Time to start rolling my own!

Sorry Sparky - I think the derailment was my fault. There's nothing wrong with using bulk loaders; I personally found it was a lot quicker and easier to simply cut off a strip and load it up, but I also had a darkroom at that time. At the end of the day, you get full points from me just based on your film choice!
 
The Watson bulk loader is the king of the American-market bulk loaders...it's fast, simple, and has been the standard bilk loader in this country for decades now. I cannot imagine why anybody would bother with any other system for bulk loading reloadable cartridges. The used to be a foreign made one that looked similar, but was larger...I want to say it was made in England, and it appeared more finely-crafted, and as I recall, it had YELLOW counter knobs, and maybe also a yellow film compartment knob and yellow wind crank knob. I've only seen a couple of those, and both times was impressed by the fit and finish--not that a prettier bulk loader adds diddly squat to the overall loading of film into cartridges.

I am shocked to read that 100-foot Tri-X rolls are now $100! Wow! I still think of those as being $19 rolls...oh well, inflation I guess; at the time, my cable TV bill was $14.95 per month,so...sounds about right.
 
Tri-x at Freestyle is $104.99 plus shipping, which is $7 to my house in Texas. $118 for 18 rolls of 36 exposure, ouch. I have been buying 20 36 exp rolls on EBAY for $95.00 shipping included. 20 Rolls Kodak Tri x Pan TX 400 36 35mm Black and White 35mm Film | eBay.

The savings on some other films is nice. It is really nice to be able to load short rolls to test the old cameras from garage sales, flea markets ETC.

Phil
 
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Yeah, since the price hike (went from $75 to $100), it's not cost effective to bulk load Tri-X anymore, but most other films are still a lot cheaper in bulk rolls. HP5 is just $50-55.
 
I'd skip the bulk loader altogether. I found it way more of a pain in the sitmedownupon than a help. ...


If I had the process down pat, I might. But at $10/36x roll at the local brick'n'mortar store, it gets expensive to try each variation in the process. This way, I can roll off 4-5 frames and develop it to see where I need to go.

And even if I did roll nothing but 36x rolls, this whole shebang cost me the sum total of $111. It would garner me 22 rolls of 36x rolls, which would be $220 at the camera store. BAM..... half off even if I never buy another 100' roll.

Should I buy yet another 100' roll.... 44 rolls @ $162..... $3.68 per........ $277 of savings. And with each 100' roll, the cost per roll will continue to dwindle. Third roll would net a total of 66 rolls.... $214 rolling my own, $660 at the store. Net $446 in my bank account.

Now, who wouldn't like $400+ towards some nice glass?
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....Just lay everything out nicely in a dark room and go to town.

The only darkroom time needed is to put the film in the loader. Everything else is daylight.
This is a good plan rolling only short pieces for trial purposes. But roll longer, more like 12 frames. Since, I am sure, you don't know yet, how to minimize waste in this type of bulk loader, you will loose half of your film on leaders and ends. Yes, ends. Your last three frames will be just black. But that could be avoided with little effort.
Now, from a 100' bulk roll you will get 17 full, 36 frames rolls. Not 22. 100 divided by 6 equals... ? To be more cost effective you should follow Gary in his quest to find a cheap, yet perfectly good film. Prices of Kodak went sky high, but Ilford is not that bad; $63 divided by 17 is less, than $4 against $8 for roll of Pan F. (Prices from Freestyle.)
Yet you might try things like this:
Ultrafine Xtreme Black & White Film ISO 100 - Ultrafine Xtreme Black & White Film
Price of that is slowly climbing up, but still half of Pan F. And it is not bad film with very good tonal range and small (with careful processing), sharp grain competing easily with Pan F. (However I never played with Pan F enough, my opinion bases only on Pan F developed in D76, HC110 and Beutler.) Just to say: there is still a choice.
 
I didn't mean skip loading your own, just using the actual loader. Grab a dark room, lay out your cannister, roll off ~6' (or whatever length you want) and wind it up.
This is only for very experienced hogs with nerves of steel, great spatial memory and control of movement. :1219:
Bulk loader may potentially scratch film, but I have 7, polished them carefully and none does. With darkroom loading potential of scratches and other loses of emulsion are greater but the worst is a potential of transfer of sweat and "body oils" from fingers to emulsion. (Good luck with doing this with gloves on.)
 
Apparently, this is either too simple or too complicated, or I'm using the wrong film, or I do not understand reciprocity failure..


I give up.
Apparently you don't know how to *not* be a dick all the time. I'll make sure to never go out of my way to help you again.

Try being nice some time. You might be surprised at what people will do. It may not work for you though, because they will just assume that you are lying or something.
There's no way you can load quicker than a bulk loader, I have a darkroom and wouldn't change only time will be when I have to got my 300 feet of double x into 100's
Sorry Sparky - I think the derailment was my fault. There's nothing wrong with using bulk loaders; I personally found it was a lot quicker and easier to simply cut off a strip and load it up, but I also had a darkroom at that time. At the end of the day, you get full points from me just based on your film choice!
 
and as I recall, it had YELLOW counter knobs, and maybe also a yellow film compartment knob and yellow wind crank knob.
The one you described is Alden 74 model
http://www.rogerandfrances.com/images/still/35 120/35 alden.jpg
Made in Cincinnati.
Almost same model made under Watson name, model 66B, no yellow anything, was made in Chicago by Burke & James.
The one Sparky has looks like Watson model 100 made by Pfaff Products. (Looks like manufacturer of sawing equipment :blush:. )
In any case this website maybe helpful :
load bulk
a page from a manual written by Roger W. Hicks, known English photographer. He is active on Rangefinders Forum.
 
In a dark room it is easy to eliminate the 3 inches of waste at he end of the roll. Tape the film onto the spool, install cover, lights out, pull film to crank in the dark. Shut the cover and turn on the light. Be a real pain to do with a changing bag though. I don't go to that much effort often, but do for 'short' rolls or when loading the whole bulk roll into cassettes.

Phil
 
In a dark room it is easy to eliminate the 3 inches of waste at he end of the roll. Tape the film onto the spool, install cover, lights out, pull film to crank in the dark. Shut the cover and turn on the light. Be a real pain to do with a changing bag though. I don't go to that much effort often, but do for 'short' rolls or when loading the whole bulk roll into cassettes.

Phil
Exactly.
 

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