Using film in wooden book-form plate-holders

[Megrez]

Hello everyone,

I am sure this is a time-honoured question, and I have searched for previous posts on this topic.

I am about to begin using vintage half-plate and 10" x 12" wooden plate-holders with traditional modern black & white film stock. I have made surrogate glass plates from 2mm thick Foamalux (plastic board) and covered them with matt black vinyl. As you will know, the wooden rebate, which was originally designed for holding glass plate, is only a few millimetres deep. Obviously, my concern is that the film drops out when the sheath is withdrawn, or rather how to prevent this from happening. Has anyone surmounted this potential problem, and can you offer me any advice please?

Kind regards,

Gary

[Ian Grant]

There were film isnerts made to convert plate holders to use film. I use them in my 9x12 cm) cameras but I've nearly finished an adaptor plate to use modern 5x4 film holders in my Houghtons Duchess half plate camera, and I made a similar converter to fit a roll folm back on my Houghtons Victo quarter plate but that's a different approach.

Essentially a film adaptor is a thin metal sheet with three folded lips that hold the film, and then fit like a plate, these are the reason that film is a fraction smaller than the actual plate sizes even today.

Some use a drop of honey to stick film to backing in adhoc plate adaptors

Ian

[TheFlyingCamera]

Yes- the super-cheap DIY solution is a thin glass plate (or plexi to lighten the load, but glass is better because it's more rigid) with a bit of corn syrup, honey, or blueberry jam (the blueberry because it has no seeds to cause unevenness behind the film) in the corners and the center of the plate. If you do an adequate pre-wash when developing your film, there's no issue with contamination - the sugar-based adhesive comes out in the wash along with the anti-halation layer.

[Megrez]

Thanks Ian and Scott. I much appreciate your comments. I'll give the blueberry jam a go. If all else fails, I can always eat it )

[Ian Grant]

Some extra fine grain developer formulae contained Sugar

ID-44 an Iford developer was one and Harry Champlin had a sweet tooth as well, so as long as the sugars are well mixed in they won't do a lot of harm.

Ian

Yes- the super-cheap DIY solution is a thin glass plate (or plexi to lighten the load, but glass is better because it's more rigid) with a bit of corn syrup, honey, or blueberry jam (the blueberry because it has no seeds to cause unevenness behind the film) in the corners and the center of the plate. If you do an adequate pre-wash when developing your film, there's no issue with contamination - the sugar-based adhesive comes out in the wash along with the anti-halation layer.

[formPhotography]

Hi Gary,

I too use 10" x 12" holders of the type you describe and haven't had a problem. Perhaps I've just been lucky, but you mention this as a potential problem - have you actually tried it?

Steve

[TheFlyingCamera]

Yes, sugar acts as a restrainer in developers - it's a primary ingredient in the developer for wet plate collodion.

[Megrez]

Hi Gary,

I too use 10" x 12" holders of the type you describe and haven't had a problem. Perhaps I've just been lucky, but you mention this as a potential problem - have you actually tried it?

Steve

Thank you Steve. You are quite right, I am only anticipating a potential problem, as I haven't yet used the plate-holders - I'm awaiting delivery of the film from Germany.

I envisage putting the film into the holder and placing the 'dummy' glass plate on top of it. I wondered if the weight of the film would cause it to sag?

I would be very interested to hear more about your experiences, particularly loading and processing the film. I am intending to dish develop the film.

Many thanks,

Gary

[szadow]

I've just tried to do a similiar thing (using film in a glass plate holder), I've just taped the negative to the glass plate. Here is the result http://www.flickr.com/photos/macieklesniak/5405500704/

[ndrs]

Solve gelatin in hot water, add some glycerol, then coat your glass plates with this stuff and let them dry for a few days. Result will be a moderately sticky surface reusable for months. Wash off and renew when it stops working. I did this a long time ago and have forgotten how much of each ingredient I used. Just experiment.