Mixing chemicals

I mixed up a kit from Artcraft of 510 pryo tonight, pretty darn easy.

My question, is there much more savings buying in bulk and weighing out
the chemicals. I have a scale for reloading, I think it ought to work OK.

Interested in the 130 paper developer and maybe the 510 if it can
tear me away from HC110.

Thanks

Mike

mikebarger said:

My question, is there much more savings buying in bulk and weighing out
the chemicals. I have a scale for reloading, I think it ought to work OK.

Click to expand...

Depends on what you pay for the chemicals. But if you buy in big enough bulk things are usually cheaper. The big saving is in avoiding waste. Only making up what you need not what the package is.

A lot depends on the quantities in which you buy items, as well as where you buy them from. I created a spreadsheet (note: link is direct to a zip file with OpenOffice.org original and Excel export) that provides cost information on a variety of formulas. That spreadsheet gives me a cost of $2.98 for 100ml of 510 Pyro, or $0.15 per roll (at 250ml of working solution per roll and 1+50 dilution). I don't know what you paid for your Art Craft kit for 510 Pyro, so you'll have to do the comparison yourself. Also, as I said, the final cost will depend on your supplier(s) and quantities for component chemicals.

As a general rule, though, the cost savings can be moderately significant as a percentage of developer cost, but pretty minor considering all the costs involved in shooting a roll of film (the film itself, the other chemistry, wear and tear on the camera, the cost of making prints, etc.). Personally, I think better reasons to mix your own are flexibility in chemistry (with a modest stock of raw chemicals, you can mix a wide variety of developers), the ability to mix whatever amount you want, and the ability to mix fresh whenever needed.

Years ago, when I first started mixing my own, the savings were significant. Today, they're trivial or non-existent (or even negative) in many cases BUT the big advantage is mixing up what you want, when you want it.

There are also a few chemicals where the savings from mixing it yourself are huge, e.g. wash aid.

Cheers,

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)

I think the most important advantage in mixing your own is the range of processing solutions available to you. If the have the formula you can mix it while there may be no comparable commercial product available.