Does anyone have a successful method for hand-agitation of 4-reel developing tanks? I use the "toroid" agitation method (simultaneous inversion and rotation, 3 times per minute) for 1- and 2-reel tanks, and get uniform development. However, this is awkward with a 4-reel tank, and I get sprocket hole streaks of uneven development. I'd like to stick with a hand method rather than a machine method. Thanks!

-- Timothy Nelson (timothy.nelson@yale.edu), November 10, 2000

Answers

I use Paterson tanks, inverting the tank and righting it twice every 30 seconds. Even so, I get a little blotchy development along one edge of my 220 film. Why only on one edge, I don't know. Anyway, this always gets cropped off in printing, so it's no problem. 35mm film shows no uneven development at all. I find the four-reel tank no more cumbersome than the smaller ones,although a bit heavier, of course.

-- Keith Nichols (knichols@iopener.net), November 10, 2000.

Try leaving more air space in the tank by using slightly less solution. There's no reason why you shouldn't get perfectly even development, but the developer has to have somewhere to go when you invert the tank.
I've never heard of this so-called toroid method, agitation is agitation, and simple inversion is more than sufficient.
I suggest you load the tank with empty reels with the top removed, and pour in just enough water to cover them. Pour out the water into a measuring cylinder, and use just that amount of developer and fixer.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), November 13, 2000.

Even better is to load the top reel empty and only put in enough solution to cover the full reels.

-- Terry Carraway (TCarraway@compuserve.com), November 13, 2000.

Put in only three loaded reels and an empty spacer reel on top, and use just enough solution to cover the three loaded reels.

Invert it briskly two to three times in a five-second period every 30 seconds, or 10 seconds every minute if you prefer. Forget toroidal and don't be gentle. Be sure to give 30 seconds continuous initial agitation.

The problem you describe is caused by insufficient agitation.

-- John Hicks (jbh@magicnet.net), November 13, 2000.