OP
OP
Thanks for the names , so far I like FOBO from Daniel as it does reflect my feelings.
Regarding finding parts, I really think this one is out of the question as I am not thinking of slowly walking into the sunset but rather I believe we will be processing more and more film.. Just think of it APUG is an oasis of luddites who still put film in mechanical cameras, Most labs I would not include DR5 in this statement are willing to drop their film production when it becomes less profitable, I think Dave and I share the same love of film photography and have learned how to build little niche businesses providing film processing. We are becoming more busy because there still is a group of people wanting to expose images the way some of the masters of the past. This will indeed force them to put film in their cameras and hopefully then seek out Labs like Elevator or DR5 to process the film. Shrinking market for sure but less operators willing to produce first rate film process.
I also believe I have figured out a way to make large film for alternative processes that Elevator wants to persue which will indeed put pressure on the equipment and operators to finish.
Has anyone here tried to replace a lift arm or a water pump for an Alt 2300 or Alt 3? No easy task and btw just try to order the parts and see what happens. I guess if I was located in Europe I would feel different as there probably is a easier way of getting parts and service.
Also like any piece of equipment is there not a 7 year parts availability after the machines are no longer made. Where are we on this with Jobo machines.
I plan to put a lot of stress on my equipment with large tanks , probably lots of chemicals and quite frankly the old equipment that I have will not be up to the task.
I am meeting with Richard and Peter here in Toronto Dec 27 or 28 and try to sort out problems/ideas/suggestions to build a prototype by Feb if we can.
I am pretty sure that the main problem will be the different tank configuration and keeping the film level while rotation is on. Each tank is different and the very large tanks will be different again and this is where things may bog down.** possible different rubber roller widths and shapes to hold the tank level , the rollers would be raised and geared at the end to allow different tanks to sit properly**
I really like the idea posted early in this thread with the unit separate from the controls, I envision a very robust base with possible water bath hooked up to the tempering device to keep the chems in . These units will take up a bit of space but for the first unit I have enough room, Once we go to four units then I will probably have to build a dedicated film room .
Also by having large, large rollers we should be able to run a few runs at a time and any old timers here who did dip and dunk in baskets will remember starting the timer for the longest roll time , start the process and watch the timer and then pop in the next longest roll time and continue popping in film until the run was finished.
I am sure this was what PE was alluding too in his post about baskets and nitrogean burst. In the day any basket line with a competent operator could easily out perform my Jobo's, the only problem was keeping an operator interested day in day out to perform this at peak levels, in fact that is why I went to Jobo's in the first place and was Jobo's marketing pitch for people to buy them.
I think I should be able to do the same thing with this new device with my young operators who have the hand eye co-ordination to make this happen.
Keep the ideas coming , we are not going to salvage the old machines , except make the unit work with the different tubes or tanks we have.
Regarding finding parts, I really think this one is out of the question as I am not thinking of slowly walking into the sunset but rather I believe we will be processing more and more film.. Just think of it APUG is an oasis of luddites who still put film in mechanical cameras, Most labs I would not include DR5 in this statement are willing to drop their film production when it becomes less profitable, I think Dave and I share the same love of film photography and have learned how to build little niche businesses providing film processing. We are becoming more busy because there still is a group of people wanting to expose images the way some of the masters of the past. This will indeed force them to put film in their cameras and hopefully then seek out Labs like Elevator or DR5 to process the film. Shrinking market for sure but less operators willing to produce first rate film process.
I also believe I have figured out a way to make large film for alternative processes that Elevator wants to persue which will indeed put pressure on the equipment and operators to finish.
Has anyone here tried to replace a lift arm or a water pump for an Alt 2300 or Alt 3? No easy task and btw just try to order the parts and see what happens. I guess if I was located in Europe I would feel different as there probably is a easier way of getting parts and service.
Also like any piece of equipment is there not a 7 year parts availability after the machines are no longer made. Where are we on this with Jobo machines.
I plan to put a lot of stress on my equipment with large tanks , probably lots of chemicals and quite frankly the old equipment that I have will not be up to the task.
I am meeting with Richard and Peter here in Toronto Dec 27 or 28 and try to sort out problems/ideas/suggestions to build a prototype by Feb if we can.
I am pretty sure that the main problem will be the different tank configuration and keeping the film level while rotation is on. Each tank is different and the very large tanks will be different again and this is where things may bog down.** possible different rubber roller widths and shapes to hold the tank level , the rollers would be raised and geared at the end to allow different tanks to sit properly**
I really like the idea posted early in this thread with the unit separate from the controls, I envision a very robust base with possible water bath hooked up to the tempering device to keep the chems in . These units will take up a bit of space but for the first unit I have enough room, Once we go to four units then I will probably have to build a dedicated film room .
Also by having large, large rollers we should be able to run a few runs at a time and any old timers here who did dip and dunk in baskets will remember starting the timer for the longest roll time , start the process and watch the timer and then pop in the next longest roll time and continue popping in film until the run was finished.
I am sure this was what PE was alluding too in his post about baskets and nitrogean burst. In the day any basket line with a competent operator could easily out perform my Jobo's, the only problem was keeping an operator interested day in day out to perform this at peak levels, in fact that is why I went to Jobo's in the first place and was Jobo's marketing pitch for people to buy them.
I think I should be able to do the same thing with this new device with my young operators who have the hand eye co-ordination to make this happen.
Keep the ideas coming , we are not going to salvage the old machines , except make the unit work with the different tubes or tanks we have.
