building a small dark room

[seanE]

Hi guys and girls, I'm making my second attempt at finishing my dark room, i started last year and just never got round to finishing it, So newbie question number one, Should i build a light safe box to store my paper in after i brake the seal, Or can you reseal the package it came in, ''liford 8x10 by the way'' Is there any thing else i might over look, I'm putting in ventilation, a bench that just about fits two trays for chemicals, and an other dry bench for my enlarger.
Any input is welcome.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

As for a paper safe, you can get them for a song on Ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Doran-8x10-...081392?hash=item280c3dfef0:g:zEkAAOSwhcJWHrOb

Ventilation is important. But make sure you get the airflow away from your face. If you have a small space, you can put your trays vertically with racks. I've seen on the internet someone using a plastic 3 drawer storage system for his darkroom trays. The best setup if you can is a permanent setup where you don't have to set up or tear down. That cuts into your darkroom time.

 

[pentaxuser]

I'd regard a paper safe as a good investment. It makes things simpler and easier when producing more than one or two prints. More importantly the better safes automatically close after you take a sheet out so no danger of light fogging the rest of sheets or at least a lot of them if you take a sheet out of its black bag but forget to fold it over and replace the bag in the box which is what you have to do each time to be sure that the paper isn't light-fogged.

pentaxuser

 

[seanE]

Thanks, il develop a few rows and they look into buying a paper safe, the room is quite small so il probably set up a proper dark room in the future,
I'm going to put an air input blowing over the dry bench and a fan sucking out just over the trays on the other side of the room.

like your signature maincoon by the way lol.

 

[jeffreyg]

You didn't mention a water source. You should have room for more than two trays. There are tray stackers available that can hold three trays in the footprint of just over one. A number of other goodies and some place to store them. A properly placed safelight. A paper safe in a convenient location may take up too much room in a small darkroom. How small is your room?

http://www.jeffreyglasser.com/

 

[MattKing]

I worked for many years in a 4' x 6' room with a laundry sink outside and a few feet away.

I could do up to 11x14 prints, although 8x10 were more comfortable.

A Paper safe is both more convenient and a bit safer, but not strictly necessary.

Here is a link to Kodak's publication on darkroom design: http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/ak3/ak3.pdf

 

[Rich Ullsmith]

Don't know how far into the project you are. Of the few good decisions I made in mine to save space: 1) wall mount the enlarger (when not in use the head can be raised high out of the way), and 2) bought a laminated cabinet from a recycle store, light-proofed it and put wheels on it. This is primarily used to print on, but is also a large light-tight safe and a mobile table top.
Very helpful to have a panic box if you lose track in the dark trying to manage films. But no reason not to have a small paper safe, they are cheap.

 

[pschauss]

My darkroom is an unenclosed corner of my basement, away from the windows. I have it divided into a dry side where I have my enlargers on bench and a wet side which consists of a 6' darkroom sink. I have no running water, but I did arrange some plumbing so that the sink drains into a sump pump in a box which I bought at Home Depot. When the "box" fills up, the water is pumped over to the laundry sink on the other side of the basement.

I do my small prints (5x7, 8x10) in a three slot Nova processor. Anything larger, I use a print drum and a rotary base. For a water supply, I keep two one-gallon jugs of water at one end of the sink. Also, I keep an 11x14" print tray full of water to hold my finished prints until I am ready to carry them to the laundry sink on the other side of the basement.

I have covered the windows nearest to the corner where I work and, as long as I work strictly at night, the stray light from windows at the other end of the basement does not cause a problem. I do all of my film handling in a changing bag.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Yes, you can re-wrap the paper, I have done that for years, however I just started using a paper safe and that is more convenient and possibly safer.

 

[paul_c5x4]

however I just started using a paper safe and that is more convenient and possibly safer.

Get in to the habit of labeling the paper safe with the type of paper inside. If, like me, you use a variety of papers, it can turn in to a guessing game as to what is inside the safe if it isn't marked.

 

[seanE]

Thanks guys, heres a diagram of what I'm working with, I'm putting one or two? 5 gallon tanks up high on the wall, ''its a tall room'' and li get some sort of light safe box to put paper in underneath one of the benches.

thats me standing in the middle just to give an idea of size .

 

[Doremus Scudder]

FWIW, I've never used a paper safe in 30+ years of printing. I would likely forget which paper/grade was in which safe anyway. I keep boxes of many sizes and brands; in grades 2 and 3 for the two graded papers I use (and some 3 and 4 older, discontinued papers) and then a couple of brands of VC paper in different sizes... To much to buy a bunch of paper safes for. Plus, I always know what paper and paper grade I'm using; it says so on the box. The light-proof plastic bags that the paper is packed in gets folded over and the paper returned to its original box. Only rarely have I turned on the white light with a box open and then usually only one or two sheets gets ruined, since they are in their plastic bag and covered except for the opening.

Definitely think about tray stackers and water sources for the wet side. I printed 16x20 in a really small darkroom with two sets of stackers (using only the top and bottom of each stacker; four trays total). It worked just fine.

Good luck,

Doremus

 

[M Carter]

My darkroom used to be a kitchen - I converted one of the drawers to a paper safe so it will hold 11x14. I painted it black inside, and added a "lid" with a light seal; you open the drawer and lift the lid, and there's your paper. One of the smartest things I've made, really like it. I don't leave it full of paper, just a few sheets of what I'm printing that day. Much easier than messing with the box & bag.

 

[MattKing]

I have a 12x16 paper safe. With one qualification, when I start a session, it is always empty. I use it as temporary accomodation for a few sheets of paper whenever I start a session , and top it up or switch out the paper as needed.

It is big enough to:

1) hold 12x16 paper;
2) hold 11x14 paper;
3) hold two sets of 8x10 paper (with one in the bottom of a box);
4) hold a variety of smaller sizes, such as exposed and unexposed 4x6 postcard paper, when I am gang printing.

I always find the paper envelopes and boxes to be just a bit awkward, so I appreciate having something that I can use to handle paper with essentially one hand (the lid to the paper safe will stay open if I want it to).

The qualification? At the end of the session, if I intend to start up again soon with a continuation of what I was doing, I'll leave the sealed paper envelope/box and any notes inside the paper safe.

 

[Sirius Glass]

When I change the paper, I remove the old paper from the safe and put it back in the box. l load the new paper in the safe and put the box under the safe.