AP Spirals easier to load than Paterson

[kenneth]

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In my senior years and with a slight disability resulting from a couple of strokes I was finding it more difficult to load standard 35mm Paterson Spirals. Matthew at Ag Photographic Ltd suggested I might consider trying one of the new AP spirals made in Spain which are identical to the Paterson Spirals but with added lips which make feeding the film so much easier. He told me that he had customers who found these spirals so much easier to load than the old Paterson ones. He sent me one which incidentally fits existing Paterson Tanks and it is an absolute dream to load and I can highly recommend them to anyone who, like me, is having trouble loading film into conventional Paterson tanks. I did try the S/S reels from Hewes but also found those difficult compared with the AP Spirals. I think they cost £3.00 for the 35mm spiral but you can confirm this with Matthew at Ag

[earleygallery]

I need new reels so will give these a try, thanks for the heads up.

[E.M]

Interesting , thanks , I might buy these , if I am going back to developping film . It's since the seventees since I've done that . I remember the Patterson tanks leaking easily after some time , but that was after using them several times a week a few years . I hope the newer ones are better .

 

Etienne Michiels

[stunsworth]

I've not developed any film for a couple of years, but I had no problems with leaks provided the lid was put on correctly - I'm pretty sure the tanks have been redesigned since the 70s.

 

On the other hand I can confirm that drying them in an oven set to a low temperature is not a good idea.

[christoph_d]

Hi Kenneth,

 

From what I see on your picture the lips on the AP spirals look very large, and I am wondering if this could interfere with the fluid flow around the film during development, leading to uneven development of the film? Some developer / film combinations, in my experience, are quite sensitive to this. Have you noticed such an effect?

 

Kind regards,

 

Christoph

[tobey bilek]

If you keep Photo Flow or other wetting agent away from the reels, the film will slide into either easily. Once you build up wetting agent or color film stabilizer, they become sticky. If you bought used, you have no idea if this is on there as it can not be seen.

 

There is no good way to clean this off. In my opinion this is the only disadvantage to either tank. Develop, fix, wash, then hang.

 

I use an ear syringe from the drug store or pharmacy, wash it very well before first use, then spray the hanging film with wetting agent. Rinse when done and place in a small beaker nose down to fully drain.

[kenneth]

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Hi Kenneth,

 

From what I see on your picture the lips on the AP spirals look very large, and I am wondering if this could interfere with the fluid flow around the film during development, leading to uneven development of the film? Some developer / film combinations, in my experience, are quite sensitive to this. Have you noticed such an effect?

 

Kind regards,

 

Christoph

I wouldn't have thought it would be a problem but I will let you know once I have tried them

[tobey bilek]

Have both and they both work well and are foolproof if you follow the instructions. Do not make up your own methods.

 

Mine are in storage as the odd amount of chemicals does not fit my working methods.

Nikkor stainess takes 8 oz or 16 or 24 or 32, same as my storage bottles.

 

Done correctly all these work perfectly.

[Karreaux]

It's true, they are easier to load, BUT...

 

I've noticed some negatives have verry small straight scratches on them, you only see it when enlarging on paper. I don't know what causes it, maybe it's not the spiral but thats what i'am founding out now.

To me it looks like the film sometimes slides over the 2 lips and make the 'scratches'.

 

Anyway, until proven otherwise I still use them because they are pretty easy and in general work prefect.

[rob_x2004]

Try the Photax. Load and strip easier.

[kenneth]

Try the Photax. Load and strip easier.

Now there's a name from the past. Do you have any information on this system? I have a very old projection screen made by Photax and a steel bath stopper used for print washing. Both good products that are still giving good service

[rob_x2004]

Not really. At this stage it is probably just keep an eye out for old stock or ebay.

 

The 'lead in' is more definite than the patterson. The spiral wind itself is elliptical in cross section rather than flat. The material seems to provide an easier glide when winding on and doesnt seem to fry up as badly when they get old in the tooth. Because of the notch the spiral direction is easy to keep tabs on if you are anal and want all the reels in a multi reel tank to run clockwise or whatever. I find it easier to split the patterson to unwind the developed wet film, at which time film touches film, whereas the film unspools off the photax nicely with out splitting. Admittedly I have only used them with black and white chemistry, not E6 or C41.

 

The Photax tanks themselves are safer than patterson, but they begin to leak sooner and the seal and the air lock is a pain and there are more parts when cleaning. Unless brand new they become a leaking nuisance, and I threw my last one out and I have four or five Pattersons. The patterson reels are easy enough to use but the photax reels are so much nicer that is all I use.

 

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[kenneth]

Thank you Rob. I've had my Paterson tank since the late 60's and I am planning to use this new spiral from AP in it.

 

In fact I think it is possibly my oldest piece of photographic equipment and it has the London design Centre sticker on it.

[toyfel]

My experience has been the same as Kenneths. Both types of spirals work just fine with a Patterson tank but the AP spirals are noticeably easier to load with film.

[kenneth]

Update

 

I have just loaded my first film, a roll of Kodak T-Max 400 onto the AP spirals and they were a dream. One point worth remembering is to take time trimming the film end corners before loading making sure that there are no angles to snag on the spirals as they journey around the grooves but I can highly recommend them as a major step forward in spiral design. £3.00 each from Ag- £10.95 for a complete unit but AP spirals fit into existing Paterson Tanks

 

AP Film developing tank reel