Darkroom Portraits (Part 2)

[MattKing]

Consider surface mounting as much of the plumbing and electrical as possible. It won't be pretty, but it will be flexible.
Bob Carnie uses heavy duty hoses instead of some of the plumbing, and that gives him great flexibility.

 

[Michael Firstlight]

@Michael Firstlight Make the sink bigger than you think you need. I was printing 11x14 and smaller when I built mine and it is great for that. When I went to 16x20 it became cramped but doable and now that I'm thinking about 20x24 it gets even more challenging. An extra 6 inches depth on my sink would have really helped.

Definitely wide enough and long enough for 20x24!

 

[fiddle]

Nice space Greg, and you have some great videos up by the way. Been getting a lot of very useful info from you. Thanks.

 

[kal800]

That is my place - it is not yet finished, but functional already. I'm waiting for print washer to arrive and that will be it. The project was not easy, as the walls were old so there was a dust issue and I had to protect them by paint primer.

 

[pbromaghin]

Looks great!

 

[mshchem]

Yes that's a beautiful space. Looks great in black and white! I lived in a big old house as a kid. My darkroom had walls of limestone blocks. Never was a problem, nice cool place for everything.

 

[mooseontheloose]

A tour of my darkroom...

Nice darkroom Greg! I've been binge-watching your videos as I find them really useful. I did take a couple of darkroom courses back in the day, but we didn't cover that much and I find there's a lot of things I don't know how to do. So thank you.

I need to finish reorganizing my darkroom (being in Japan I have really limited space so it often functions as a temporary storage room as well) - once I do I may finally upload some photos to this thread!

 

[fiddle]

I set mine up last year. Corner of my basement, water source in the next room, very low ceilings, but it works.

in line vent out a boarded window. trays inside a bin, I tend to be clumsy, avoid spills.

Made the section with the enlarger lower. low ceilings.

Tiny work table, built some drying screens underneath. Narrow and long, but it works.

 

[sruddy]

The space is a garage we never used for cars. We use it for a studio, darkroom, and the laundry. I actually like the open space, however it's not on the house heating and cooling, so I have to prop the door open and use a small ac unit and space heater. We decided to do a remodel and should have the blueprints completed this week. I'm happy about the project but will be loosing the open space in favor of an isolated studio space. This means my darkroom area will be much smaller. I'll post a drawing for feedback. I'll most likely get to enjoy this for another 6 months.

 

[Michael Firstlight]

The space is a garage we never used for cars. We use it for a studio, darkroom, and the laundry. I actually like the open space, however it's not on the house heating and cooling, so I have to prop the door open and use a small ac unit and space heater. We decided to do a remodel and should have the blueprints completed this week. I'm happy about the project but will be loosing the open space in favor of an isolated studio space. This means my darkroom area will be much smaller. I'll post a drawing for feedback. I'll most likely get to enjoy this for another 6 months.

Very nice! I've been struggling in my unheated garage for several years as a combo shoot studio and darkroom. Finally building a dedicated darkroom in the new house (currently being framed with heat, ac, ventilation, electrical and plumbing, but for the new garage that will be 22x24 feet I am finishing it entirely and fully insulated with a 1-ton heat pump as it will be my shooting studio exclusively. The garage doors are insulated with along with additional insulation, but I'm contemplating whether to install a false will in front of the doors as I want it to be easily to convert later.

Mike

 

[kal800]

Finished - washer and glass for FB drying installed, the last step is to prepare working solutions of all the chemistry, and I can work.

 

[sruddy]

Very nice! I've been struggling in my unheated garage for several years as a combo shoot studio and darkroom. Finally building a dedicated darkroom in the new house (currently being framed with heat, ac, ventilation, electrical and plumbing, but for the new garage that will be 22x24 feet I am finishing it entirely and fully insulated with a 1-ton heat pump as it will be my shooting studio exclusively. The garage doors are insulated with along with additional insulation, but I'm contemplating whether to install a false will in front of the doors as I want it to be easily to convert later.

Mike

Mike,
I added insulation, screwed the door into the frame, then removed all the hardware. This would be the way to go if you don't want to save the door and are thinking of legally turning it into a living space. I also insulated the concrete floor and installed some recycled flooring. This helps a lot with moisture and insulation. I wouldn't do anything more permanent unless you never plan on using it as a garage or selling the house.
Good Luck!

 

[sruddy]

Finished - washer and glass for FB drying installed, the last step is to prepare working solutions of all the chemistry, and I can work.

View attachment 236029 View attachment 236030

Nice, what's the contraption connected to the sink?

 

[Neal]

I am green with envy!

 

[mshchem]

My wife snuck this photo of me today after I printed some 8 x 24 FB prints. Using both my big sinks, and my monster Calumet rocking print washer. Man that's so much more work than RC. It's fun being a old dinosaur .. I have no idea what I was pointing at.

 

[grahamp]

We are moving next month, so I have to say goodbye to my 72 sq ft darkroom. On the up side, I should be able to increase the area to 90 or 100 sq ft and have a higher ceiling in the new house. The down side is that I think I will have to frame out a space in the third garage bay and probably put in a ceiling on at least part of it where the garage door runners are, as I need to keep the opening door as an option. It is amazingly useful to have all these examples to peruse!

 

[Jim Blodgett]

[QUOTE="mshchem, post: 223 It's fun being a old dinosaur .. I have no idea what I was pointing at.
View attachment 236472 [/QUOTE]

Looks like maybe a dance move from Saturday Night Fever!

 

[Stephen Prunier]

My wife snuck this photo of me today after I printed some 8 x 24 FB prints. Using both my big sinks, and my monster Calumet rocking print washer. Man that's so much more work than RC. It's fun being a old dinosaur .. I have no idea what I was pointing at.
View attachment 236472

That's not a Darkroom. That's what a Darkroom Arena would look like! WOW!

 

[mshchem]

Darkrooms. Because all the Steam Engines are gone!

 

[138S]

Still some work to do, like finishing the ATL 2500+ custom electronics retrofit, and a "concrete mixer" type drum for developing big prints with one shot chem. The Drytec HGP 260 just painted, manufacturer kindly told us the paint reference code.

One of the 138S has that accessory for convenient horizontal projection. It is planned to reach RA-4 capability in some two months... we'll see !

In the sink (in construction) it can be seen a Durst RCP 20 "photo processor" that would speed up RA-4 test strips.

 

[mshchem]

That's very nice. I love my darkroom. Nice tile floor.

 

[amellice]

Nice,,, I've the Durst RCP 20 "photo processor", did you manage to get it to work?

 

[138S]

Nice,,, I've the Durst RCP 20 "photo processor", did you manage to get it to work?

Yes... It's a very simple and sturdy machine, it only has a motor moving all shafts. Single issue is that main gearing has to be hacked to match today's C-41 processing time. There is extensive literature in this forum and around about that: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/durst-rcp20.66869/

For the moment I tested it with bare water in the trays and with waste paper, but it works perfectly as new, single thing is that I still have to change the main gearing.

If you want to process BW with it then you may simply lower motor voltage to slow it a bit.

 

[danvphoto]

A few shots of my darkroom I finished right before the ex-wife served me divorce papers

 

[CMoore]

A few shots of my darkroom I finished right before the ex-wife served me divorce papers

View attachment 241499 View attachment 241500 View attachment 241501 View attachment 241502

I JUST talked to a guy i worked with for many years. he is in the middle of a divorce.....and he is 80..!!!

Anyway...... LOVE your enlarger, does it say Leica.?
I REALLY Like the way it is cantilevered way, out, past the vertical support. Gives your hands lots of room to Dodge/Burn.