I processed my first film at home ever today. Instead of making things simple (roll film, stainless roll, stainless tank, d-76), the stuff I'm used to, I went Paterson tank, Mod54 sheet holder, 6 sheets tmax100, and Ilford dd-x.
The negatives had been languishing exposed in the film holders for about 1 year. Aside from 2 sheets touching on the bottom edge, all went reasonably well. These were also the first 4x5 I had exposed in over 20 years. The negs still need to dry for a bit so I plan on getting them on the light table later. I'm guessing none are worthy of printing, but I may be surprised.
I know there's been talk in various threads regarding keeping chemistry at a stable temp. What I tried is a 15watt flat aquarium heater in a 6x13" by 6" deep clear food service bin with a bottom tray over the heater. Over time, this heater will turn 70 degrees to 75 degrees so for a simple water bath, one needs to start a bit cooler than desired. Since it's only a 15 watt heater, it can't really keep heating much past the initial 5 degrees of rise.
Was all of that necessary? Who knows, but I hope to launch into some color processing too and I know that temp is even more important there.