Steel reel not long enough?

horacekenneth · Dec 13, 2014

I came into some steel reels but I'm having an issue I can't find any discussion of.

Two reels, both say Japan and came with a P.R.O tank. Very timely as my Paterson tank and reels are starting to get worn.

The issue is, and I've tried both reels and three different lengths of 36exp film, every time I reel it I end up with 2-4 inches of film hanging off the end of the reel. I feel pretty comfortable with putting film on the steel reels (I've been practicing) except for this little feature.

Am I doing something wrong?

Is it a problem? Could I just develop it with the extra hanging off (my fear is that the extra hanging off will end up pulling more of the film off when I invert the tank).

Perhaps I am doing something wrong when I cut the film from the canister?

Thanks,

Horace

Rick A · Dec 13, 2014

I've had that happen, a couple extra inches outside the spiral. I develop as usual without issues.

tkamiya · Dec 13, 2014

One possibility is part of the film skipped the track. If you do this in daylight (with junk film of course) and verify every part of the film is in track, does it still happen?

If it does, with the camera you normally use, how close is the last shot to the end of the film? Mine ends up pretty close to the taped area. If this is the case for you also, then you could potentially wind from the end. Typically, there are quite a long leader area at the beginning. If these gets unevenly processed, it wouldn't be a big deal. The other way around may be a problem.

I've never experienced this personally; however....

Gerald C Koch · Dec 13, 2014

This may happen because not enough of the film leader is cut off. Remember to account for the film leader and the additional 3 exposures wound off during loading when cutting the film. This also happens with bulk loads of an incorrect length.

pbromaghin · Dec 13, 2014

It might not be a 35mm reel. I have a couple like that and I think they are for 126, but could be wrong.

Truzi · Dec 13, 2014

I've had this happen with a couple older (used) reels I acquired. They were not made for 36-exposure lengths of film. I just carefully put the loaded reel in the tank and had no problems, but the pictures weren't terribly important.

I don't want to risk hurting something important, so I started buying reels I knew were the right size. Unfortunately, I've not marked which reels are too "small" yet.

summicron1 · Dec 13, 2014

if all that hangs off t he end is a few inches, go ahead and process, no problem. The only problem would be if it were so long it wrapped around and lapped over itself outside the wire.

frobozz · Dec 13, 2014

pbromaghin said:
It might not be a 35mm reel. I have a couple like that and I think they are for 126, but could be wrong.

Yeah, a couple of inches doesn't sound like enough for this, but who knows. Because I have definitely seen 20-exposure 35mm reels too. I guess the thinking is "why not have more space between the film, if we can?"

Duncan

bsdunek · Dec 13, 2014

In the old days ( the 1960's) there were 24 exposure reels, although that would be pretty old stock. Otherwise, the above advice is all good.

Sirius Glass · Dec 13, 2014

As posted above a few extra inches will wrap around the outside of the reel and not cause a problem during development. After washing and using PhotoFlo you can inspect the reel to discover the source of the problem.

cmacd123 · Dec 13, 2014

some of the SS reels are made to only be long enough to hold the "active" part of the film. Some of the developing books show ways to use your hand to measure how much film to cut off so everything fits. I don't like to do that in case I cut into a good exposure.

Simplest work around might be to start loading the reel from the tail end of your film, that way the leader part is what is hanging out.

Sirius Glass · Dec 13, 2014

Sirius Glass said:
As posted above a few extra inches will wrap around the outside of the reel and not cause a problem during development. After washing and using PhotoFlo you can inspect the reel to discover the source of the problem.

I have done this with bulk film that was too long.

Jeff L · Dec 13, 2014

I have a reel or two like this as well. 36 exp film hangs way off the end- about 4 frames or so. I set them aside.

Steel reel not long enough?

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