Threading 120 film on reel - any tips & tricks?

Hewes also make stainless steel reels for Paterson and Jobo tanks. Hewes also make very sturdy stove enamelled and stainless steel loaders for 35mm & 120.

The problem maybe not having a supplier in Australia but you can buy direct from Hewes but again, the delivery costs may make this impractical.

Now this was never meant to be a competition for the best tip, just a cry for help in my frustration. But I have to say that the most useful, and certainly the cheapest, tip so far is the one from mwdake in post #23 above.

That is to cut a piece of film box cardboard to the width of the film and insert it in the reel before turning off the light to use as a guide to start the film. So far I have used it three times with instant success every time. I found that it works better with the Paterson reel than the Jobo one because it has its ball bearing "grippers" about 2.5cm into the slot, whereas the Jobo reel has little "chicanes" right at the start of the slot which prevent the thickness of the cardboard entering the slot.

Thanks to everyone who suggested stainless steel, particularly Hewes reels. There will be one in my future, but for the moment plastic and cardboard is doing the job.

Now this was never meant to be a competition for the best tip, just a cry for help in my frustration. But I have to say that the most useful, and certainly the cheapest, tip so far is the one from mwdake in post #23 above.

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Thanks, but to be honest I am just passing it along as I too learned that trick off someone else many years ago; I don't remember who or where.
Even after years of loading 120 reels I still use my little piece of card to act as a guide to slide the film in to the start of the reel.

So thanks to whoever taught me that trick.

I found geat difficulty with this for years- then 2 weeks ago, I suddenly got it !
I used to move both the reel and film holding hand back and forth to load it, while holding them up off the surface. I could never do that holding them perfectly aligned to load smoothly. NOW, I lay the reel on the surface (in the black bag or tent) and "roll" the reel towards the left, while only guiding the film with my right. Suddenly, it works ! Try that.

After pushing film into the clip check to make sure the film is centered on the clip. The film will have a curl above and below the clip. By feeling the amount of curl you can tell if they are equal. If not move the film up or down in the clip until the curl is about equal. 120 film is less forgiving if the film is not properly centered in the clip. Also less forgiving is if the reel is out of round, never by reels off ebay, it's worth buying them new. Roll it across a table, if it wobbles side to side or up and down suggest you get a new one. One final suggestion, Make sure there isn't burr somewhere in the threading that could be catchig the film and causing it to double trac. Good luck.

I have a Jobo 1520 and also a Paterson Tank System 4, both with the standard plastic reels. To make matters worse, I am gradually losing feeling in my fingertips due to an old neck injury

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I use exactly the same tanks and reels. I prefer the Jobo because when the balls in the Paterson are blocked (Calcium) you will have a problem.
For loading one 120 roll film in the 1501 reel it will take 30 seconds. The reel must be clean and no contamination with a wetting agent and completely dry. Also the way you are loading is important. You had for this already some advise.

I am dealing with the same defect: Car crash from a big truck hitting from the back. Result: Spine damage and whip lash. Continuous under fysio treatment. When not: Loosing all feeling in hand/fingers. So I know what you have to deal with. Under these circumstances it's impossible to do this job.

Take the plastic receiver out of the Rondinax and use use it in your hand to unspool the film to get to the tape. Drop the backing paper out of your way and fold the tape over the edge to make it stiffer.

The new film is in fact thinner.

I too have started loading back to front onto my Paterson reels. The last batch of TMAX I´ve been using is so curled I can´t get it on the "right" way around, I simply have to load it with tape first.