That loading spool trick for developing at home saved my entire roll

I've messed up at least 4 rolls this year just trying to get the film onto the developing reel, especially with 120 medium format. Last night I tried the "wet the reel first" trick I saw on a forum, where you soak the stainless steel reel in water so the film glides on instead of sticking. It worked perfectly, no kinks or jams, and I didn't waste another $12 roll of Portra. Has anyone else tried this or do you have a different method for keeping film from sticking?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_kim22d ago

The wet reel trick saved my bacon too, but only after I found out my stainless steel reels were slightly bent. I had this old Nikkor tank set from the 70s and one reel would always catch at the 18 inch mark. Soaking it helped a bit, but what really fixed it was bending the reel back flat with my bare hands. You gotta look at the gap between the spirals and make sure it's even all the way around. After that, the wet method worked like a charm even on 120 rolls that had been curled up in a drawer for months.

william32022d ago

Whoa hold on, you bent them with your bare hands? That's wild. I always thought those stainless steel reels were tough as nails and you'd need pliers or something to get them straight again. I've got a few old ones from ebay that are probably bent too, never even thought to check the gap between the spirals. I just assumed they were all good and blamed the film when they got stuck.