Mixing Containers - Plastic Beakers

[david b]

I am looking for an inexpensive way to buy 20 plastic beakers to hold developers stop and fix when developing film. This is not for long-term storage but a way to hold and mix the chemicals during the film developing process.

Any ideas?

 

[BradS]

I use ball mason canning jars....they are cheap, made of heavy duty glass, have air tight lids and are available by the case at at the supermarket. If you're patient and don't mind eating spaghetti sauce from a jar, you can accumulate the jars for free.

 

[grahamp]

How big, and under what circumstances? Semi-disposable drinking cups are fine for small quantities, but not smart if you are teaching children! You would need something with decent markings for doing dilutions.

I have seen 300ml and up plastic beakers and jugs at a local cash & carry (Smart & Final) intended for group barbecues or professional kitchens. The measuring marks are not up to photographic standard, however. They should stand basic monochrome chemistry. I'm not sure they are significantly cheaper than photographic items.

I keep my eye open at the local camera fairs for useful jugs and measures.

 

[david b]

I am looking for 1200ml or 1500ml plastic containers. I need them for a community college darkroom. Glass makes me nervous.

 

[Canuck]

I usually order my beakers from a lab supply company. Depending on your budget, this maybe the best bet as I have found that the "name brand" darkroom manufacturers charge more for the same items. I'm up in Canada but last order I think I bought 1L sized poly beakers for around $12 each.

 

[Nick Zentena]

1.5litre just go to the local big box store and buy kitchen stuff. Plastic pitchers aren't too expensive. They may not be 100% accurate but at 1.5 litre being off by 10ml is just a rounding error.

 

[Monophoto]

Continuing Nick's thought - plastic juice pitchers from Target should work just fine. If you are setting up a teaching darkroom, it's likely that you will want to establish some "house standards" in terms of developers, dilutions, etc. In that case, you could use a master graduate to measure quantities of plan water, transfer that water to your teaching graduates, and then mark them with a Sharpie.

In my home darkroom, I have a plastic graduate with two green marks representing the volumes of HC110 stock solution required for one or two rolls, respectively, of film. I've long since forgotten how many ml of the stock is required - I just fill the graduate up to the green line, and add water to make the volume required for the tank that I will be using.

Another thought - when I first set up my darkroom, I bought a 1 litre glass graduate that started life as measuring cup for kitchen applications. I've noticed that you can find these now in plastic.

 

[Neal]

Dear David,

Check out http://www.sciplus.com. They have a revolving stock (a surplus store), but I get lots of that sort of thing there.

Neal Wydra

 

[NikoSperi]

1,5 litre Evian bottles. For bigger yet, I buy 5 liter bottles of distilled water (€1.20), use the water, keep the bottle for washing agent, and another for stock solution of HCA, and a third for working solution of selenium toner.

But that' just because I'm a stingy cheap bastard... :rolleyes:

 

[photomc]

David, you might check out this place http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/default.asp

 

[jovo]

I've been using plastic pitchers with lids and plastic beverage storage bottles with lids purchased from a dollar store of which there seem to be a growing number. They work extremely well even for long term (a week or two) storage and they also have spouts for pouring. As mentioned above, they do not have reliable measurement markings so make your own with a Sharpie by pouring in reliably measured quantities of water. As the stock in dollar stores seems to change often, if you see ones you like, don't hesitate to buy them as they may not be there again next week.

 

[jp80874]

David,

I bought six 2 ltr beakers as a set, cheaply, on eBay. They had been used just for this purpose. The dishwasher got rid of the smell. I use them for less smelly B&W. I can't see a brand on them, but they are quite heavy duty, show metric and oz. They look just like the 64 oz Patterson at B&H. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=40056&is=REG

Another source: We have well water here so I use distilled water for the final rinse. Those one gallon plastic bottles add up over time. Since I use the water in the process the bottles must be free. How do you like that math?

John Powers

 

[Donald Qualls]

You can get 1 liter plastic measuring "cups" at the grocery store for about $3 each, though getting 20 of them at once could be interesting. Those will hold enough liquid for 4 rolls of 35 mm, or two of 120, in a stainless or plastic tank.

Why do you need 20?? Are you teaching a class, or just like to have one for each chemical, and experiment a lot?

 

[eric]

Just a thought. If you *DO* buy the cheapo ones from Target or Wallmart or something from the kitchen department, why not take your "accurate" beaker, measure out 50ml or 100ml and then pour it into the cheapo ones and "mark" it with a line.

 

[Konical]

Good Morning, David,

For casual, temporary use, you can't get much cheaper than to save the fast-food type coffee cups, at least for relatively small quantities!

Konical

 

[Phillip P. Dimor]

I've ordered via www.sciplus.com before, they are great. They have excellent deals on plastic beakers, lab quality ones at that.

Otherwise I just use disposable plastic drinking cups (no children in the house)

 

[winger]

Fisher Scientific has polypropylene beakers for $125 for 24 (1 liter) - that's about $5 each.

Dead Link Removed

 

[dancqu]

I am looking for 1200ml or 1500ml plastic containers.

Pare that to 1000ml, 1 liter, and you'll have a field day. Dan