Semistand development in PVC tubes

[Bruce Schultz]

Sandy, Any updates on your use of open-ended PVC tubes inside a developer tank for semi-stand developing? Do you use fiberglass screen backing for the film?
These slosher trays sound good, but cutting up a few pieces of pipe would be a whole lot cheaper and easier.

 

[kaiyen]

Jay,
Are you putting the cylinder of fiberglass screen into a big tank of developer, or in a tray, or...? Or are you still putting them into a paterson-style tank?

I'm trying to figure out how to do intermittent agitation other than with your rubber band "taco" method, so I'm quite interseted in this, too.

allan

 

[kaiyen]

Thanks Jay. I'm trying to find an option that let's me develop, say, 3-5 sheets at a time without using up a HUGE amount of liquid (I mean like yankee-tank quantities - I'm not unreasonably cheap about this). If I were to go continuous I got the unicolor system alraedy on hand, but I'd like to use intermittent if I can.

Perhaps I can make up some kind of tube system that would use the Paterson central column as a center, like your daisy. I could even invert as I do for 35mm and 120 if I could do that. And being able to fit a few more sheets in there would make that process a bit more economical.

My only concern is how big I'd need to make the cylinders to keep the film from overlapping. Time to do some geometry.

allan

 

[George Collier]

I too am playing around with using tubes for stand development with 4x5. I have found that a full 5min presoak in water with about 1/8th inch of the film sticking out one end does the trick. After the 5min, grab that little edge and work it back and forth (also run your finger around the edge to pry it away from the inner tube wall) to break the contact between the film base and the tube. (this was suggested by an earlier thread, and it works for me)
I use old 4x5 Kodak hard rubber tanks with the tubes sticking straight up. I have had no problems with unevenness, and the only time I had some anti-halation dye still in the film was when I tried to shortcut the presoak by 2-3min. Some folks say the dye will wash out, but it didn't in my case.

 

[George Collier]

Addendum - I didn't say this in my post, but my tubes are 1 3/4in pvc plastic plumbing tubes. I cut them, sanded the ends on the inside, then worked the edges and inside with acetone (if memory serves), which will smooth and polish them. Never had a scratch.

 

[Bruce Schultz]

jdef,
Just tried your screen idea. It seems to have worked well. I haven't dried the film yet but it appears to be flawless. There's no comparison between the stand developed film and the regularly agitated film. I shot both at same exposure, and the stand developed shot appears to be far superior.
I developed one on 8x10 sheet in a unicolor tank on a unicolor motor for 14.5 minutes at a 2:2:1000 dilution. The other sheet was placed in one of the screen sleeves lengthwise into a 16x20 unicolor tank for 65 minutes at 5:5:1000. Agitated for 1st minute, then every 25 minutes with an inversion each time.
I'm going to buy some ABS pipe and make some tubes, however, because it took several thousand milliliters of liquid to submerge the film in that big 16x20 tube.

 

[sanking]

The simple procedure works perfectly for me. I just place the film in the open ended PVC tubes, dry, and develop in the dark. After the stop bath I remove the film and fix in a tray, which you can do with the lights on.

I personally have never found it necessary to use fiberglass screen backing to avoid scratching. And I have been developing all of my 5X7 film this way for the past several years.

If the fiberglass screen is necessary for your work, use it. But I have not found that to be the case.

Sandy

Sandy, Any updates on your use of open-ended PVC tubes inside a developer tank for semi-stand developing? Do you use fiberglass screen backing for the film?
These slosher trays sound good, but cutting up a few pieces of pipe would be a whole lot cheaper and easier.