Paterson Orbital for B&W Printing

[Dave Son]

Hello,

I recently got my hands on a Paterson Orbital Print processor for making darkroom prints at home (black and white initially and colour in the near future when I’ve become comfortable with b&w). I can’t seem to find a manual for this tank online anywhere and have a couple questions about it. I’ve only done darkroom printing once to date so you’ll have to forgive me if these questions seem overly basic!

I’ve read on a couple of forum threads that people tend to use this tank with one shot developer; my plan was to make working solutions of paper developer, stop and fixer, and keep them in storage bottles so that I can reuse them until exhaustion. Are there any pros or cons to the one shot method over what I’d planned?

What are the measurements I should be using to create the working solutions for the dev, stop and fixer? The plan is to make 1L working solutions in concertina storage bottles. And once those working solutions are made, how much of the solutions should I be using in the tank for each print?

Lastly, with the more traditional three tray method of paper processing (which is what I’ve done previously), I know you have to carefully avoid cross contamination of the chemicals by using separate tongs for instance but because I’ll be using the same tray for dev, stop and fixer, does this mean that I’ll need to introduce a rinse/wash stage in between each of the stages?

I’m hoping that I can establish a working method for b&w that can easily be used for Ra4 so that when I move onto that in the near future the transition is a relatively straightforward one.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks in advance,

Dave

 

[MattKing]

Welcome to posting here.
With respect to black and white, the caution against contamination relates mostly to contaminating developer with less than minimal amounts of stop bath or acidic fixer - in essence allowing chemicals from a later part of the process to get into the developer. That isn't good for the developer.
It isn't ideal if excess developer gets into the stop bath or developer gets into fixer, but in reasonably small quantities, all it really does is decrease the capacity of the stop bath and fixer a bit.
All of which means that a good rinse after the fixing stage should meet your needs.
I'll let the tray processing RA4 people comment on that workflow.

 

[PittP]

Welcome Dave,
the Paterson Orbital was/is a handy daylight tank to develop large format film. (Sorry I can't help you with a manual either.)
It can be used just like any daylight tank, just size, shape and agitation are a bit different.
Whatever you put into it: Make sure the sheet does not stick to the smooth bottom of the Orbital.
To arrange and position the film inside, it should have a number of red knobs (like small thick nails) that fit into holes in the base.
It can also be used for coluor prints, but size is very limited and you need a lot of chemistry: A drum is always better and mor convenient.
For b&w prints, the Orbital does not make sense. Use three trays!
Otherwise, there are a plethora of videos and instructions on the web - have a smooth start!
Pitt

 

[Dave Son]

Many thanks Matt, that’s super helpful; what you say is very encouraging and suggests the process should be nice and straightforward. I’ll be giving it a try in the next day or so and will be sure to rinse the tank thoroughly after fixing.

I don’t intend to process film in the tank Pitt. My main reason for picking up the Orbital was for printing colour in due course but soon realised it also makes a great deal of sense for me to use for b&w; in building a home darkroom setup this month, I soon realised I needed to use separate rooms for the wet and dry stages of the process. The blacked-out space that I’m able to use for the dry stage is very small and completely without ventilation; the orbital will allow me to print comfortably in that room without worrying about fumes and move into a well ventilated room (that I can’t easily blackout) and do the wet stage of the process in the light. So it’s a perfect solution for me.
There are indeed a plethora of tutorials available regarding three tray processing but little to nothing on the orbital which is why I reached out to the good people of photrio!

many thanks for the input gents

 

[koraks]

I’m hoping that I can establish a working method for b&w that can easily be used for Ra4 so that when I move onto that in the near future the transition is a relatively straightforward one.

Develop in trays. Works great for B&W and RA4.
An orbital sounds unnecessarily complicated for doing prints.

 

[kevs]

Hi Dave, welcome to Photrio.

While you can use the orbital to process B&W paper, the only advantage over a proper three-dish system is the ability to develop in white light. That would be ideal if you don't have a safelight but you won't be able to watch the print develop in the dish, which is useful when judging the completion of development.

Decades ago, I used one of these orbital tanks for Cibachrome / Ilfochrome and RA4 printing but I found I got better, more even results using a drum. It does work well as an emergency paper / film safe though.

B&W chems would be ok to reuse in an Orbital but follow the chem manufacturer's instructions.

This is the best info I could find at short notice (unless you want to pay £9.99 for a facsimile manual!):
http://www.rogerandfrances.com/photoschool/ps how orbital.html

Regarding concertina bottles; don't. They are a poor product and not worth the money. They're opaque (you can't see the contents), leak air and oxidise the developer (bt;dt!), and eventually develop holes in the corrugations. You're better off using clear, old PET pop bottles, which seal well and can be squeezed just as easily. They're also cheaper (or free) and when bought new, you get to drink the original contents.

 

[Dave Son]

Many thanks for the info kevs - that’s all very helpful and much appreciated.

I’ve just used the orbital for the first time and happy to report that it works perfectly and seems to fit my needs. It’s certainly a slower process than three tray processing but it’ll do until I can sort a darkroom space that’s properly ventilated. Hoping to try RA4 with it soon. The orbital seemed by far the most affordable option to me for colour print processing (bar three trays which I can’t do for the aforementioned reason) but if I’m able to find a drum and roller for a good price, I’d certainly be interested in upgrading.

thanks again

 

[koraks]

How necessary ventilation is for ra4 is debatable. Some peopke are bothered by open trays of ra4 developer, but I never noticed any ill effects. Ymmv.
If the orbital works for you, that's great. It should do just fine as long as you don't want to print big.

 

[tezzasmall]

Hi Dave welcome!

I have a full working darkroom but also have an Orbital and the electric base, of which I bought to try developing insitu i.e. the place that I will actually be taking 10 x 8 pinhole negs, as an alternative to taking a changing bag etc to reload my two darkslides on site. Which is better or easier, only time will tell So, I will interested to read any advise given to you.

Also, can I also recommend that you pop over to the FADU website, mostly because there are a few people from Scotland on there, and depending upon where you are, you may well be able to get some one to one advice. Also, having just done a quick search on the site, there is a wealth of information already on their about the subject you want help with: http://www.film-and-darkroom-user.org.uk/forum/search.php?searchid=3990705

Good luck and have fun and I will be following your questions!

Terry S

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

I use my Orbital for processing sheet film. But treat it just like using a tray. I wouldn't do one shot with BW, only color printing. Just have 3 beakers for developer, stop and fix and pour the chemicals back to reuse them. The chemical requirement is much lower for the orbital than 8x10 trays.