Darkroom plans

Trond · Mar 27, 2010

The room where I will build my new darkroom is about 2.5 x 3.6m. A movable print drying rack and Jobo (ATL-1000) will be stored outside of the darkroom and moved in when needed in order to save space. As much equipment as possible will be mounted on the walls.

Hot and cold water pipes, and also a drain pipe, goes through the room and are easy to connect to.

Darkroom plans attached. Any comments or suggestions?

Trond

canuhead · Mar 27, 2010

Looks fine and would probably put the big boy in the middle as well.

I have a left to right work flow on the wet side so would move the workbench to the left and bring the Dunco to the right. Fewer steps to get to the sink. If you go right to left, then keep as is.

Allen Friday · Mar 27, 2010

The only thing I might change would be to switch the two enlargers around. The IFF sticks out into the room farther than the Dunco. I can envision a lot of bruised hips or shins as you move from left to right in the dark down the length of the room. Or stick a piece of light proof darkroom tape on the edge of the LFF table. Looks like a great, usable space. Have fun with it.

MattKing · Mar 27, 2010

Do you use one of the enlargers much more frequently then the other? If so, I would tend to put it closest to the workbench.

fotch · Mar 27, 2010

I think having to go around the middle enlarger would get tiring fast and might be better in the left corner, near the door. If you had more isle width that might be different. Looks like you can change it later if you need to and if that's the case, try whatever is your first choice.

Trond · Mar 28, 2010

The work flow on the wet side will be from right to left.

Thanks for the suggestions on the placement of the enlargers. The main reason I have put the IFF in the middle, is that there is a H-beam in the ceiling on the left side, where I have placed the Dunco now. It would limit the maximum height of the IFF.

I will make some alternative plans to see if I can come up with something better.

Trond

Allen Friday · Mar 28, 2010

If it works for your printing method, you might put the workbench in the middle and have an enlarger at each end. That way you would have work space next to each enlarger.

In my darkroom, I purposely moved the enlarger farther from the sink when I redesigned it last time. I found that I don't tire as much if I move around more in the darkroom. My current set up is less efficient than the old, but I feel better after a long printing session

The set up you have is great and you can't really go wrong with it. All of our suggestions are just things to think about--food for thought. It seems like you have considered the possibilities. Go for it and have fun.

John Koehrer · Mar 28, 2010

Allen Friday said:
If it works for your printing method, you might put the workbench in the middle and have an enlarger at each end. That way you would have work space next to each enlarger.

Ditto for me and would put the LF enlarger away from the door.

Martin Aislabie · Mar 28, 2010

Darkrooms are a very personal thing - but here is my $0.02

I like to have some worktop space on both sides of my Enlargers - makes stuff easier to reach without stretching - particularly useful when you get into complicated dodge and burn sequences

I also find it pleasant to have the developer tray as near the Enlargers as I can manage - it feels like I have to move around less in the darkroom.

I also like the boxes of photographic paper to be near to the white light switch - so I can check I have the lid on properly before I switch on the main room lights.

YMMV

Good luck

Martin

grahamp · Mar 29, 2010

This space is slightly longer and slightly narrower than mine. Do I understand that the ceiling construction limits the placement of the IFF unit? I'd probably put the enlargers at each end, with the workspace in the middle. That's how I have my two Beseler 45s set up. I can use my RH Designs unit on either side. The only thing about putting an enlarger close to a wall is that you need to allow maybe 150-200mm of space between the wall and the enlarger baseboard otherwise you will elbow the wall a lot. If you have a dominant format, try to put that enlarger opposite the developer end of your process cycle.

With a space of this size, you are only going to be taking two or three steps to get anywhere.

Ronald Moravec · Mar 30, 2010

A little walking keeps one from getting tired so fast. My first in this home was 10x8 feet. Space became available and a dry pace was added L fashion to the first which became the wet side.

The 4x5 enlargers are 15 feet from the trays. The 35 mm enlargers are closer, 3 to five steps depending on which I use.

Keep the aisles wide.

sionnac · Mar 30, 2010

This is the plan I had of my old basement darkroom in Jamaica Plain, MA:

David Brown · Mar 30, 2010

Ronald Moravec said:
A little walking keeps one from getting tired so fast.

I consider the distance from the dry side to the wet side as an exercise program.

Hikingman · Mar 30, 2010

Is added ventilation-part of the plan?

CBG · Mar 31, 2010

sionnac said:
This is the plan I had of my old basement darkroom in Jamaica Plain, MA:

I love the spiders...

Trond · Mar 31, 2010

Two more plans of the dry side. The IFF on the far right side, and a long work bench. Two alternative positions of the Dunco. I think I would like to have to two enlargers side by side, so that I can use the same timer for both.

Trond

Trond · Mar 31, 2010

I'm also planning ventilation with positive pressure. I'm going to use an inexpensive bathroom fan.

Trond · Apr 11, 2010

I have updated the plans for the wet side of the darkroom. I'm now planning a shorter sink (2,4 m). 2,4 m plywood is easier to get, and the sink will also be easier to move into the darkroom. As a bonus I will have room for a small table beside the sink.

fotch · Apr 11, 2010

Looks good.

Martin Aislabie · Apr 12, 2010

Good luck

Martin

Trond · Apr 24, 2010

A photo of my future darkroom. The walls have been opened to dry after a big water leak (frozen drain pipe in the ground outside of the house). This is thankfully covered by insurance ($60 000 and still counting...).

This was originally two storage rooms. When the wall between the rooms was removed, the ceiling had to be reinforced because of the bathroom above, which is being rebuilt.

We are moving in on Wednesday, and the darkroom should be usable this autumn.

clayne · Apr 24, 2010

canuhead said:
Looks fine and would probably put the big boy in the middle as well.

I have a left to right work flow on the wet side so would move the workbench to the left and bring the Dunco to the right. Fewer steps to get to the sink. If you go right to left, then keep as is.

Totally agree with this and was going to reply saying the same thing: flip the workbench and the dunco/IFF. You want to be able to do a 180 and end up at the developer.

(I'm assuming you follow a dev-stop-fix L-R order as most do).

Martin Aislabie · Apr 25, 2010

Keep us posted on the progress

Martin

Trond · May 15, 2010

Latest progress. The walls have been reinforced to hold the wall mounted Dunco. I'm planning on finishing the walls and ceiling within the next two months.

The workflow on the wet side will be from right to left.

Wade D · May 15, 2010

Looks good so far.

Darkroom plans

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