How to slit and roll 9.2mm film
Minox film is technically specified as 9.4mm wide. But for
self loading, it is better to slit it slightly narrower to 9.2mm
to prevent jamming the casette.
- Get ready
- Clean the MINOX slitter with a rubber blower to remove dust
- In daylight, put a 35mm film cartridge at one end of MINOX slitter, pull out the film lead, slide it into the film channel, passing it under the blades, tape it to the take up cylinder with a piece of 3M tape.
- Slit film into 9.2mm strips
- Go to dark room ( or dark closet), push down the blade assembly with one hand, and crank the handle with another to pull the film through the cutting blades until the film stops. Do not rewind the slitted film strips back into the 35mm cartridge, as the strips can easily tangled and jam up.
- Hold the cut film strips tight on the cylinder with one hand, cut the film strips loose from the slitter, remove the take up spool with the slitted film strips on it, remove two perforation strips, discard them, save the cylinder with two long film strips tightly wound into a 35mm film canister for next step.
- Keep only the film canister with slitted 9.2mm film in the darkroom, remove the MINOX slitter from darkroom.
- Preparation
- In day light, get four empty Minox cassettes, open all caps of the four cassettes, put four supply side caps, four open casettes without caps and one crocodile clip( from Radio Shack) in an empty photo paper box( for example, Agfa RC paper box ) , another spare photo paper box and a pare of scissors; bring them to the darkroom.
- Roll 9.2mm film
- In total darkness. Remove the cylinder with cut film strips out of canister, cut the films strips loose from the cylinder at very ends; now you have two long 9.2mm film strips, save them in a storage box.
- In total darkness. Take one piece of long film strip from the storage box, fold it up at two ends, hold these two ends with one hand, pull the film into a long U shape with thumb and index finger, let go the two free ends, you are now holding the middle point of the long film. Cut the film at that middle point to get two equal length short film strips, put them into the other empty storage box. Do the same with the remaining long strip in the storage box. Now you have four short strips of film, about 42 exposures each. With this " double up and cut in the middle " method, you do not need to measure film length in the dark.
- In total darkness. Put aside one opened film cassette,
take out a piece of short strip from the storage can, hold one end with a alligator clip,
Radio Shack alligator clip makes an effective film winding tool
wind the film emulsion side inward into a roll; hold the rolled up film, remove the crocodile clip, slip the film roll into the take up side of Minox cassette, make sure to leave an one inch and a half lead outside;
- snap close the take up side cap.
- Repeat the same procedures with the remaining three short strips.
- Darkroom work now done, the remaining procedures is in day light.
- Pack film into cassettes.
- In subdue light. Attach the film lead to a MINOX cassette 10mm spool, with a piece of 40mm x 6 mm Scotch tape (available from art shop ) make sure the film strip aligns with the film take up spool perfectly;
- Insert the take up spool into the take up side chamber of cassette, slide the film carefully into the cassette door, snap close the take up side chamber.
- In day light. With a one-hole punch, make a half moon shape cut out at on the film between the two chambers of cassette, to indicate unused film.
- In day light. Blow off any dust on the film with a rubber blower, store the film cassette into the cassette box. Do the same with the remaining three.
- Mark the film type on a stick on the cassette containers. Now you have four 42 exp 9.2mm film cassette, ready for use.
-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), December 25, 1998.