plastic reels or steel reels?

[raine]

Hey guys!
*sigh* one of my friends just spoilt my plastic reels again, and this is the 2nd time i've had to change the reels in my tank.

i've heard that plastic reels warp easily (especially when dried under the hand dryer) and that they don't last as long as steel.

But i've never used steel reels before!!! And are they expensive?

So can anyone give some advice? Should i invest in some steel reels or just lock up my developing tank so that other friends won't get an opportunity to spoil them for me?

 

[sriram]

I've used plastic Jobo reels for years, without a problem, and I always use a hair dryer to dry it fast. As long as it is handled carefully, there's no problem, no warping. If my friends are careless, I would probably not share it with them any more, or politely ask them to replace it.

 

[student]

As Sriram mentioned, I have no problems with my plastic reels. Share them with your friends at your own risk!

 

[Photomic]

At about $28 per developing tank (Ruby?), I think your friends could afford to get one. Go easy on movies or soft drinks for a month and they would have saved enough.

Or, as sriram mentioned you could ask them to replace it.

 

[West_ray]

mine no prob too lehz ... how did ur friend managed to spoilt it???

 

[sabahan]

I have 28 Jobo plastic reels and non of them have problem to me,Some of them had been used for about 8 years.

 

[akane]

tried steel reel before...so hard to get the film in

 

[sriram]

Yeah man, steel reels were really hard to use, specially when your hands are sweating inside that small changing bag.

 

[Photomic]

You mean you folks thread the film in the bag? Medium format? I use 35mm and use a film picker (list price around $10) to pick out the leader and put it on the reel. The only thing I do in the changing bag is reeling, snipping off the end, and loading into the dev tank.

 

[sriram]

Nope, and not medium format. Most canon SLR's allow you to leave the film leader out, so I use that. Reeling the film can get quite messy unless humidity is controlled, my film has got stuck once in a while. It gets hot and humid really fast in that little changing bag.

 

[raine]

wah..i also don't know... but both reels will jam terribly when the reels are reaching about 3/4 of the way. its really frustrating man. i brought it home to try on an exposed roll of film to see what's the problem, but it just jams... *SIGH*

i wonder how they did it too... :/

 

[sriram]

Make sure the humidity is low and it is not very hot. Switch on the aircon for a while before rolling, that should help a lot.

 

[crapshot]

Plastic reels also accumulate residue from wetting agents like Photoflo than can make the film stick. Maybe you can try soaking your reels in warm water for a while and rinsing them out carefully, and try loading after they are completely dry.

 

[student]

Two simple things to take care of to avoid jams.

1 make sure the reels are well clean of the photo-flo or other wetting agent. You do not have tobe obsseive about the washing.

2 Much more important - make sure the reels are BONE-DRY! Wetness is the main reasons for jams.

 

[Photomic]

Aircon and a clean, dry reel does help. If no aircon at home, go find a cold fast food outlet or a cold shopping centre/building to do your loading. ;p The small bag does get hot fast. An alternative is a changing bag/box with some frame so that the material is not on your skin all the time.

I don't shoot a lot - up to 5 rolls max over a week, usually less, so there's lots of time for my reels to dry. If you need a few dry reels for continuous processing, maybe get a few more single reels or pick up a larger tank with more reels.