Digital BW, The Print

I don't have experience with the JOBO reels, Alex.   But I developed 120 
film successfully for 30+ years using Paterson tanks and reels, and I'll 
bet the reel designs are similar.  The most important step in loading the 
Paterson reels was to make a tiny 45 degree cut across the leading corners 
of the film before you try to load it.  It doesn't have to be exact, and it 
was no trick to do in the dark - you just have to take that point away from 
the leading edge of the film.

Actually, the stiffer Tmax film was probably easier to load than some of 
the thinner emulsions, because remember you're trying to "push a 
string."   One  other factor - if you have a Hasselblad or some other 
camera that puts film through a reverse curl in the film path, it may help 
to let the film sit on the spool overnight after you remove it from the 
camera, to get rid of any "memory" that might try to curl the film to the 
outside of the developing reel.  I don't frankly remember how big a problem 
that was with my  Hasselblads, as I haven't used them for a long time, but 
it was a serious problem with Leica rangefinders and pre-autoload Nikons 
whose takeup spools wound the film emulsion side out.  If most of the roll 
had been sitting on the takeup spool in the camera for a while, it might 
take a couple of days sitting in the canister after rewind before the film 
recovered its normal inward curl, and trying to load film that had any 
outward curl was virtually impossible with the edge loading reels like 
Paterson and Jobo.

Paterson tanks will not (easily) load two 120 films on a single reel.  They 
will take 220 film, although that does take some finesse as you get toward 
the end of the film strip - that's a really long string you're trying to push.

Try knocking off the leading corners of the film first, and then try the 
Jobo reels again.  I would hope that's all it takes.

Cheers,
Kip

At 7/10/2003 11:25 PM +0000, you wrote:

>Well, I thought it would not be that much harder than 35mm film..
>
>I purchased a Jobo tank, sacrificed a roll of Tmax for practice and
>attempted to load a reel. After 6 or 7 times in daylight, I have given
>up: not once could I get the film to properly spiral inward. After
>about one revolution, the innermost edge left the frame, and
>everything just jammed.
>
>With what brand, praytell, of developing tank do I have a chance of
>executing a proper film load ? I was hoping to do two rolls at once-
>thats a real joke at this point. I am thinking the thick Tmax film may
>be the source of the difficulty ??
>
>TIA !
>
>Alex,
>Orlando Fl