Question on Flattening 120 Film After Drying

[vicb]

Hi,

I have a question regarding film curviness, particularly with 120. After the drying process, the film ends tend to curl significantly. I am currently using the clamps shown in the attached photo, but they don’t always keep the film flat. As a result, the films sometimes have trouble passing through the Phase One scanner.

I am exploring other clamp options, but for now, these are what I have available. Do you have any tips or recommended methods for flattening film after the drying process? Ideally, the method should be safe for the emulsion and relatively quick, as we sometimes need to scan large volumes of film on the same day.

Thank you kindly for your guidance.

 

[John Salim]

120mm ????

 

[vicb]

120mm ????

Sorry, I meant just 120 (it's been a long day for me )

 

[John Salim]

I know, I know .... just having a little dig !

JS

 

[Rick A]

I always hang my roll film with a weight on the bottom to dry. After a couple of days it doesn't curl. I'm never in a hurry to enlarge negatives so the longer it hangs, the straighter it stays.

 

[loccdor]

The film could be sleeved and heavy books laid on top. If you had a heating pad of the type used for starting seeds, I could see that speeding up the process.

 

[GregY]

It all depends on the film. Ilford & Kodak films dry flat enough for me....no curling issues.
I hang them with a normal weighted film clip on the bottom end.

 

[MattKing]

Welcome to Photrio.

Ideally, the method should be safe for the emulsion and relatively quick, as we sometimes need to scan large volumes of film on the same day.

This is probably where the issue arises.
Slower drying in moderately humid conditions usually leads to flatter negatives. If you try to speed things up, curl becomes much more common.
Can you add a bit of time and a source for a bit more humidity into your drying procedure?

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

I find little to no curl with Kodak & Ilford films. Eastern European films seemed to curl like crazy.

 

[mwdake]

Not quick by any means but it might be an option…
I can’t remember which film it was but one that I had really bad curl with I would reverse roll it and keep it that way for a week or so, it helped a lot.

 

[vicb]

Thank you everyone for your answers.
The only issue is that sometimes we’re dealing with large volumes of film and need them very quickly, which makes things tricky.

I was also wondering whether the way the 120 films are attached to the rack could influence the curvature in any way. When they come out of the dryer (after the D&D machine process - the machine is connected to the dryer), the emulsion is facing outward.

Should I try having the emulsion facing inward instead? Because, aside from the curves created by the clamps, there’s sometimes a strong curl in the film itself.

I’ll attach photos below to make it easier to understand what I’m talking about.

 

[MattKing]

Is there a chance that the dryer is set to a temperature that is too high?