Washing fiber based paper in Jobo drums?

Hi all,

Du to space limitations I am better off developing paper in drums than trays. But I was wondering if anyone had any experience in developing fiber based papers in drums, and particularly how sufficient washing fiber based paper in drums is?

Cheers
Peter

I would imagine that the problem with washing fiber paper in drums is that you may not be able to get sufficient water flow/exchange to the back of the print. Keep in mind that the paper base absorbs fixer and fixer by-products and that the back of fiber-base paper is, well, just the paper. Another, related problem is water exchange. Typically, you need running water for washing FB prints and a rather high exchange rate (IIRC, Kodak recommends one complete change every five minutes for at least 30 minutes). You could baby-sit your Jobo, filling and emptying the drum often, if you could make sure the back of the prints were getting washed efficiently, but that seems pretty labor-intensive.

If space is the only real issue, there are some rather thin vertical slot washers that have only a few slots (six or so, not the typical 10-12) that might work for you. They would fit on a countertop next to a sink.

Using a tray with a tray siphon works for single prints and also for multiple prints if you want to stand there and agitate prints for 30 minutes.

Before doing anything, you might want to do some testing with the Jobo. Fix an unexposed print in fresh fix, give it a five-minute spin in the Jobo with a couple of changes of water, treat it with a wash aid for 10 minutes, then wash for another 20-30 minutes with changes of water every few minutes and then test the print.

For testing, use either the HT-2 test or the equivalent test with selenium toner, but instead of just putting a drop on certain spots of the print, make enough test solution fill a tray and immerse the entire print in. Flip the print a few times in the three-minute test period and then rinse and examine. Look especially for staining on the back of the print as well as the front.

Hope this helps,

Doremus

If you are space constrained, you might consider processing using a single tray. I do it all the time with alternative (salt, kallitype, etc) including the toning step. Just make sure that you rinse the tray thoroughly before beginning a new development. In addition to the tray you will need a separate beaker for the stop and fix and a second tray if you want to wait for prints to accumulate before the final wash. After fixing I wash the print for a couple of minutes with running water, empty the tray and pour in wash aid for the appropriate time then drain the wash aid and begin the final wash. All of the alternative prints on my website were processed in this manner and after 10+ years show no degradation.

pkr1979 said:

Hi all,

Du to space limitations I am better off developing paper in drums than trays. But I was wondering if anyone had any experience in developing fiber based papers in drums, and particularly how sufficient washing fiber based paper in drums is?

Cheers
Peter

Click to expand...

I switched from trays to drums earlier this year and always print on fiber based paper. The only ‘complication’ I ran into was removing the wet paper from the drum, since it sticks to the drum wall when wet and is pretty delicate. I worked around this by cutting sheets of fiberglass screen material (the stuff often used for print drying screens) the same size as the drum and inserting a sheet into the drum before the paper. The paper is then inserted against the fiberglass sheet and so is separated slightly from the drum wall. This makes it easy to lift the wet paper out after development. Other than that, the drums work great, use less chemistry, save space and there’s less chemical fumes. Lots of win.

As for washing, I wash my prints in a vertical slot washer. I’m not sure that washing prints in a drum would work well for the reasons mentioned by others in this thread.