Spacers for Print Drum developing 4X5 sheet film

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I use Unicolor print drums to process sheet film. Need to know if anybody has a solution to keep the film from touching when you are doing 4 sheets in an 8X10 drum. The centre spacer is in place so that you can put two sheets on each side but the sheets on the same side of the centre spacer have the tendancy to slide overtop of each other. I have read somewhere in these pages about somebody using erasers!! or such to separate the two sheets. Anybody have any ideas.

-- Dave Perry (dperry@accesscomm.ca), January 25, 2001

Answers

Dave: Get one of the rectangular erasers (about 1x1 1/2" x 1/4 inches) and cut it in half across the long dimension. Then take a razor blade or sharp knife and slit it about 1/2 in. deep on the narrow side. The slit slips over the ridges in the drum. You can tapter it slightly toward the slit on each side, and then trim the whole thing a little. Put the first two sheets in the drum, press the eraser onto the ridges on each side, and load the other two sheets. Press the eraser tightly so the film can't slide under it. It works for me. I used a red eraser, but the clear rubber type will work fine. Hope this helps.

Regards,

-- Doug Paramore (dougmary@alaweb.com), January 25, 2001.


The original divider is a square rubber block that has V-shaped cutout slits on one side so that it slides down onto the V-shaped drum rib. You could make one from a piece of rubber eraser.

-- John Hicks (jbh@magicnet.net), January 26, 2001.

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