In article <10mqbiv8eh9mra1 DeleteThis @corp.supernews.com>, dr bob <rsmith DeleteThis @dmv.com> wrote:
>
>Steve: use a larger tray. I suggest an 8x10. To minimize scratches, use a
>lot of developer and move the sheet out from beneath the others before
>lifting. Don't us tongs - use gloves or if not sensitive, fingers being
>especially careful getting hold of the sheet.
Also, it matters _how_ you use an 8x10 tray. When working with two hands,
I find it easiest to put the 4x5 sheets horizontally in the 8x10 tray,
which is to say that the 5" dimension is parallel to the 8" dimension
of the tray. I then shuffle out-around-up-back-down, which is to say
that I carefully slide the bottom sheet out from the stack, using my
other hand to pull the stack up, then bring it out into the space at the
"top" of the 8x10 tray (further away from me), back onto the top of
the stack, then the "down" step is to gently tap the stack down into
the developer.
I *always* keep the emulsion side down. If you do not have perfectly
flat-bottomed trays you will want to work emulsion-side-up whether
you shuffle top-first or bottom-first but I find that I get scratches
that way no matter what I do. Flat bottomed trays and pull from
the bottom work well for me.
If I am doing two stacks at once, one with each hand, I find it easier
to pull the sheet I'm moving out _diagonally_ , so the 4x5 sheets are
stacked in, say, the bottom left corner of the 8x10 tray with the 5"
dimension parallel to the 10" tray dimension; I then shuffle out
diagonally into the space at the far corner of the tray and back in.
When I am really in practice I can shuffle bottom-first but if I were
to try it now after 6 years of using a Jobo almost all the time I
would go top-first if using both hands at once. The advantage of
top-first is that it's easier to grab the sheet; the disadvantage
is that it's easier to snag its corner on the sheet on the bottom as
you shuffle it back into the stack and scratch it.
Most scratches on sheet film seem to come either from the corners
of other pieces of sheet film or from texture on the tray itself.
Flat-bottom trays are a *must* if you're doing more than one sheet
at a time.
--
Thor Lancelot Simon tls DeleteThis @rek.tjls.com
But as he knew no bad language, he had called him all the names of common
objects that he could think of, and had screamed: "You lamp! You towel! You
plate!" and so on. --Sigmund Freud<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
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