LF presoaking & tubes

[bpm32]

Okay you presoakers who use tubes for development... I've got a couple questions here:

1. When you do the presoaking, do you do that in a tray before you put the sheet film into the tube, or do you presoak the neg while in the tube?

Reason I'm asking: I've tried presoaking negs a couple times in a tube I've got, but at what would seem to be the apex(?) of the curl of the sheet, the negative is pressed against the tube so much so that the halation layer doesn't come off, and no amount of soaking afterwards will remove it. My negative is left with a "film" on the non-emulsion side.

2. Perhaps I'm using a tube that has too small a diameter? I've read about cutting a piece of screen a little larger than the negative and putting between the tube and the neg... would that probably take care of this?

Thanks so much for your time!

Brian

 

[juan]

I presoak in the tube. Sandy King recommends sliding the negative back and forth inside the tube to be sure the back side gets soaked. I use a piece of fiberglas window screen cut slightly larger than the negative. I sandwich the negative and screen (emulsion side away from the screen) and slide the sandwich into the tube. The screen allows the back side to get wet.
juan

 

[Konical]

Good Evening, Brian,

I presoak in the drum. I use a Chromega drum with four-sheet capacity (4 x 5). Although it was designed for color print processing, it has about a dozen small, raised ribs running lengthwise and spaced at intervals around the inside circumference. That seems to be enough to allow liquid to reach the base side of the film. I've never had any problem with the anti-halation coating; usually it pours out with the pre-soak. I can see the possibility of problems with drum that's completely smooth inside (e. g. Cibachrome). What brand of drum do you use?

Konical

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I found it best to do the presoak in a tray. Doing the pre soak in the tube and then grabbing a corner of of the film and sliding it back and forth runs the risk of a corner of the film scratching the emulsion (which has happened to me). Using a tray presoak clears all anti halation and whatever else, completely.

 

[bpm32]

What brand of drum do you use?

Konical

I use a cibachrome drum (tube) that I just happened to find in a box of 'junk' that came with a 4x5 enlarger I bought at an auction.

I definitely like the ease in developing sheet film this way. Would love to pick up a motorized base to free me up in the darkroom to do other things, but I keep getting outbid on ebay. One of these days!

I'll try soaking in tray first - what do you folks recommend? 2 minutes?

Again, thanks for everything!

Brian