Uses for old 120 spools?

Rob Archer · Mar 11, 2006

Over 15 years of using 120 film I have accrued hundreds of 120 spools. being of Scottish descent I have never thrown one away in the hope that I may find a use for them one day, so far without luck. I just wondered what proportion of the film cost is made up of the spool. Perhaps (highly unlikely, I suspect!) some enviromnentally friendly film producer would consider giving free films in exchange for a fixed number of old spools? Any APUGers out there got any novel uses for old spools, or should I just convert them to landfill?

Rob

eumenius · Mar 11, 2006

I well remember my first biochemistry lab, where about a dozen of old wooden AGFA 120 spools were turned in coat hangers - just a long nail through the spool, and you're done

Wayne · Mar 11, 2006

I know that 620 spools can be useful at take-up spools in some old 120/620 large format rollfilm backs. I have one of these backs (rarely use it though). 120 spools wont fit the takeup mechanism, though they will fit the feed side. Not sure if the 120's have any such obscure use, so this doesnt help you a bit.

Dave Parker · Mar 11, 2006

I have used a few of them for driving a nail through and hanging my archery gear on them, the roundness of the inner spool creates less stress on the bow strings and such over just a nail, other than that, I have been able to cut a few of them down to use in 620 cameras, not much else I can think of tho...

Dave

Max Power · Mar 11, 2006

My children take them to school where they are very much in demand for arts and crafts classes!

Kent

David Brown · Mar 11, 2006

Tie one on the end of the string that's hanging from the bare bulb socket in the ceiling. They make great handles for that.

Dave Miller · Mar 11, 2006

Stick them end on to the soles of your shoes. Not only will it make you taller, but will save on shoe leather.
You could also have various body appendages pierced, and use the spools as fillers. One through the tongue should make a good talking point.

Ole · Mar 11, 2006

Back in 1945, Voigtländer's "Der Satrap" photography magazine ran a competition for just that: What to do with the old spools?

I'll see if I can find some of the entries and scan them. In the mean time, maybe we should resurrect the contest?

jim appleyard · Mar 11, 2006

No place to recycle them? I take mine to the local 1-hour lab where I hope they send them off to be turned into some other plastic gizmo.

arigram · Mar 11, 2006

We had a thread about it some time ago...
The mystery was never resolved, the culpit is still at large...
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Loose Gravel · Mar 11, 2006

How about the paper? Did you save that, too? I do. I use it to make ribbons and bows for xmas and birthdays. Also, makes a great 1x collapsible telescope or microscope.

jim appleyard · Mar 11, 2006

Loose Gravel said:
How about the paper? Did you save that, too? I do. I use it to make ribbons and bows for xmas and birthdays. Also, makes a great 1x collapsible telescope or microscope.

Only a 1x??? By golly, I bet if you took 3-4 thousand of those little "contact" lenses they put into the disposible cameras, and put them into your 1x paper job, you could rival the Hubble!

rbarker · Mar 11, 2006

I have the better part of a large trash bag of them myself.

My plan is to use them as hair rollers for an "in-makeup" portrait of a photo model.

Curt · Mar 11, 2006

Rob, I have the same problem. My grandfathers name was McCumber and be of Scottish decent I have hundreds of pill bottles and caps. It started because I didn't want to send them to the landfill with my information on them and one thing lead to another. Some people have the problem with news papers and magazines. You never know when you might need them; Sure!!

I guess I will add them to my next cement project or something.

C

Brac · Mar 14, 2006

Somebody was recently selling a few on ebay for people "who wanted to spool their own 120 film" (I've have to be desperate to do that) - whether they got any bids I don't know.

Seele · Mar 15, 2006

So I heard:

Some years ago a photographer printed his promotional blurb on a length of paper the width of the 120 film, rolled them onto the empty spools and sent them out to his clients. Very creative use, but he found that a proportion of them sent it right back to him with a note: "why did you send me a roll of film?"

Uses for old 120 spools?

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