I don't even take the film from the cassette. The leader is pulled out and trimmed in the light and loading is started, at which point the light's turned off, and, after an appropriate interval, the film is loaded onto the reel as it unspools from the cassette. I'm not sure if this is a good technique or not, but it's saved my butt a few times when there's been a jam on the reel and the only solution was to back the film out part or all the way.
BTW, JObo makes some beautiful stainless reels that are designed to fit in their hand developing tanks. They're made by Hewes and have a set of hooks at the core that grab the first sprocket holes of the film. These are real beauties, very well built. Never had a problem with them. They're a bit spendy, so I don't have too many .... Shel > [Original Message] > From: Steve Jolly <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Don Sanderson wrote: > > IIRC I did used to cut the leader slightly rounded, > > that seemed to help getting it started. > > Cut before I opened the cassette, of course. > > Is there an advantage to cutting it before opening the cassette? I > always do it afterwards... :-) > > S
