Darkbox - progress

[Andrew Moxom]

I've not had much time lately to work on getting the wet plate gear ready to go on the road, what with back surgery in June, work and home committments, darkbox sat there gathering dust..... Well until today!!. I am making more progress. All I need now is the shroud and a few coats of spar varnish, and I am good to go!!!

The plan is to set up the box using my hitch hauler when I am on location...
A future plan is to make a 12v RV water pump setup to have power wash for removing developer from plates. I'll have room for 3 x 5 gallon water containers underneath... one for developer rinse, one for drainage, and one for final post fix washing.

 

[steven_e007]

Well, it looks very nice, although I'm not sure how it works!

I presume it is midway between a portable darkroom and a changing bag?

 

[Barry S]

Looking good, Andrew! I like the dropped slot for your silver box. Is it built for 8x10 plates?

 

[Andrew Moxom]

Thanks.... Barry, the sunken silver bath will take a Lund photographic whole plate or 8x10 'traveling' bath as they are the same dimensions front to back, just wider for 8x10. Right now, all I have is the whole plate version. I hope to get the 8x10 one in future.

I was also thinking about making another sunken bath attachment that would allow you to put cool packs in it to keep the temperatures down in hot weather.

I'm also struggling with what color to make the box... white on the outside, black on the inside, or just plain varnish inside and out... Not sure.

 

[Barry S]

Andrew--How do you like the Lund silver box? I was thinking of buying the 8x10 because I like the idea of a bath that seals with a gasket. The cool pack attachment is interesting--I find the process is the most difficult to control in the heat. Personally, I'd just varnish the box with extra coats on the bottom panels and around the silver box. The natural wood will look better and the wood is light, so white won't be appreciably cooler for the outside, and the inside will be more pleasant if it's light colored.