I process 4x5 in PMK, not 8x10, but I have dealt with and overcome many of the problems addressed here. Possibly my methods will apply to 8x10 as well.
First, the pre-soak is necessary and it needs to be long enough. I develop on two continents; in Vienna, my tap water is alkaline enough that the negatives do not stick at all. In Oregon, my negatives will stick in the pre-soak if I do not leave sufficient time between them when immersing. (I haven't tried the bit of metaborate in the pre-soak, but I will...). At any rate, I now leave at least 10 seconds between negatives when immersing them in the pre-soak.
Do NOT use photo-flo in your pre soak. This is probably the cause of your negatives sticking together in the developer. You need all the surface tension you can get, and a surfactant, like a wetting agent destroys this.
Second, make sure the pre-soak is long enough; minimum two minutes with agitation. The emulsion needs to absorb as much water as possible before you transfer the negatives to the developer. Transferring too soon will cause them to stick. I shuffle negatives face-down from bottom to top (I recently switched from face-up to face-down and like it better). Go through the stack once every 30-40 seconds. If you can't shuffle that fast, develop fewer negatives at a time.
On to the developer. Agitation in PMK is tricky and needs to be done in a manner that ensures even exposure to the developer without excessive agitation, especially at the edges. Pushing the negatives to the bottom of a full tray rapidly just causes increased edge density due to the increased turbulence. It is important that the surface of the negative is evenly exposed to fresh developer solution regularly. It is not necessary to agitate vigorously.
I immerse the negatives in the developer one at a time, leaving 5 seconds between immersions. This ensures contact with the developer for long enough to prevent mottling. Lay the negative on the developer surface, face down, and submerge it
slowly by pushing with the balls of the fingers on the back. I turn the first negative 180° from the others so that I can identify it easily by the position of the code notch.
When immersing the next negative, follow the same procedure, making sure not to push the negative down too fast. This ensures that there is maximum contact time between developer and negative.
After all negatives are submerged, agitate following the same procedure, going through the stack once every 30 seconds to begin with. I have found that agitating slower results in uneven development. Gentle submersion is the key to preventing extra edge density. I can only develop 6 negatives at a time and comfortably agitate this quickly. Six negatives equals one "flip" every five seconds.
After about 25% of the development time, I pick up the entire stack and turn it 180° and continue agitating as before. At halfway through the development, I switch to once through the stack every minute, tuning each negative 180° as I agitate. The slower agitation for the second part of the development helps edge and compensating effects. Agitating this slowly from the beginning, however, results in uneven development; hence the compromise.
Note that once through the stack every 30/60 seconds results in different interval times depending on the number of negatives you are developing. With two negatives, one agitation every 15/30 seconds suffices. With six negatives, every 5/10 seconds. When I develop only one negative, I agitate as if it were two. This if you agitate at the same interval for two negs as for six, you will give the smaller batch more development comparatively.
At the end of the development, gather the negatives together, making sure than negative number one is on the bottom. When the time is up, place the negatives in the stop bath, one every five seconds, starting with the bottom and working your way through the stack (just like the initial immersion in the developer). This ensures that all negatives receive the same development time. (I use a mild acid stop always. I have issues with both water stop and alkaline fixers that I won't go into here...)
Agitate in the stop, transfer to the fix, agitate (always in the same manner), rinse, wash, dry.
As far as fingerprints from the gloves are concerned. I have used both latex and nitrile gloves and never had a fingerprint problem
except when the gloves were contaminated with fixer. It is surprisingly difficult to get the gloves clean. Wash, wash, wash them with soap and rinse well before handling negatives. If you unload holders with the gloves on (as I do) it is extremely important to do this and make sure the gloves are
completely dry before touching the negatives. Developing face-down may help you reduce fingerprints as well. I believe that if your gloves are clean and you are not man-handling your negs, you will have no fingerprint problems. Make sure that you are not getting finger marks from loading/unloading with sweaty fingers, etc.
Once you have the agitation scheme down, adjust your exposure/developing time so your negatives are not too dense. Forget the after-bath as well.
PMK is worth the trouble, especially if you print on graded papers, as I do.
I hope this is helpful.
Best,
Doremus Scudder
www.DoremusScudder.com