Material for Replacement 4x5 Dark Slides

[BobUK]

I have a couple of second hand 4x5 cut film holders with crazed dark slides. Not obvious until held up close to a desk light.

My first choice for making replacement slides was Tufnol, Paxolin, Phenolic Resin boards. To me they are are one and the same thing. Available in black with 0.6mm thickness. The material seems to be relatively free of static. Problem is though it is sold in large sheets for around £80 a sheet. I could buy a new set of film holders for that sort of money.

have seen PVC replacement slides being sold from China. I wonder about static with PVC.

My Bronica uses brushed stainless steel as a slide on the film magazines. So I am wondering about using plain, unpainted brass sheet.

Could someone please recommend a sheet material suitable for making replacement dark slides that is relatively static free?
Thanks.

 

[darkroommike]

I came here to ask a similar question but let me throw out some thoughts.

1. Maybe you can find an offcut of your preferred material, or contact the distributor, they may have a full sheet with a bad area.
2. PVC slides, not too much money, could try one, maybe give it a good rubdown with an unscented, antistatic dryer sheet.
3. Brass would also work (and probably aluminum). Old photo books published formulas for blackening brass, and you could anodize aluminum.

 

[Doremus Scudder]

With used 4x5 holders being relatively cheap on the used market, especially ones that are in bad condition, it would seem prudent to check if one could find a replacement darkslide by buying holders in bad condition, but with good darkslides. Keep in mind that you'd need the same brand and model, since darkslides from different brands are often not interchangeable (Fidelity and Riteway holders made in the same factory at the same time might be an exception).

Heck, a few good used filmholders might be cheaper than buying a sheet of the appropriate material.

Best,

Doremus

 

[reddesert]

For 4x5, I agree with Doremus that used film holders and dark slides are fairly common.

DIY darkslides and materials are sometimes discussed for larger formats including larger than 8x10, where DIY may be the only option. Search for other threads about DIY darkslides, for ex https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/garolite-grades-for-darkslides.37528/
Be careful because there are grades of synthetic material / resin such as circuit board substrates that are not fully opaque, even in black.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I have a couple of second hand 4x5 cut film holders with crazed dark slides. Not obvious until held up close to a desk light.

My first choice for making replacement slides was Tufnol, Paxolin, Phenolic Resin boards. To me they are are one and the same thing. Available in black with 0.6mm thickness. The material seems to be relatively free of static. Problem is though it is sold in large sheets for around £80 a sheet. I could buy a new set of film holders for that sort of money.

have seen PVC replacement slides being sold from China. I wonder about static with PVC.

My Bronica uses brushed stainless steel as a slide on the film magazines. So I am wondering about using plain, unpainted brass sheet.

Could someone please recommend a sheet material suitable for making replacement dark slides that is relatively static free?
Thanks.

I used the plastic sheets you mentioned, and they worked fine. The replacement dark slides did too and saved a lot of labor and tools. However, I used an antistatic brush on both.

 

[blee1996]

I would like to ask a related question: are there any opaque paint/tape that can be used to patch up a small crack? I had one 8x10 film holder with a cracked dark slide.

 

[Maris]

The 3M type 850 black polyester tape I use for patching camera bellows also patches cracked dark slides very nicely. The tape is very black, very thin, very strong, with a superb no-bleed, no-creep adhesive. With all those superlatives you'd expect it to be expensive. My roll cost $100 but it has been really useful to do lots of light-excluding photographic repairs.