Bathroom and other Temporary/Makeshift Darkrooms

robbalbrecht · Sep 8, 2011

Lots of ideas in this thread. I recently became the owner of a Omega Super Chromega D enlarger and I need to find a place to set it up. The bathroom isn't an option so I think I'm going to build some light weight walls in my garage to make my darkroom. I won't have running water or a sink but I've made due with out them for developing.
My one big question is how to ventilate the darkroom. There is a window that I will blackout but I'll leave a small space for an exhaust fan. How does one make a fan light proof? Looking forward to trying some printing. =)

JBrunner · Sep 9, 2011

robbalbrecht said:
My one big question is how to ventilate the darkroom. There is a window that I will blackout but I'll leave a small space for an exhaust fan. How does one make a fan light proof? Looking forward to trying some printing. =)

Light can't turn corners on it's own. My home made darkroom fan duct utilizes 6inch black plastic pipe with two elbows that make a U before exiting the room.

robbalbrecht · Sep 9, 2011

Brilliantly simple, Mr. Brunner.

Thanks. =)

Richard Jepsen · Sep 24, 2011

I have a no cost, guerilla, dry darkroom utilizing the laundry room. The washer and dryer are divided by a 24 inch wide countertop with under counter drawer. The enlarger sits on this countertop. To the left is the washer where I place a 1/8 inch square of plywood on top of the washer. The plywood provides an enlarged/flat surface for (4) 8x10 trays. If developing 11x14s I single tray process. I place photo paper and other DR tools on top of the dryer located to my right. Above the washer is a cupboard handle where the safe light is hung. The safe light uses a 10 inch diameter silver reflector with a red Jr Lab bulb. The light is hung by wrapping the electric cord around the cupboard door handle. The window behind the enlarger has an operable internal shade between the glass. The DR is only usable at night. Next door is the kitchen. Prints are transported from the DR into a 12x16 inch water hold tray located in the kitchen. The tray fill and dump method is used to wash prints. Very simple. Better location than the bathroom which lacks the flat surface area, space & proper countertop height. If you lack a DR vent try using fresh developer, a water stop and TF4 fix. No problematic DR fumes.

ajmiller · Sep 24, 2011

I've got to say I'm setting up my darkroom in a spare bathroom after reading this thread.
We've recently relocated and living in rented until we buy somewhere and I thought it was a no-no doing any printing.
Now, after reading how you guys are doing it, I have no excuse.
It also helps I just picked up, for free, some Nova slot processors....

cheers

Sowers · Sep 29, 2011

I have a small apartment that is becoming less makeshift darkroom than it is full-time darkroom with makeshift living area. It started with film developing in the kitchen. Then I added alt process printing in the bathroom. Now there's a Beseler MX II and an Omega D2 occupying my living room. (Not to mention all the gear that still needs to be sold - an unused ACP-302 occupies a lot of floor space.) Trays have taken up a permanent home on my kitchen counter and the windows are blacked out. Bedroom is chock full of cameras and other assorted gear. The fridge is mostly film and condiments.

Neal · Sep 29, 2011

Darkroom/Apartment

Dear Sowers,

You're living the dream.

Neal Wydra

jmartin · Sep 30, 2011

At long last, a couple of days ago my bathroom served as darkroom for the first time. I'm sure I'll be spending much of this weekend locked away in that space!

And like Sowers above, my small residence is increasingly being consumed by all things photographic. The part of my kitchen/dining area not already full of bike stuff (I work at a bike shop) is now filling up with my enlarger (on its rolling table), trays, washers, etc. Not that I'm complaining, mind you...

- James

swittmann · Mar 7, 2012

I guess my darkroom fits in here, too

It is a permanent darkroom, very small, very cozy, I love it, but of course I wouldn't say 'no' to some more space...

kwall · Jun 9, 2012

Sowers said:
... It started with film developing in the kitchen. Then I added alt process printing in the bathroom. Now there's a Beseler MX II and an Omega D2 occupying my living room. (Not to mention all the gear that still needs to be sold - an unused ACP-302 occupies a lot of floor space.) Trays have taken up a permanent home on my kitchen counter and the windows are blacked out. Bedroom is chock full of cameras and other assorted gear. The fridge is mostly film and condiments.

My name is Sowers; I'm a photographer.

Brian C. Miller · Jun 10, 2012

JBrunner said:
Wow. Thanks guys. This is a great thread!

Yeah, you want pictures of enlargers and toilets in the same image! You just want to see if we can one-up Edward Weston's "Excusado."

OK, here's mine. Omega D3 on a cart, tub on the left with plywood over it as a shelf, window has been blocked off using hooks through a piece of pressboard, toilet (can't see it) in the far right, shower on the right, sink on the right with enough room for trays or a Jobo CPE-2, and on the left are cupboards where I have paper and more film stuff.

I built the cart from 2x4s, and it's on wheels. Yes, the corners are actually square and it's bolted together with lag bolts. When it isn't in the bathroom, it's in the kitchen.

cepwin · Jun 17, 2012

great thread...tnx! Someone gave me an enlarger last week that he wasnt using and I was trying to figure out how to get it up in the bathroom I plan to use for printing....the microwave cart seems like the best concept for my situation so I'm going to look into it. Tnx again!

salan · Jun 29, 2012

I am loving this thread!
I was resigning myself to scanning the negs only for now but htis has given me hope.
BUT (and this is aimed towards UK people because its about our electrical regs), how do you get enough power (safely) into the bathroom?
We have an 'en-suite' and a bathroom and as the kids have grown up and moved out, the main bathroom does not really get used apart from guests. So It has ventilation (duct in the corner out to the edge of the roof), the window I can black out. and a board over the bath. But I get stuck with getting enough power into the bathroom I can't easily get a power cable under the door. So that leaves me 'adapting something from the two 'down lighters'. But I am pretty sure that does not meet regs on safety!
Or do you just say blow it and do it anyway?
Alan

graywolf · Jul 9, 2012

My bathroom/darkroom.

Dead Link Removed

Actually, that is an older photo from early last year, the darkroom has been upgraded a bit since then, but I have not made new photos, or written a blog article about the upgrade.

blog article about the darkroom

blog article about making he window cover

David Brown · Jul 10, 2012

salan said:
how do you get enough power (safely) into the bathroom?
... I can't easily get a power cable under the door. So that leaves me 'adapting something from the two 'down lighters'. But I am pretty sure that does not meet regs on safety!

Alan

"Enough"? Is there not an outlet for a hair dryer or an electric razor (if desired)? An enlarger bulb and a safelight will not pull as much power as either appliance, so I can't imagine there being a problem.

Steve Smith · Jul 10, 2012

salan said:
BUT (and this is aimed towards UK people because its about our electrical regs), how do you get enough power (safely) into the bathroom?

One of these: http://www.electrical-contractor.net/mt/DLA2.JPG
My grandfather used to get the power for his amateur radio equipment in his shed via one of these in the bathroom.

You would be better off with something earthed though so run an extension lead fitted with an RCD plug into the bathroom when you need it. It's not really any more dangerous than having electricity in the kitchen. I'm sure there is a way of having a permanent 13A socket in a bathroom under current regulations but I don't recall what it was. I think someone told me about it a few years ago (or I dreamed it!).

Another option would be a shaver socket designed for a bathroom if there is one available of suitable wattage as these have an isolating transformer.

salan said:
But I am pretty sure that does not meet regs on safety!

The regulations only apply to installation. It's up to you to decide what you are going to plug into it.

salan said:
Or do you just say blow it and do it anyway?

Personally, yes. But it would be foolish of me to advise others to do likewise!

Just do what is done in industry. Do a risk assessment. Think of all of the things which could happen which could result in electrocution (and I bet you can't find many) then think of the likelihood of any of them occurring. Anything you find unsafe which is likely to happen needs to be addressed.

Don't include ridiculous things (like some people at work do) such as using the enlarger whilst taking a bath and wearing a tin foil hat in a thunderstorm.

EDIT: All of the shaver sockets I have found are only rated at 20 watts which isn't enough. Another option if you have an enlarger with a twelve volt bulb and separate power supply is to put the power supply in another room and just run the twelve volt supply into the bathroom with a suitably thick cable.

Steve.

wotalegend · Jul 11, 2012

From where I sit, it's a bit difficult to understand the angst which has been expressed here about power in the bathroom. Every bathroom in Australia which has been built since the advent of hair dryers and electric shavers has at least one "full strength" power point, i.e. 10 amps = 2400 watts. Enlargers, safelights, timers, and any other electrified darkroom equipment don't come anywhere near demanding that much power.

Steve Smith · Jul 11, 2012

You need to bear in mind that in England, our governments consider us to be total idiots who constantly need to be protected from ourselves. Therefore, all you are likely to find in a bathroom is a light fitting and possibly a shaver outlet which is transformer isolated and limited to 20 watts.

If your bathroom has an airing cupboard with an electric immersion heater (or still has the wiring for one) a 13A socket spurred from that is another option.

Steve.

Stan160 · Jul 11, 2012

When I moved into my old flat the bathroom had a double 13A mains socket, just above the skirting board, next to the bath side panel in the firing line from any splashes that weren't caught by the shower screen.

This was a few years before I started darkroom work, so there wasn't even the slightest temptation to leave it in situ!

David Brown · Jul 11, 2012

Steve Smith said:
... all you are likely to find in a bathroom is a light fitting and possibly a shaver outlet which is transformer isolated and limited to 20 watts.

Steve.

The USA and Australia stand corrected.

salan · Jul 11, 2012

Yes this is the problem.
A 20 watt shaver socket is all you will get apart from the lights.
I think the regs say something like anything se has to be hardwired in via a spur. Def no sockets.
Compared to other countries its a nanny state.

Sent from my HTC Desire S using Tapatalk 2

Steve Smith · Jul 11, 2012

Nothing stopping you putting a socket just the other side of the door.

Steve.

graywolf · Jul 14, 2012

Tell you what, Alan. Drill a 3/8" hole in the wall into the next room. Get an extension cord, cut off the plug. Put the cord through the wall. Put on a replacement plug. Pug into an outlet in the next room. When you move, remove cord, spackle hole.

Over here we protect our idiots by using a ground fault interrupter; also Tesla designed our electrical system, 120V is not going to kill anyone, contrary to folktales. I have a mere 20 amp dedicated circuit in my apartment's bathroom, probably put there for the construction crews to use when building the apartment building. I added the GFI (and the ceiling vent fan), good old Boone had no building codes when this building was built in '65.

If you can not use the bath, how about the kitchen? The laundry room? Spare bedroom? A closet? Cupboard under the stairs (Hey, that is where my workstation resides, I had to put a 4x4 inch hole in the wall to the kitchen for electrical and network cabling)? A tin shed in the back yard? How about in the caravan?

When there is a will, there is a way. Always!

walbergb · Jul 15, 2012

My 2 cents worth:
First, let me declare that I don't have a darkroom/bathroom (notice the darkroom was listed first) because I have access to a fully equipped darkroom at our local art gallery where I have most of my own equipment (I teach classes there). However, since nothing is for ever, I've been thinking about how I would set up a darkroom in my bathroom, if the need arose. My 2 cents worth are a penny each: (1) Because I'm concerned about my enlarger getting out of alignment from being moved frequently, I thought I would set up a permanent dry side in an adjacent room and use a paper safe to transport the exposed paper to my wet side (read: bathroom). Of course, this would necessitate two safe lights-not a big deal for me. (2) To conserve space in the bathtub, I would stack my trays on vertical shelving with each shelf offset from the one above and work my way down. I could do 16x20 prints and have 5 trays on the go (developer>stop>fix 1>fix 2> hypo). My print washer (I made one that can do 8x10 up to 16x20) would sit at the other end of the tub and be fed by the shower head and drain into the tub. Anyway, that's how I envision it. I'm looking forward to seeing JBrunner's finished project.

graywolf · Jul 15, 2012

Dry side where you actually need the power in another room where you have the power?

Great idea. All you really need in the wet side is a timer, and there are battery ones around. And, a safe light, a bit more difficult, but one could screw colored bulbs into the regular fixtures as a make shift.

Of course there is always the problem that I had as a kid, as soon as I locked the door and got started there were a string of bangings on the door and shouts of "I have to use the bathroom".

Come to think of it all my personal darkrooms were in the bathroom, and only with a couple was I the only one who used that bathroom. It is strange how many people will ask you if they can use your darkroom, and get angrily demanding when you explain that they can not because it was also the family bathroom. I guess they subscribe to the Thoreau (Or was that Emerson? I always get them confused.) theory of economics, you don't need to buy and axe because you can always borrow your neighbor's axe. He did not say, but I assume he always returned it dull as well.

Someone mentioned using an Art Center darkroom, I had a deal with one of those once. I did some work for them supposedly in exchange for free use of the darkroom. Supposedly, because when I wanted to use the darkroom there was always some reason why I could not. The fact is I never had any luck using darkrooms other than my own, with the one exception being the Base Photo Hobby Shop when I was in the air force.

Bathroom and other Temporary/Makeshift Darkrooms

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Bathroom and other Temporary/Makeshift Darkrooms

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