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A very sad day for me

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Photo Engineer

Photo Engineer

Subscriber
Allowing Ads
Joined
Apr 19, 2005
Messages
29,017
Location
Rochester, NY
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Today, I went over to the 'graveyard' where Kodak scrap goes when abandoned. I saw 7 medium scale UF wash units, 1 lab scale unit and a control panel from a research coating machine. I told my friend what it was and he said "there are no coating machine parts here" and suddenly we walked into a crate full of coating machine parts marked with the coating machine ID #.

They had stainless tuing, plastic tubing, glassware, OMG everything to make emulsions. Well, frankly I ran out of $$$. I bought a 2 decimal, 4KG scale and a bunch of other stuff (how do you think I get it) and a 100ft roll of lab tubing at about 1/4th list!

They have mixers and lab equipment including cases of glassware.

I would have gotten a pair of drying cabinets, but they would not work. I ended up with some stainless drying clips and a new safelight filter.

I was pretty sad, and the guy who took me around asked me "why so sad looking" and I told him that I felt like a guy who worked his whole life to perfect the buggy whip to find that it was obsolete and no one was interested. My friend with me told me to get over it and move on!

Interesting day.

Oh, no I will not shop for you. Nor will I tell you the place I went. Muahahaha. That is our secret place. Kinda like Narnia. You gotta find the right cabinet to open.

PE
 
Terence said:
We shall leave unasked the question of why you are so familiar with whip websites . . . .
Click to expand...

It's when he starts posting sites for the chains that we all have to become concerned....
 
Hey, the moderators need to get their tools somewhere.
 
I'm new to photography but I feel your pain. This website with photos of the now destroyed Kodak Toronto facility made me cry...

http://tinyurl.com/2utyr6
 
Well Westfield, MA is known as the "Whip City" because at one time it was home to most of the United States Buggy Whip makers. Even though the industry was destroyed by the automobile there are still two manufacturers of buggy whips in Westfield... So I hope the same plays out for Photography.
 
Ron

I truly feel your pain.

Next month I am being allowed to revisit one of the largest Photographic Labs in North America. I spent many long years at this Lab and made lifelong friends who I still communicate with and do commerce.
They have in the past graciously given me equipment that in the day would sell for over 50k per unit. Knowing that I have built a lab to continue with this type of production is why they have done this.

I will be allowed to take equipment and gear that is not going with them to their new location, and they would rather throw it out than have a scavanging sale.

When I have no use for some of this equipment that I have aquired or retire , I will find a good home and let the person take it away, but I sure as hell will not put it up on EBay or have a liquidacey sale so people can look at my life.

I hope you got some of the gear you worked on and I can tell its going to a good home.

Bob
 
Maybe we should take a lesson from the Amish. They still use buggies and buggy whips. And there's still a market for a good mule now and then, somewhere.
 

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Photo Engineer said:
Well, frankly I ran out of $$$.
Click to expand...

Maybe we need to take up a collection for PE so he can salvage more of this stuff. He knows what's needed, seems to know where to get it and certainly knows what to do with it!

:wink:

Ed
 
Thanks Ed. One thing I found was a lab scale UF unit in perfect condition but it needs new filters. It ran $10,000 initially, but is going for $500. Unfortunately, it needs 80PSI air to run it, will probably cost $2000 for a new pair of filters, and will require an 18 liter make (about 18 moles of silver - so that is about 18xprice of silver/oz x 16 to run one batch) and you lose 2 liters in the filter. But, it is a bargain! :D

Oh, then there is the pilot scale unit of the same thing. They are about 8ft tall or so, and require 220 with lots of amps to run.

I would go broke just feeding these white elephants.

Thanks, but no thanks.

PE
 
I have always had admiration for someone who knows when to say no. :smile:
 
Better you than someone who looks at the large machines and thinks 'scrap metal $$$'. I get a similar feeling when I hear of people taking PDP-8 and DEC VAX boards and scrapping them for the gold in the traces. Or throwing old pinball machines away. sigh.
 
Photo Engineer said:
I think we have an Ass here somewhere. Maybe its me. :wink:

PE
Click to expand...

Ron
I certainly understand your feelings. At 65 I make a good living with some letterpresses converted for foil stamping and embossing.

But there is no hope of anyone continuing this after me, despite the fact that some young fellow could make himself a fine living at it with no competition. Not enough computers and Blackberrys in it.

Mark
 
Something to help you move on ...

Hi Photo Engineer !
I feel your pain. I work in IT business and the graveyard is full of young deads... 5 years is an eternity in this business.
But there is hope. I'm pretty confident you know what this company makes and the use for their products : RDS Specialties in Rochester !
But do you know this one ?
http://www.erichsen.fr
Or that one ?
http://www.zehntner.com
Prices are quite low (by Euro standard...)
I hope this will make your day ;-)
 
The inside joke about all this is that Homer Strong, a successful manufacturer of buggy whips, financed George Eastman at the very beginning of what became Eastman Kodak. I swear I'm not making this up...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Which of course led to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.

The Ironic thing is that someday we may have the Antonio Perez Health clinic for the criminally insane. :D I wish it were April Fools day. I don't believe that Perez is doing that bad of a job all things considered, and he seems to be a very nice person. So consider that just a joke.

PE
 
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