FIRST: The context.
These little tanks are aimed primarily at a specific target. People without darkroom, or with very small improvised ones with little to no table space. People developing while travelling, also people that is beginning with LF, making the smallest investment etc. And making a FEW shots in a day, more or less small groups of pictures with the same developing needs.
But what about what’s already in the market? Well, an american producer introduced a very interesting one few years ago. Made with intelligence, it is smart, simple, easy and robust. It plays with the limits of a simple injection mold technology, but the result is super. still a bit on the large size, the 6films variant is taking 600ml of chemicals.
Then there are other 2, 3D printing addictive makers like me coming up together. Etsy by order, kickstarter
The goals I wanted to reach.
- Daylight and easy usage. I want to develope 4×5″ film as easily as 120 and 135. Films are to be put on the 2 sides of the trays, easy as they were film cassettes, the trays in the tank, the tank closed and out of the changing bag, Then the use is like any other 135 drum tank you have seen.
- Capacity and numbers. I know the maxumum 4×5 film amount I shoot in a day is 4 or 5. the Tanika uses 350cc of chemicals. Check if your chemicals can develope or fix 6 films in that amount! Rodinal does, maybe other does not. In case put only 4, but keep all the frames in (see instructions).
- Travelling!! Well, in Europe, we have 500cc disposable water bottles, which you can find everywhere and are a cheap and secure way to keep your chemicals and travel with them. We live in small houses. We travel. Changing bags are small. DDT45 it’s roughly the volume of 3 film cassettes.
- Only one cap please! having 2 like others makes things more difficult, and it’s easier for people like me to lose one. I made it big, red, easy.
- Dynamic in fluids. I always appreciated those 135 and 120 tanks that allow the chemicals to rise from the ground up, instead of crushing on the film from above. In the same way you need to load and drain FAST. So I studied the main light trap / fluid channel for months, through a dozen iterations, and CLEAR petg models to observe the effects.
- Less water in rinse process, and rise process IN the tank. No space for rinse somewhere else, uh? I can imagine. So I developed a second top of the tank. No, it’s not watertight, nor lightight and it’s red. It has a funnel to stay under the tap. It uses the fluid load/drain channel together, the film is just in parallel with the flux. Used water overflows from the openings at the top.
- As a matter of engineering I wanted something that really made sense to be built in 3D printing. This can ONLY be built with an FDM printer, the most complex pieces areprinted in a single piece
The path to here.
I confess my first attempts, 18months ago were still twice as big and copied some previous tanks. I was learning how to print watertight. Wanted fluids to reach the film smoothly, rising from the bottom. And fast. I needed an air intake, but I made it under the same big screw cap, lighttrap and canalization inside the top cover. It was difficult and printed in many parts glued and screwed together. But it WORKED. I saw it was possible to do it. Clamps and fasteners went away with the idea of a rubber belt (well, it’s TPU, the same of unbreakable phone protectors). So you do not loose everything in rhe room if you shake like it was a Martini, and it makes the orings squeeze a little bit. Keeping it cool, small and overengineered had some cost, if you reverse it and squeeze it will let out some drops eventually, but it always happens with any old drum tank, so… 😀