinations of all the above and will have programmable dwells. I'll be able to walk away and have it do an agitation routine once every ten minutes and repeat it for an hour..I am pretty excited about it.

Evan,

I was wondering if you have posted any photos or the video of your processor? I would really like to go down the path you have tread!

 

[re.cube]

I guess so. I am looking for stainless steel reels (both 135 and 120) for my newly acquired jobo CPE2. They are very hard to find.

there is no problem to find stainless reels, i got set of 135 and 120 reels from Hewes (www.hewes.co.uk).
excellent quality for nice price.