Please note that my reversal process still has some issues to be worked out as there are some small black spots on the film that sometimes result. I have only tried this so far with PanF, but I believe it should work with any b&w film.

DEVELOP
2+1 Dektol (2 parts stock Dektol to 1 part water) for 10 minutes. Any active developer (ie:paper developer) is good. It goes to completion.

WASH

with distilled water

BLEACH
Solution A: 1 gram potassium permanganate in 500ml distilled water
Solution B: 27 grams sodium bisulfate in 500 ml distilled water.

Mix A and B immediately before use. Permanganate oxidizes easily creating brown manganese dioxide stain. Filter the resulting bleach through a coffee filter when pouring it into developing tank. Bleach 5mins (to completion). After 1 minute the lid of the tank can be removed as the bleach is acid (ie: stop bath).

WASH

with distilled water

CLEAR BLEACH BATH
25g sodium metabisulfite or 25g potassium metabisulfite in 1L distilled water. 2 minutes, or until no stain remains. To completion.

WASH

CLEAR HIGHLIGHTS WITH HYPO BY INSPECTION

25g/L sodium thiosulfate. Length of this step depends on EI and film stock chosen. Proceed until highlights are just nicely cleared. I found about 2:30 works well at 20 degrees C for PanF at ISO 50. Your mileage may vary.

EXPOSURE TO LIGHT

DEVELOP

1+1 Dektol 5 minutes. You could try other developers instead.

FINAL WASH/PHOTOFLO

I like this process because all steps are to completion except for the clear highlights step. Once you determine the length of time for a particular film stock/EI/temperature combination, you could do this step without opening the tank, or add the sodium thiosulfate into the first developer as in a more traditional reversal process.

Alternatively to light exposure and redevelopment, you could opt for a fogging redeveloper/toner. Next time I order from B&H I'm going to try sodium sulphide (aka Kodak T-19) for sepia colored slides.

I believe that it is critical to use distilled water for any steps that will come into contact with a permanganate-based bleach solution. This includes the washes before and after the bleach as well as the bleach clearing bath.I believe that the source of the black spots that sometimes appear are due to contamination of the bleach.

For those in Canada, argentix.ca has most of these chemicals. Photographer's Formulary should carry everything in the US.

Ian