Thank y’all for watching. My goal with this unit is to put a lower cost option out into the world for film development assistance. Let me know what you think. It’s all an experiment.
I'm guessing its so late that you already solved the motor issue, but from what you describe here it seems the motor requires either AC or a phased power supply. A DC motor would only have 2 wires whereas these other types I've seen with 3 or 5. Nice work on your DIY system, it looks pretty sharp.
Simplest ways to make film photography cost less: 1. Shoot 35 mm with 1960s-1970s vintage cameras; M42 or Nikon bodies from around 1970 can still be had for pennies on the dollar, and excellent lenses are relatively cheap. 2. Shoot black and white, on Fomapan, .EDU Ultra, Kentmere, or Shanghai GP3 (all good films, all about half the price of the same speed Kodak or Ilford offering). 3. Bulk load. A $40 bulk loader will pay for itself by the end of the second 100 foot bulk roll of film, even after you buy reusable cassettes -- $60 or so for 17 rolls of 36 exposures for above brands. 4. Process your own film. A $40 Paterson or Arista Premium tank (get the "two reel" size and a pair of reels for it, now you're at $70 or so) will pay for itself in *four rolls* compared to send-off B&W. You need chemicals (start at about $30 for developer, stop bath, and fixer); you need a changing bag ($20-$30 depending on size -- I recommend the large ones), a few bits and pieces (a way to hang the film to dry, etc.). You'll need a timer, but you can download a free app for any smart phone that will do the job (and look up developing times for you!). You can make good scans of your negatives with a smart phone (free app), a cardboard film and phone holder you can make yourself, and a $14 flat panel ceiling light from a home improvement store. You do *not* need a Jobo or anything similar; hand agitation is perfectly fine for both B&W and color. I've been processing my own film for about twenty years, and never owned any sort of automatic processor. Even Jobo's hand inversion tanks are overpriced; they cost three or four times as much as a Paterson that will do the same job and aren't any better in terms of end result (their main advantage is they fit the Jobo automatic processor that isn't even made any more; secondary is the ability to use tiny quantities of chemistry due to constant rotary agitation -- which isn't really even an advantage; control of agitation is an important method of managing contrast).
