separating sheet film in beseler drum?

wildbill

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I can't find any info on the web about this. Usually searches result in unicolor drums. I've got 8x10 beseler drums. I've read about separating the sheets lengthwise but I have the slide-in rib for that. It's when I develop two or four sheets that one sheet can slide down and overlap the other, resulting in 1 portion of a neg not getting the chemicals. What have you guys done to overcome this? Is there a trick gadget that can attach to the slide-in rib?
thanks
vinny
 

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jolefler

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Easy, Vinnie!

Wrote before thinking this time! It was a Beseler base that I used, not the drum!

Will a slit piece of eraser fit on the edge of that chemical tray, so that it would reach the drum wall and separate the sheets? Or it can be placed on the dowel-like rod that separates the two pair of sheets.

Jo
 
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wildbill

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Jo, your first response didn't make sense to me. Thanks for clarifying. An eraser won't work with the tray option. I'm trying to cut erasers different ways to grab the slide-in rib but I'm running out of pencils and my wife is going to kill me when she discovers all the useless pencils I put back in her drawer. Synthetic erasers seem to be a bit sturdier, I'm trying that out now.
 

Thomas Bertilsson

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Well, I have Jo's old Beseler base, and the eraser works really well on the Unicolor drums that came with it.

I also have a Chromega and a Beseler color drum Both have a round rail that separates the 4x5 or 5x7 sheets, and when doing more than two 4x5 sheets you put two side by side, correct? Both Chromega and Beseler had a little butterfly looking thing that would slide onto the round rail after you inserted two sheets, one on either side of the round rail, all the way to the bottom of the tank. Then the 'butterfly' would slide in until it touched the side of the 4x5 sheets, and then the remaining two sheets before you close up the tank.

I would try to find a piece of fairly stiff, but flexible (without breaking when you bend it) plastic tubing with an inner diameter about the same size as the outer diameter of the round rail. I would then cut a small piece off, about a 1/8inch or so, and cut off about 1/4 of the circumference of the material, so that you could use the rest to clip onto the round rail.

That's all I can think of. Don't know if the eraser will work on these. The erasers Jo gave me for the Unicolor drums work, because those drums have a V-shaped rail instead of a round, and it's easier to 'grip' than the round.

- Thomas
 
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wildbill

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Jo, Thomas, thanks for your replies. I managed to make a couple tabs out of some 1/8 plastic. I cut and filed them to the shape/radius of the drum and cut a notch (with a tiny round file) to fit snuggly onto the rib. I just souped 4 sheets of classic pan 400 and they turned out quite nice.
 

Thomas Bertilsson

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I'm glad that worked out for you, Vinny!

- Thomas
 

jolefler

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So will we be seeing....

a "for sale" classified ad here for "pencils for those who are without error"?

Jo
 

yeknom02

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Going to resurrect this thread since I have some questions... I got one of these recently and am looking forward to using it.

1) Mine did not come that slide-in rib. Has anyone come up with a suitable replacement for it?

2) How much chemistry does this take? Does 200 mL sound about right? And how much am I supposed to cut development time when rotary processing?
 
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wildbill

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w/o the rib, you're screwed. Hell, even with the rib, I was screwed till I sold the drums and got jobo expert drums. Now life is good.
 

michaelbsc

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Thomas Bertilsson said:
Well, I have Jo's old Beseler base, and the eraser works really well on the Unicolor drums that came with it.
Click to expand...

Erasers in a Unicolor drum, huh?

Are we talking about the white pencil eraser blocks like one can buy at office supply stores? I have been wracking my brain to find a substitute for the OEM rubber separators that seem to get lost. Just carve out something from the eraser as stock material?

I too realize this is an old thread, but if anyone who's still watching it can confirm that would be great.

Sorry I'm no help with the Beseler drum. But I have Unicolor drums.
 

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michaelbsc

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Blue Monkey said:
There was an easy solution for the seperators in the LFP site.

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/unicolor/

He uses modified clothes clips.
Click to expand...

That article is how I got started on the Unicolor drums in the first place.

The clothes pins he uses are unusual, and I haven't been able to duplicate the technique with other clothes pins or any other spring type device.

The problem is that the barrier must fit snugly into the V-notch of the rib (on a Unicolor drum at least) in order to prevent film movement.

I have not had time to try the white pencil eraser trick yet. If it works it may well be better than the factory separator. It's bigger and easier to find in the dark when I realize I forgot to put it in my pocket before I openend the film holders!
 

Thomas Bertilsson

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Yes, exactly like that. Cut a piece with an Exacto knife to snugly fit the rail inside the drum. Put two 4x5 sheets in, then slide the eraser stopper in and finally slide two more sheets in. This way the piece of eraser effectively stops the films from overlapping as the drum rotates.
The stopper has to be thin enough (mine are about 1/8" thick) so that the total width of the sheets plus the stopper doesn't exceed the length of the drum.

I would be worried about using clothes pins, unless the spring material is made from high grade stainless steel. Regular galvanized steel could contaminate the chemicals.
 

Jim Noel

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The drum originally had the slide in ribs and a wing shaped piece which slid over one of the ribs to separate the film on the long axis of the drum.
 

michaelbsc

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Jim Noel said:
The drum originally had the slide in ribs and a wing shaped piece which slid over one of the ribs to separate the film on the long axis of the drum.
Click to expand...

The Beseler has a slide in rib, but I guess I have kind of hijacked this thread to ask about Unidrums. In those the runs are molded in. I like that since you cannot loose it, and it provides a little passage to the rear of the film so it clears better.
 
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