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- Mar 4, 2004
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Although hanging film to dry is usually the best bet, it isn't always possible (for a variety of reasons). Given the restrictions I currently face, I decided to build a film dryer a few weeks ago, and it works well enough that I thought I'd share it (in case it proves helpful to anyone else).
Here's the finished dryer:
It may not be pretty, but it works!
The dryer consists of a 4" diameter (12" long) aluminum tube (which will hold the film, still in its developing reels), a 4" in-line duct fan, a 2-micron filter to fit the fan, and some wire with which to fashion a hanger for the dryer and a support for the film reels in the aluminum pipe. I also used a bit of aluminum wire to ground the aluminum pipe (in order to avoid static charges from building and attracting dust -- which was a problem in the first version of this dryer, when I used a PVC tube instead). You'll also need a drill and some duct tape.
Note: I use stainless steel tanks and reels: those using larger plastic reels will likely have to go for a larger tube/fan/filter set up.
Here's a photo of the filter mounted on the fan:
The filter seems to do a good job of preventing dust from sticking to the drying film. The electric tape I added on the sides is likely unnecessary, but it doesn't hurt anything.
A wire cross at the bottom holds the stainless steel developing reels in place. Note the thinner metal wire used to ground the tube.
Attaching the thin wire to a water pipe would be a better way to ground the dryer, but this seems to work well enough.
This set up will dry 1 roll of film in 30 to 45 minutes, and 2 rolls in a little over an hour. By using wetting agent in distilled water as my last bath, I get no streaks or water marks on my film (I do shake the reels a bit before dropping them into the dryer, to get rid of excess water).
For a cost of about $60, this is probably only worth it for those who cannot hang their film to dry, for whatever reason. But hopefully it proves helpful to someone!
Here's the finished dryer:
It may not be pretty, but it works!
The dryer consists of a 4" diameter (12" long) aluminum tube (which will hold the film, still in its developing reels), a 4" in-line duct fan, a 2-micron filter to fit the fan, and some wire with which to fashion a hanger for the dryer and a support for the film reels in the aluminum pipe. I also used a bit of aluminum wire to ground the aluminum pipe (in order to avoid static charges from building and attracting dust -- which was a problem in the first version of this dryer, when I used a PVC tube instead). You'll also need a drill and some duct tape.
Note: I use stainless steel tanks and reels: those using larger plastic reels will likely have to go for a larger tube/fan/filter set up.
Here's a photo of the filter mounted on the fan:
The filter seems to do a good job of preventing dust from sticking to the drying film. The electric tape I added on the sides is likely unnecessary, but it doesn't hurt anything.
A wire cross at the bottom holds the stainless steel developing reels in place. Note the thinner metal wire used to ground the tube.
Attaching the thin wire to a water pipe would be a better way to ground the dryer, but this seems to work well enough.
This set up will dry 1 roll of film in 30 to 45 minutes, and 2 rolls in a little over an hour. By using wetting agent in distilled water as my last bath, I get no streaks or water marks on my film (I do shake the reels a bit before dropping them into the dryer, to get rid of excess water).
For a cost of about $60, this is probably only worth it for those who cannot hang their film to dry, for whatever reason. But hopefully it proves helpful to someone!