Slosher tray in the UK?

I'm getting into 4x5 sheet film processing at the moment and have done a bit of tray processing, just doing one sheet at a time though. I'm worried that processing more than one sheet in a stack will end in scratches on the film so slosher trays sound and look like a good alternative. The only place that seems to sell sloshers (that I can find) is Photographers' Formulary, as I'm based in the UK I was hoping that there was a shop over here selling them. Does anybody know of such a place?

Having looked at the design of them, they don't look too difficult to make at home. A thin sheet of plastic from a local sign maker is all you'd need.

[edit] Found this (there was a url link here which no longer exists) and a link to a drawing

An alternative would be a Paterson Orbital tray - I've started using one for my 5x4, and find it much easier than a Combi-Plan tank or regular tray. The Patersons turn up fairly regularly on ebay, all be it at silly prices, and occasionally with the s/h camera dealers - I got one for free, and another with a motorised base for a fiver.

I use the photographer's formulary slosher tray and have found it to be the simplest, most bullet proof way to develop 4x5 film. I've never had a single scratch or other developing problem from the first time I started using it. I hope you find a way to get one. All the best. Shawn

Shawn has it right!

You can also learn to process 10 sheets of film in one batch with no scratches. Just takes practice. And, to confirm the others, a slosher is simple to make: 1/4" acrylic and the proper adhesive.

I made a slosher from plexiglass that I purchased at a home center.

The glue I used to assemble the slosher is plexiglass cement - it was hard to find, but eventually I found a glass shop that carried it. It's basically a solvent that softens the mating surfaces and allows them to adhere. To use it, it is essential that the cuts be precise since the mating surfaces must be in intimate contact.

Here's a dimensioned drawing (inches - I'm a dinosaur) for a slosher that holds 6 sheets and fits in an 11x14" tray

Looks fairly easy to make. If I were doing this, I would add some sort of handle to each end so it can be moved around without getting your fingers in the developer..... Or am I missing something?

I probably won't make one though as I have a Paterson Orbital.


Steve.

Rhys, I recently been asking my self the very same question !

I've been using a Paterson Orbital for over 12 months and have finally concluded that it's been to problematic (for me) in that I've experienced too many uneven development/ streaking problems. It does seem to work well for others though so this might just be down to my method of using it and or the film/dev combinations I'm using.
I decided to give open tray processing a go and again while others promote it and say it's easy with practice, I just got really frustrated with trying to control slippery sheets of film in the dark and ended up ruining some pretty decent negs with scratches etc.

I'd heard good things about sloshers so, with the help of an engineer friend set about making one from some acrylic ....... What an absolute joy it was !! So easy to use, even development and clean negs. It's still early days and I'll probably need to do alot more before I'm totally convinced but I'm hoping this is going to be the way forward for me now.

I'm going to PM you.

Bill

I see there is also a guy in the UK selling these on eB*y - search for "slosher tray"

Ian