Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/12/12

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Subject: [Leica] Re: stainless steel reels (was: Xtol dilution)
From: Byron Rakitzis <leica@rakitzis.com>
Date: Sun, 12 Dec 1999 23:49:37 -0800 (PST)

> I have had better luck with plastic Yankee tanks and have not had this
> problem.
> 
> What was I doing wrong?

Roland,

I've had great experiences with Hewes stainless-steel reels. They are
marketed under various labels in the US, but they are stamped on the
side with something like "Hewes -- made in England".

There are two teeth which catch the sprocket holes of 35mm film. It
seems foolproof to me, as one cause of misloading seems to me to be
misalignment of the film against the catch in the reel. With the Hewes
reel you are either right on or a whole sprocket hole off, which is a
big difference and easy to feel in the darkroom.

I also use Hewes reels for 120, and I find that the spring-loaded catch
(no sprocket holes on 120!) is of higher quality than on some of the
other reels you might see.

Anyway, I loaded several hundred rolls in the last year without a single
mishap. The stupidest thing I did this year was to open a loaded tank
with the lights on, but that's another story...

Byron.