Some advice requested on using drums for processing 4x5 B&W

[bjdejong]

Dear all,

After many years I seem to be back on the road to develop B&W 4x5 film. I bought a two second hand drums (one from unicolor and one from simma-color) and a Philips PDR 120 to make them roll.

To take it to the next step I still miss two pieces of information, i.e.:

1. How much developer (I intend to use HC 110 B) does these tanks need, or how can I determine that?

2. Is it important that the emulsion of the sheets faces to middle of the drum, or is this rather irrelevant for the quality of the process?

Answers to these questions are really appreciated. It will bring me closer to be back to reviving some rusty darkroom skills.

Cheers,

Barend Jan

 

[mwdake]

1. I can't help on the HC 110 part as I don't use it; however, for the developer I use, I use a 250 ml total volume in my Unicolor drum when doing 4x5 B & W.
2. Not sure if it is really important but I think it just makes sense to keep the emulsion facing inwards as the emulsion up against the ribs in the tank may cause problems.

If you are planning on doing 4 4x5 sheets in the Unicolor drum make sure you use the little separators if you have them. If you don't have the little separators you can make some; otherwise stick to doing 2 sheets at a time.

Good luck.

 

[rmolson]

Unicolor and s4x5 film

Unicolor drums for 4x5


I have been using the Unicolor 8x10 drum for years and with 4x5 Tri X and HC-110 at 1:50 dilution with very consistent results I started using 500 cc as a simple method to measure a 1:50 dilution straight out of the bottle of HC110.. And it seemed to insure even development. I have never experienced bromide drag or uneven development with this volume .My times are 9 minutes at 68 degrees for my particular set up. I even use the Ilford method of washing with the Unicolor drums. And to save water the tempering bath for the fixer is used for mixing the developer and washing the film .

 

[bjdejong]

Thanks for the advice sofar. I am close to callibrating my development -- I am desperately waiting for my materials to be delivered. You will be able to follow progress on this on my blog Dead Link Removed. Just search for: "Getting Back Into the Dark Room"

Cheers,

Barend Jan