Unicolor rotary base for developing roll films?

BHuij · Oct 10, 2018

Hey everyone--

I have been using the 8x10 paper drums with the Unicolor rotary base to process my 4x5 negatives almost since I started shooting large format. I love the economy, ease, and results. It really is the perfect way for me to work.

I'm going to be re-calibrating my zone system film speed/development times using distilled water, as I have at least one move coming up, and don't want to re-do everything with new tap water if I'm only going to be there for a year or so.

To this point I've always used the rotary tube for sheet films and a regular hand tank/reel for 35mm and 120. Because of the differences in agitation, etc. I actually had two separate sets of calibrations for sheet film vs roll film, even of the same type and with the same developer. For example, FP4+/Rodinal develops to proper contrast for N faster in the rotary tube than the hand tank.

I'd like to do away with this. The obvious solution is to find a way to rotary process my roll films, and on the same base as the sheet films. Has anyone had any luck working out a way to put roll film into a unicolor drum in a way that works?

Rick A · Oct 10, 2018

I used to have a couple of multi reel drums for mine, I gave them away with all my reels. Look for these:
file:///C:/Users/rick/Downloads/Unicolor_film_drum-sm.pdf
Copy and paste the link to your browser, it should open

btaylor · Oct 10, 2018

I can’t follow that link, but I am pretty sure it refers to the Unicolor Film Drum which IMO is the way to go. I’ve been using mine since the 80’s. It is designed to work on the Unicolor base. Reels are easy to find on eBay. Got to watch it on the tanks though. Old rubber and plastics are your enemy. I ended up buying several to get all the functioning parts I needed, but they can be found fairly cheap. Great system, especially for color processing

BHuij · Oct 10, 2018

Having trouble finding these on a popular auction site, but from what you're describing and what I'm finding on Google, it seems like the perfect solution. Does this tank have the capability to switch out chemicals (i.e. dump out used developer and add in stop bath) in the daylight, or do I need to turn lights off to proceed to the next step? If so, what is the mechanism that allows liquid transmission without light transmission?

MattKing · Oct 10, 2018

I do this with a Patterson tank (with two added rubber bands) on a Beseler rotary base.
The tank is the current Super System 4 tank designed to hold 3x135 or 2x120 reels. The sides of that tank are very close to parallel, and long enough to span the distance between the two wheels on the Beseler base.
I use the AP/Arista wide flange reels designed for Paterson tanks, but the Paterson reels will work too.
My practice, however, is to only use the rotary base for:
1) a 3 minute pre-rinse;
2) the first 30 seconds of development; and
3) the stop bath, fixer, initial rinse and HCA steps.
My reason for using hand agitation for most of the development stage is that I frequently develop two 120 rolls on the same reel, and if I use rotary agitation during development, the film slides around so much within the reel that I have problems with overlap. That doesn't seem to be a problem with all the other stages. My guess is that film in the developer is much slipperier than at any other time.
FWIW, I am currently using replenished X-Tol as developer, after several years of using replenished HC-110.

OptiKen · Oct 10, 2018

Not wanting to hi-jack this thread but I am in the same situation.
I've found that the Arista reels work well in the tank but do not know what volume of chemicals I would need to use for development without it pouring out of the tank

BHuij · Oct 10, 2018

This actually sounds perfect. I have just such a tank. Since I don't have any intention of double loading a single reel, I will definitely test this out when I get a chance.

RalphLambrecht · Oct 10, 2018

MattKing said:
I do this with a Patterson tank (with two added rubber bands) on a Beseler rotary base.
The tank is the current Super System 4 tank designed to hold 3x135 or 2x120 reels. The sides of that tank are very close to parallel, and long enough to span the distance between the two wheels on the Beseler base.
I use the AP/Arista wide flange reels designed for Paterson tanks, but the Paterson reels will work too.
My practice, however, is to only use the rotary base for:
1) a 3 minute pre-rinse;
2) the first 30 seconds of development; and
3) the stop bath, fixer, initial rinse and HCA steps.
My reason for using hand agitation for most of the development stage is that I frequently develop two 120 rolls on the same reel, and if I use rotary agitation during development, the film slides around so much within the reel that I have problems with overlap. That doesn't seem to be a problem with all the other stages. My guess is that film in the developer is much slipperier than at any other time.
FWIW, I am currently using replenished X-Tol as developer, after several years of using replenished HC-110.

if you buy a few roller-skate- wheels and mount them onto a flat board, you can do rotary processing in daylight with any tube;Jobo,Patterson etc and it will work fine.

Rick A · Oct 10, 2018

OptiKen said:
Not wanting to hi-jack this thread but I am in the same situation.
I've found that the Arista reels work well in the tank but do not know what volume of chemicals I would need to use for development without it pouring out of the tank

Copy and paste the link I provided to your browser, it has volume's needed. If it doesn't work send me a pm with your email address and I'll send it to you that way.

MattKing · Oct 10, 2018

OptiKen said:
Not wanting to hi-jack this thread but I am in the same situation.
I've found that the Arista reels work well in the tank but do not know what volume of chemicals I would need to use for development without it pouring out of the tank

It is easy to test for this with water.
Fill up the tank until the reels are well covered but there is air available above the water.
Measure that volume. That volume of chemical is appropriate for manual inversion agitation. In my Paterson tank, one litre works well, and that is how much developer I always use. As I almost always use developer in a replenishment regime, using what may be more developer than necessary has no real disadvantage..
The volume that works well with rotary agitation is approximately half that volume, because if your volume is halved, and you turn the tank on its side, the fluid is deep enough to reach the centre tube, so rotating the reels through that volume will ensure fluid reaches all the film.
I'm probably being more careful than necessary, but I use 650 ml of fluid in that tank when I am using rotary agitation.

adelorenzo · Oct 11, 2018

Unicolor made film drums. I have one with a pile of reels squirelled away somewhere, unless I finally tossed it out.

tezzasmall · Oct 11, 2018

Rick A said:
I used to have a couple of multi reel drums for mine, I gave them away with all my reels. Look for these:
file:///C:/Users/rick/Downloads/Unicolor_film_drum-sm.pdf
Copy and paste the link to your browser, it should open

Rick, the link you give is just valid for you and refers to files on YOUR computer ONLY!

If on the other hand you have published it somewhere on the web, e.g. on your website if you have one, then please do tell us all the link to it there.

Terry S

Rick A · Oct 11, 2018

Well, since I can't get the pdf on here, take this:

View attachment 209264
https://www.flickr.com/photos/68434348@N02/albums/72157674373574808

OptiKen · Oct 11, 2018

Rick A said:
Copy and paste the link I provided to your browser, it has volume's needed. If it doesn't work send me a pm with your email address and I'll send it to you that way.

FANTASTIC! Thank you Rick. I've been searching for that sheet for ages.

darkroommike · Oct 11, 2018

BHuij said:
Having trouble finding these on a popular auction site, but from what you're describing and what I'm finding on Google, it seems like the perfect solution. Does this tank have the capability to switch out chemicals (i.e. dump out used developer and add in stop bath) in the daylight, or do I need to turn lights off to proceed to the next step? If so, what is the mechanism that allows liquid transmission without light transmission?

Yes, the tank is baffled but there is a small cap, the cap has a small hole in the middle, it's just there so that the tank will hold more solution when horizontal. I have one where the front lid leaked so I just glued that lid on with silicone glue and load that tank from the back where the piston is. 35mm and 120 reels are pretty common (I have a few new in box if anyone needs them). Much less common is the 110 reel, I have one and it is not for sale since it will also process 16mm.

darkroommike · Oct 11, 2018

MattKing said:
I do this with a Patterson tank (with two added rubber bands) on a Beseler rotary base.
The tank is the current Super System 4 tank designed to hold 3x135 or 2x120 reels. The sides of that tank are very close to parallel, and long enough to span the distance between the two wheels on the Beseler base.
I use the AP/Arista wide flange reels designed for Paterson tanks, but the Paterson reels will work too.
My practice, however, is to only use the rotary base for:
1) a 3 minute pre-rinse;
2) the first 30 seconds of development; and
3) the stop bath, fixer, initial rinse and HCA steps.
My reason for using hand agitation for most of the development stage is that I frequently develop two 120 rolls on the same reel, and if I use rotary agitation during development, the film slides around so much within the reel that I have problems with overlap. That doesn't seem to be a problem with all the other stages. My guess is that film in the developer is much slipperier than at any other time.
FWIW, I am currently using replenished X-Tol as developer, after several years of using replenished HC-110.

The two roll Paterson tank will just fit on the Beseler base but is too short for most other motor bases, you also need a base that rolls slowly, I have had film unwind with faster RPM's from the Paterson reels, e.g. the King Concept Imagemaker.

ic-racer · Oct 11, 2018

I used the Unicolor FilmDrum II on a Uniroller base from 1987 to 2000 for all my rollfilm processing. I used T-max developer and mostly T-max film. I processed at room temp using a time-temp chart. Worked great. I used it with either the original Unicolor plastic reels or with stainless reels.

darkroommike · Oct 11, 2018

ic-racer said:
I used the Unicolor FilmDrum II on a Uniroller base from 1987 to 2000 for all my rollfilm processing. I used T-max developer and mostly T-max film. I processed at room temp using a time-temp chart. Worked great. I used it with either the original Unicolor plastic reels or with stainless reels.

With stainless steel reels you are supposed to use a set of center tubes, you need the tubes to form a light, tight seal, just like Paterson, good luck finding a set of those. The Unicolor reels work OK.

Trask · Oct 11, 2018

I’m curious: are the Unicolor reels free to rotate on an individual basis, or are the reels somehow locked onto the tank so that they are stationary with respect to the tank? I ask because otherwise I could envisage a reel or reels staying in one position while the tank rotated, meaning half the loaded film above the horizontal developer would never get developed.

darkroommike · Oct 11, 2018

Trask said:
I’m curious: are the Unicolor reels free to rotate on an individual basis, or are the reels somehow locked onto the tank so that they are stationary with respect to the tank? I ask because otherwise I could envisage a reel or reels staying in one position while the tank rotated, meaning half the loaded film above the horizontal developer would never get developed.

The reels are made to stack and lock out light but are semi-free to rotate inside the tank. The piston at the nominal bottom of the tank prevents most but not all rotation. And the reel O.D. is almost the same as the film drum I.D. It's not like a BB in a rain barrel. In all the years I've used them I never had a roll of film "half develop".

btaylor · Oct 12, 2018

Trask said:
I’m curious: are the Unicolor reels free to rotate on an individual basis, or are the reels somehow locked onto the tank so that they are stationary with respect to the tank? I ask because otherwise I could envisage a reel or reels staying in one position while the tank rotated, meaning half the loaded film above the horizontal developer would never get developed.

It is a well designed system. There are no half developed reels of film.

OptiKen · Oct 12, 2018

ic-racer said:
I used the Unicolor FilmDrum II on a Uniroller base from 1987 to 2000 for all my rollfilm processing. I used T-max developer and mostly T-max film. I processed at room temp using a time-temp chart. Worked great. I used it with either the original Unicolor plastic reels or with stainless reels.

The Unicolor FilmDrum II is what I am missing and have been searching for 'forever'

gijsbert · Oct 12, 2018

I use DD-X, which is a bit pricey, so I like the small volumes required by the Unicolor tank with the piston. And so far the Unicolor reels have been pretty easy to load as well!
Before getting the Unicolor drum I also used a 1 reel (120, 2 reel 135) Paterson tank extended with a piece of plastic pipe so it would fit the Uniroller base, the results were pretty good. I think I used 350ml instead of the normal 500ml needed for hand processing.

darkroommike · Oct 13, 2018

OptiKen said:
The Unicolor FilmDrum II is what I am missing and have been searching for 'forever'

How strange, I usually see a few on Ebay but not right now.

Unicolor rotary base for developing roll films?

BHuij

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Unicolor rotary base for developing roll films?

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