suppliers of steel reels?

[Kalkadan]

anyone know where these are for sale - right now?

I had increasing difficulty getting the 35mm film onto the AP plastic reels with the ball bearings (AP brand from Freestyle).  Then finally with the roll half on in the bag it jammed again and I thought I was forcing it along.  All I was doing was tearing the sprocket holes :confused:  And I lost some shots I really did not want to loose.

My temper flared when I took the developed roll to hang it up.  But now I am calm  :cool:  Because I just saw this wonderful statement from Raid in his thread about the XP2 and his Contax G1:-

"I look at the positive things around me, and I am a happy person. Always have been like this."

thanks Raid - I shall try to be like that ;-)

I used to use steel reels and tanks in the early 1990s and I did not really appreciate how foolproof they were

tks

Dan

[br1078lum]

I find them in the junk and charity shops every now and then.  And there are always the online auction or selling sites.  I already gifted my spares to rentavet, or I'd have had one to send you.

PF

[Dean Williams]

anyone know where these are for sale - right now?

Freestyle has 'em - right now.  Always has.

[Julio1fer]

Dan, try washing the plastic reel with kitchen detergent and a toothbrush, and drying thoroughly just before use.  The plastic reeks must be very clean and dry in order for the film to flow easily inside.

You are right, however, that metal reels are foolproof once you learn to handle them.  They should not be hard to find in used equipment photo stores.

[Santiago Montenegro]

metal reels are foolproof once you learn to handle them

And that also means, don't let them fall down like I did.  :confused: I was having a helluva hard time loading mine- then I discovered they were totally bent out of shape!

[Len Robertson]

I was curious what was still available new in SS, so I looked on B&H:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=reel+stainless&N=0&InitialSearch=yes

Click on the reviews of the General Brand $9.95 reel for a possible warning on the cheapest reels on the market. The reviews of the Hewes seems to confirm that brand's reputation for quality. Myself, I would shop carefully on eBay for something that looked to be older and likely better quality than the cheap new ones. Often you see lots of several reels for not much money on eBay. You might even find genuine Hewes or Nikor,

I have heard that a good washing/scrubbing can sometimes help plastic reels. Wetting agent is supposed to be one thing that builds up in the grooves. It is recommended to take the film off the reel before dunking in wetting agent (Photo-Flo), although it seems to me hard water deposits could build up over time. Maybe giving the plastic reels a final splash in distilled water would be a good idea. I've switched to SS so don't have to worry about it.

Len

[martolod]

soak the reel in a solution of white vinegar and a little salt overnight.
rinse the reel water. any build up crud should be able to be flushed out then.

[Kalkadan]

Gentlemen, thanks to you all for your kindness and advice.  I have learnt quite a lot.

Y'know, I think I may have found the source of the problem;  I got my hands on a set of Patterson reels, and the silly things only had one ball bearing, on one side only.  The result was that the film would not advance when shuffling the reel.

but this caused me to study the action of the ball bearings on this reel and on the AP reels when had been mucking up on me.  And I suspect that on the AP reels the film had been riding up over the ball bearings without engaging.  Hard to explain, but when it happens the things cannot engage and pull the film along.

Since then I have successfully loaded two rolls of 35 exp. on the old reels.  Can't wait to develop.  They are Legacy Pro 100 ISO shot on the M4 with mainly the 90mm Tele-elmarit (Fat) and the 2.8 Summaron 35mm LTm with adapter.

Dan