Books on Dark Room design and hardware suppliers

[johnastovall]

In the next couple of years, I may have the opportunity to build a custom Dark Room.

What books are out there addressing issues like postive pressure calculations, venting rates for fumes, etc.? Who are the distributors for lights, water filters, light tight doors, etc.

 

[ic-racer]

In the next couple of years, I may have the opportunity to build a custom Dark Room.

What books are out there addressing issues like postive pressure calculations, venting rates for fumes, etc.? Who are the distributors for lights, water filters, light tight doors, etc.

What I would do is to spend a few days and try to view every post in the "Darkroom Portriats" section.

There was a Kodak publication on darkroom design, but I felt it more geared toward the professional/ commercial user and not so much for the artist/hobbyist. I'll have to check it again to see if it deals with those types of technical issues.
Personally I can say my darkroom is totally constructed around the principles of making a good print and has nothing to do with throughput, productivity and profit margin as discussed in the Kodak publication.

 

[Trond]

I have two books on darkroom construction: "Build Your Own Home Darkroom" and "The New Darkroom Handbook". I recommend them both. They don't contain anything about calculating ventilation rates and such, but have many useful ideas and plans for most things you will need in a darkroom, including lightproof ventilation.

 

[36cm2]

The two books that Trond mentions are the most useful that I found. I agree with IC-Racer that the darkroom photos and comments in the darkroom portraits thread are incredibly helpful. Just don't look at ic-racer's darkroom too much or you'll start knocking down walls in your basement. Having just finished my darkroom this week, I'd say 75% of the design came from the books above, 15% came from conversations with vastly more experienced printers than me and the last 10%, including many subtle and ingenious details, came from seeing and reading how others here at APUG have built theirs. Best of luck to you.

 

[MattKing]

This Kodak link to their publication "Darkroom Design for Amateur Photographers" may help:

http://wwwcaen.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/ak3/ak3.pdf

Matt

 

[jp80874]

Once you decide what you want start looking at second hand suppliers; eBay, Craig’s List, Apug Classifieds, LF Forum, etc. With the massive movement to digital so much of what you may want is available at 20%, 30%, 40% of original retail price in all levels of condition. I bought a 4x5 enlarger that was four years old and had never been used. The owner developed a lung problem the day the enlarger was installed. Four years later he gave up waiting to regain health and went digital. The 8x10 enlarger I bought came from an ophthalmology research hospital. Can you imagine how clean that had to be? If you are willing to settle for less than spectacular prices are on the floor.

John Powers

 

[David Brown]

I have two books on darkroom construction: "Build Your Own Home Darkroom" and "The New Darkroom Handbook".

I always recommend 3 books, and they have already been mentioned. But here's a little more detail:

"The Darkroom Handbook", Dennis Curtin and Joe DeMaio
"Build Your Own Home Darkroom", Lista Duren and Will McDonald
"Building a Home Darkroom", Kodak Workshop Series

These books are not current, but are available used. Amazon currently has the first two. I just got a second copy of the Curtin/DeMaio book for $1 this past weekend at a camera show. The next time you're in DFW, check a Half-Price Books store. The flagship store on Northwest Hwy in Dallas often has one or more of these.

The Kodak pdf mentioned above is good too. http://wwwcaen.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/ak3/ak3.pdf


If you have the AA trilogy, "The Print" has a chapter on darkrooms.

As to the ventilation, a bathroom exhaust fan will do the trick, and if you have the space "climate controlled" (almost a must in Texas) than you should be fine. Get a water filter, if you feel you need one, at Home Depot. For what it's worth, I had one in my prior darkroom, but after some years it started leaking, so it was taken out. There was no difference in any processes with it gone. YMMV, of course. I don't plan on putting one in in the darkroom I'm about to construct.