Cutting (lots of) film

[kleinbatavia]

The title pretty much sums it up. I'm shooting a few non-standard formats for which film is hard or impossible to get. To get to the right sizes for the emulsions I want (provia, velvia, foma, fp4), I'm cutting 8x10 sheets. I do this on my rotatrim with small blocks attached to the sides to easily get the right alignment of the sheet in the dark. In itself this process works fine. I've never scratched a sheet and only once made a cut that was not straight. Perfectly acceptable considering the number of sheets I've cut this way. However, the catch is that this takes a long time! Is there anyone with experience in cutting film who has a quicker solution? Not at the cost of consistency, particularly fuji slide film is very pricey per sheet and I rather spend a bit more time than ruin my film.

[Bob Mann]

Why not use IR goggles to see what you are doing?

[kleinbatavia]

Hi Bob,

Never thought of hat, but it sounds very practical! However, it does not solve my current problem as I am working with a tent due to lack of space. Anyway, I'm done cutting 150 sheets, which should last me the coming month or two. It's a chore though...

Why not use IR goggles to see what you are doing?

[onnect17]

Not sure how big is the tent but it should not be an issue if the base area is at least 20"x30". I am sort of familiar cutting 8x10 and aerial 9 1/2" in 4x10. For the 8x10, I made a base able to fit the 8x10 sheets (new emulsions, olders could be 1/8" off) and attach the blade based ruler/cutter right in the middle. It works just fine.

It easy to find the cutter in the craft stores. Similar to the "cricut trimmer"