Turning your old used 35mm film cassettes into re-loadable ones without a lot of fuss.
I bought a bulk film loader and 5 re-loadable plastic cassettes some time ago and I recently started bulk loading film.
I duly loaded my 5 available cassettes with some Kodak Hawkeye 2485 black and white surveillance film the other day and put them in the fridge. This left me no spare empty cassettes.
I had a look at some used Ilford fp4 plus cassettes I had kept (I'm a magpie) and had a go and dismantling one without killing it in the process.
It doesn't matter what brand of cassette you use, but make sure it's not one of those that has several scalloped crimps around the edge like a beer bottle top or ravioli, but a single smooth uniform crimp around the circumference making it an interference fit.
You should also ensure the cassette hasn't been kept somewhere where it may have been subjected to dirt and grit that may work it's way into the felt seal and scratch the crap out of your film.
Step 1
Grab the cassette in your fist tightly as in the illustration, keeping your knuckles as far from the top as you can. (you'll see why later).
Step 2
Take a long and relatively heavy flat object something like the bottle opener in the picture, and taking care to keep it square to the film cassette, bash the protruding spool centre a number of times until it forces off the lower cassette cap, which is lightly crimped on. During this process you will bash your knuckles a few times, but that's a small price to pay for free reloadable cassettes :)
Step 3
Your dismantled cassette will now look like this:
Step 4
Take a small flat bladed screwdriver that will fit into the crimp groove in the lower lid as shown. Gently lever slightly outward from the centre all around and evenly, just to relieve the tension enough to be able to refit the cap onto the lower end of the spool with a little resistance - it's easy, mine worked first shot.
(you can hold it anyway you like, I had to hold the camera and the screwdriver and I only have two hands)
Job done.
Store your finished cassette in a sealed plastic bag to keep it free from dust and grit.
If you feel a bit insecure about pushing a cap back on to your newly loaded cassette and want some added security, put a dab of tape from the edge of the cap to the cassette.
The reusable cassettes that I purchased had plastic bayonet fit caps, and are not very secure either, it only takes a slight anti clockwise twist for the cap to come off, so I taped mine on too.
Have fun and may your knuckles heal quickly :)
I bought a bulk film loader and 5 re-loadable plastic cassettes some time ago and I recently started bulk loading film.
I duly loaded my 5 available cassettes with some Kodak Hawkeye 2485 black and white surveillance film the other day and put them in the fridge. This left me no spare empty cassettes.
I had a look at some used Ilford fp4 plus cassettes I had kept (I'm a magpie) and had a go and dismantling one without killing it in the process.
It doesn't matter what brand of cassette you use, but make sure it's not one of those that has several scalloped crimps around the edge like a beer bottle top or ravioli, but a single smooth uniform crimp around the circumference making it an interference fit.
You should also ensure the cassette hasn't been kept somewhere where it may have been subjected to dirt and grit that may work it's way into the felt seal and scratch the crap out of your film.
Step 1
Grab the cassette in your fist tightly as in the illustration, keeping your knuckles as far from the top as you can. (you'll see why later).
Step 2
Take a long and relatively heavy flat object something like the bottle opener in the picture, and taking care to keep it square to the film cassette, bash the protruding spool centre a number of times until it forces off the lower cassette cap, which is lightly crimped on. During this process you will bash your knuckles a few times, but that's a small price to pay for free reloadable cassettes :)
Step 3
Your dismantled cassette will now look like this:
Step 4
Take a small flat bladed screwdriver that will fit into the crimp groove in the lower lid as shown. Gently lever slightly outward from the centre all around and evenly, just to relieve the tension enough to be able to refit the cap onto the lower end of the spool with a little resistance - it's easy, mine worked first shot.
(you can hold it anyway you like, I had to hold the camera and the screwdriver and I only have two hands)
Job done.
If you feel a bit insecure about pushing a cap back on to your newly loaded cassette and want some added security, put a dab of tape from the edge of the cap to the cassette.
The reusable cassettes that I purchased had plastic bayonet fit caps, and are not very secure either, it only takes a slight anti clockwise twist for the cap to come off, so I taped mine on too.
Have fun and may your knuckles heal quickly :)
