Last Updated 00/02/23 1700PST

Items To Set Up Your Home Movie Film Processing
by Martin W. Baumgarten © 2000

You can easily build your own rack out of plexiglass and use the Rack & Tray method.....for very little cost. If you build a couple of these, you'll then be able to process film via full immersion, and be able to do two films in, one after the other. If you already have a set or two of 11 x 14 inch photo print trays, you'll only need to build the rack itself, a holding stand to simply loading and which doubles as a drying and film removal stand, and a cartridge core holder. If you don't have any lab material yet, you can easily build and purchase all the items you need for probably under $100.00.

ITEMS:

  1. Plexiglass cut into three sections to build the processing rack.
  2. Set of 8 (preferably but you can work with a set of 3) 11 x 14inch print trays.
  3. Piece of 12" x 28" plywood or masonite for the film drying rack base.
  4. 4 pieces of 24" quarter round molding for the film drying rack slats.
  5. 4 pieces of 1.5" x 16" flat molding for the cross-slat pieces for drying rack.
  6. Roll of perforated copper pipe straping (to bend and make two rack supports).
  7. 2 - 2" bolts with 2 nuts each, and a few washers as spacers to assemble the cross-slat parts of the film drying rack.
  8. 8 - 1 inch wood screws for attaching the four quarter round molding pieces to the cross-slat parts to complete the film drying rack.
  9. 6 - gallon photo lab bottles for the chemistry: First Developer, Bleach, Clearing Bath, Re-Developer, Fixer, Hypo-Clearing Bath(if desired to shorten final wash times), and/or Film Drying agent (Photo Flo, Edwal's Film Dry or similar, which can be mixed up as needed just for a one-shot use which is best anyhow).
  10. 8 x 10 inch piece of 1/4 or 1/2 inch plywood or plexiglass to mark and cutout the design for the film core holder. This can be glued together after parts are cut.
  11. 2" x 4" x 4ft piece of hardwood to build your Film Working Station, onto which you will mount the filmcore holder, and place a film rewinder on either end. This will also double as your film inspection stand, film cleaning & lubricating stand, and whatever other film reel & editing purposes you can use it for.
  12. 3.5 inch C-Clamp to use to clamp down the Film Working Station to a tabletop to keep it from sliding around on you in the darkroom.
  13. Laboratory graduates: 1 gallon size(4L), 1/2 gallon size(2L), 32oz(1L), a 3 gallon bucket, and one or two precision glassware or hard plasticware graduates for 12ml and 150ml (Patterson, Saunders or similar).
  14. Rubber bands, staples & stapler, and large paper clips to use as film holding straps when the film is on the film drying rack, and to help compensate for film shrinkage while drying. Also rubber bands for the film processing rack into which you will loop the ends of the film thru and staple to attach the film.
  15. A reliable darkroom thermometer, that will read up to 130°F.\
  16. A mixing rod to mix chemicals with.....large hard plastic spoons from Wal Mart etc type shops will work fine.
  17. Some empty 11 x 14 inch large photo boxes, or large laboratory film bags etc that are lighttight; to hold your film and protect it, so you can turn on the room lights after loading....to double check chemistry temperature, and/or do other errands and checks prior to processing.
  18. Film Chamois (optional) to fold small and gently wipe excess moisture from your film while loading it onto the film drying rack.....will prevent water spots with over 95% assureness.
  19. Some white towels to use for lab work, laying wet items on for drying etc etc.
  20. Set of measuring spoons use for cooking...cheap but accurate ones are fine.
  21. Optional: a weight scale for measuring out individual powder chemicals for mixing from formulas (if not, then you can use the spoon method as outlined by others and also which is used in the Photographer's Formulary guidelines, as they sell all kinds of photo grade chemicals).
  22. A desk or table lamp....preferrably a light one that you can move about as needed.....with a 60 watt bulb minimum in it. If you have a photo flood lamp holder and can use a 150 watt lamp...that will be fine also....however a 60watt bulb works fine for reversal exposure (if using light for reversal exposure....there are chemical options also).
  23. A bottle opener, and/or pair of flathead normal pliers to open the Super 8mm film cartridges with (there are ther methods, but this works fine).

Anything else that you think you might need for your film processing setup, just add to this listing.

Home Movie Film Processing Methods & Techniques
by Martin W. Baumgarten © 2000

-> Conventional home movie film processing...this has been going on since the very first days of cinema; back when the director was also the cameraperson, film duplicator, labperson etc etc. Superior Bulk Film Company in Chicago (went out of business in 1984) began 'home processing headquarters' back in 1938 and sold tanks, reels, racks, rewind processors etc....everything conceiveable for the home processing enthusiast. There were several other places and companies that made various equipment over the years:

-> The basic different manual film processing methods employed by amateurs and professionals are:

  1. Rack and tray method: This uses a stationary rack upon which the film is wound upon and then immersed into a tray or deep tank. The rack also acts as the film drying rack and usually had a special stand to hold it for loading and later film drying.

  2. Rewind Tank method: This has been around for well over 50 years and the G-3 Rewind Processor is still being made and sold by Arkay-Doran (via Regal Photo Products) in Wisconsin. Film is attached to a reel and fully would onto it emulsion outward, then end is attached to the other reel in the tank. Water and chemistry is added via a top flanged port and drained via bottom drain with a rubber stopper. Film is wound continuously from one reel to the other, at a rate of one full transfer of film to the other side per minute.....stopping only for chemical changes, water washes etc.

  3. Separator Strip method: This method employed an acetate length of filmbase that was dimpled by a dimpling machine. Film was wound with this strip around a clear take up reel and was then processed by immersing it into a print tray or via deep tanks. The dimples kept the film's emulsion from touching anything (dimples were along the very edges of the film), and allowing the chemicals to work on the film.

  4. Reel & Trough: This method used a large reel, about 18inches or so in diameter upon which the film was wound emulsion outward. The reel fit into a trough holding about a gallon of chemistry and generally having a drain for ease of changing chemicals. The reel had to be continously rotated to allow for even processing.

  5. Motorized Rewind Processor: This was a fully automatic motorized rewind processor which allowed one to process up to 200ft of movie film from 16mm to 70mm in width. The top motor unit also held the reels and was then fitted atop a special developing tank...once fitted the unit combo was light tight and room lights could be turned on until the next chemical change step. Also extra tanks came with this...so you just had to lift the motor unit and then fit in atop the next chemical tank.

  6. Spiral Reel Processing Tank: This method uses a spiral reel(s) upon which the movie film is loaded and then immersed in chemistry for processing via trays, a special tank made for that given reel, or deep tanks. This is perhaps the method ensuring the most professional results.

  7. Tube or Hose Processing: Back some years....when many folks wanted to process their own personal home movies for various personal reasons.....this method came into being. A 25ft length of vinyl or rubber hose was used that was just slightly larger in diameter than the gauge of the film. A stopper was used on either end, and these were referred to as 'snakes' by the 'beat' generation of the 50's. The hose was coiled in a large pan to control it.....chemistry was removed by pulling off the stoppers and letting it drain, and then adding the next chemical or wash water to the hose and stoppering it up again. A bit clumsy to work with but can be quite effective.

  8. Bucket and Tank Type Methods: Film is sort of carefully scrunched up into a bucket or still film processing tank.......which already has a pre-wash with a wetting agent in it....so that as the film is immersed it is all evenly made wet, which will allow for more even processing. Drawbacks are insufficient processing agitation, scratch and damage marks etc. The bucket method works best...but requires more chemistry.

  9. Roller-transport Film Processor: Machines such as the MicroFilm Processors for 16mm (and other gauges), Kodak Versamat 5AN and others that employed hard machine rollers in which the film was initially pulled thru by a 'bullet', and then taken up gently by a take up reel on a slip-clutch driven unit. Various versions of these were made.

  10. Standard Motion Picture Film Processors: Small versions of professional type motion picture processors were avaiable, made by Kodak (SMA 7244 Supermatic 8 film processor for table top use), Cramer Company of Sarasota, FL, and Jamieson Film Company of Dallas, TX, and others. These required processing machine leader like their full size industrial counterparts...but these machines are tabletop sized, or floor models that are only about 4ft long and 2ft wide. By far one of the best film processing methods....although due to their smaller size.....only small quantities of film could be processed within an 8 hour day....especially color reversal films which required agonizingly slow running speeds. Average daily film output was about 6 - 10 rolls of color reversal, and about 10 to 20 rolls of color (based on Super 8's cartridge length of 50ft per cartridge).

-> I hope this helps you out some. Let me know if you require any technical details should you want to process any film.

Best wishes,
Martin W. Baumgarten
Visit Martin's WWW site at:
Plattsburgh Photographic Services

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