Darkroom portraits

MattKing · Feb 16, 2008

Jeffrey:

All the high end equipment is great, but I must confess that it was the wall clock that grabbed my attention!

Looks like a great place to create. Thanks for sharing.

Matt

Jeffrey A. Steinberg · Feb 16, 2008

MattKing said:
Jeffrey:

All the high end equipment is great, but I must confess that it was the wall clock that grabbed my attention!

Looks like a great place to create. Thanks for sharing.

Matt

Its the cheapest thing there and it looks the best! Its only something like $20 and from a company called Zelco who have been making for at least 20 years.

Yeah, I love that clock. They give you 12 little sticky-back rubber half balls and you temporarily tape a circle of paper they give you that has arrows on where to put the dots. You put this little sticky back "L" shaped piece in the middle of the paper to hang the light-weight clock movement. Remove the paper, put the clock section on its hanging spot and you have a "wall" clock.

You can get one at Amazon here or any other place.

Just do a search for "Zelco" and "real wall clock" and there are lots of places. Its the second one I had. I just think its so elegant.

Thanks for the complements.

ic-racer · Feb 19, 2008

Jeffrey A. Steinberg said:
I just added a Hass Manufacturing computer-controlled mixer.

I don't know what that is. Is it the nice water temp unit in the first picture?

I have been looking for a temp unit. Can you say anything about this unit. Like does it take batteries, or how is it powered. Was it easy to install or did you need a plumber? How much was it? New or used.

Nice darkroom. Love that 'science-lab' faucet.

ic-racer · Feb 19, 2008

This is an updated photograph of my darkroom showing my newest piece of equipment. This is a Durst L1840 10x10 enlarger with an Aristo 1414-2 coldlight. Lens is a 300mm Rodenstock f5.6. With this Aristo head, the enlarger will go all the way to the top without hitting the ceiling. It can do about a 4x enlargement of an 8x10 on the baseboard. That would be 40x32" though my print washer is only 20x24"

Here are the initial pictues: (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

More info on the enlarger is here:http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=32852

MurrayMinchin · Feb 19, 2008

My Beseler 45MXT is so, so, so dinky

Murray

Kevin Caulfield · Feb 19, 2008

Now how would I get THAT beast through my revolving darkroom door?

ic-racer · Feb 20, 2008

MurrayMinchin said:
My Beseler 45MXT is so, so, so dinky

Murray

When my wife figured out something was brewing she asked me what was arriving. As a joke I showed her this picture and she freaked out... http://www.jensen-optical.us/1010ve21.jpg

That one makes mine look dinky...

Jeffrey A. Steinberg · Feb 20, 2008

ic-racer said:
I don't know what that is. Is it the nice water temp unit in the first picture?

I have been looking for a temp unit. Can you say anything about this unit. Like does it take batteries, or how is it powered. Was it easy to install or did you need a plumber? How much was it? New or used.

Nice darkroom. Love that 'science-lab' faucet.

Yes, it is the computer controlled "faucet" that is in the first photo. It is DC powered and you need a Y connector to wait for the hot water to come up to temp. Once at temp, it will hold temp very well regardless of water pressure drops/surges in the line. It works without flaw.

My handyman installed it after my filters. He got 6 foot flexible lines, used compression fittings to tap into the output of the filters and then took normal garden hoses to hook up to the Y.

I hope that answers your questions.

malohnes · Feb 25, 2008

This was/is a great thread. All the photo's and discussion of ideas and suggestions has greatly helped my darkroom/wetroom project!
Thanks!
There are some fabulous setups and it is such a motivtor for me, in this digital age we live in, to see chemical/analog imaging still going strong.
Mark

ic-racer · Feb 25, 2008

Jeffrey A. Steinberg said:
I hope that answers your questions.

Yes, thank you. I saw your thread on it also. It is comforting to see others spending time and money on a nice contemporary wet darkroom.

Steve_7x · Feb 27, 2008

Pics of my Darkroom

This Darkroom was built inside a two car garage. It takes up approximately half of one bay of the garage (~9.5x10')

The enlrager under cover is a Saunders 4x5 enlarger. The Durst is used for 5x7 and 4x10 negs.

The sink is just over 9' feet in length - Made with Plywood which was caulked and cove molded in the bottom corners. I then had it sprayed with Line-X truck bed liner. There is lots Lots of storage under the sink, etc...

The 20x24 washer stays on the cart. It can be wheeled out of the way (into the garage) when I work. When doing 11x14 or smaller I just take the smaller washer of the cart and place it in the sink.

This has turned into a very nice work space. Cozy but definitely not cramped. I hate to lose it but I expect that I will be moving within the next 18 months :-(

Steve

280hpwrx · Feb 27, 2008

Line-X Bed Liner Spray

Steve,

Where did you get the bed liner spray done? Cost?

CH

MurrayMinchin · Feb 27, 2008

Steve; that's one sweet and efficient setup. I'm guessing it's at least darkroom #4?

Murray

Steve_7x · Feb 27, 2008

CH...

The sink was sprayed by Line-X (although Rhino Lining can be used as well). It cost a little more then having a pick-up bed spray lined. I don't have the receipt handy. Sorry.

MurrayMinchin...

Thanks. It does what it needs to for me.

Actually this is my second... the 1st was when I was a teenager. I shared the room with a gas furnace and a washing maching in a garage. I used a rental facility for over 10 years (I don't count that as one) when I decided to build this one.

Steve

langedp · Feb 27, 2008

There are some really great darkrooms in this post. I've been watching it for some time as I was completing this one. This is my third one and has incorporated a lot of good ideas I've seen on this forum. Probably the biggest and best idea was to build plenty of sink, 16' in this case. I lined it with PVC that you can buy in 4'x8' sheets. This has worked out really, really well. I built the base plenty strong to hold the Jobo ATL full of water. A couple of other items on the wet side are the commercial spray faucet for washing out big trays and the Haas Intellifaucet that regulates water temperature to the Jobo as well as the cold lines to both faucets on the sink.

The end wall holds the drying cabinet, the dry mount press, and the densitometer.

On the dry side is the LPL 4550XLG enlarger along with plenty of storage for all the stuff for enlarging and film loading. I used to have a Chromega F 10"x10" enlarger where the vertical shelves are now but I decided to go horizontal which brings me to the last photo and my latest project:

I recently acquired this Durst HL2501 AF horizontal enlarger from a pro lab that was closing down. This thing is amazing. It's the best built enlarger I've ever seen. It rides on 20' of track and can be run in completely automatic mode or completely manual if you choose. I tore it all down, cleaned everything and have reassembled it and it is a beauty. It's almost sad to see these things being retired. As you can probably tell, it's outside my main darkroom since I needed room for the 20' of track and a vertical easel. I'm in the process of building an adjacent room as we speak that will just be for the Durst.

Anybody interested in a nice, used Chromega F???

canuhead · Feb 27, 2008

sweet lord that's a huge darkroom space !

jeroldharter · Feb 27, 2008

langedp,

Wow. That Durst will make some great wallet prints. How did you move that thing.

Seems like the only things you are missing are a compressed air source and an RH Designs timer. Very well done darkroom. I am envious if the large space.

What do you use the Cabela's bag for?

langedp · Feb 27, 2008

jeroldharter said:
langedp,

Wow. That Durst will make some great wallet prints. How did you move that thing.

Seems like the only things you are missing are a compressed air source and an RH Designs timer. Very well done darkroom. I am envious if the large space.

What do you use the Cabela's bag for?

Jerold,

Thanks for the comments. Can you believe the size of that Durst? It weighs almost 600 pounds. The guy at the lab I bought it from said they paid over $56K for it new. I got it for $500.

I moved it in an enclosed trailer behind my truck. We worked slowly and used blocks and long lever arms to put it on a movers dolly to wheel it out of their lab and into the trailer. I have a walk out basement and I backed the trailer up to the door and using ramps, reversed the process.

The Cabela's bags are a perfect fit for 8x10 film holders. I can get 10 holders in each bag.

Dave

jeroldharter · Feb 27, 2008

langedp,

You're a nut.

You should construct a building around that Durst. You might also need a small power plant. I wonder how long the electronics on that thing will last?

Looks like you are pretty handy. Some things I find handy on the sink are hose bibs like the type used in a chemistry lab on which I attach vinyl hoses.

You can kind of see them in the photo. The quick disconnects are handy also.

Someone here suggested these clips which I bought in bulk. they work very well for both film and paper:

http://www.craft-inc.com/prod_detail.aspx?riIDItem=439&riIDClass=59&riDeptID=6

MurrayMinchin · Feb 27, 2008

langedp,

Darkrooms shouldn't have an echo and enlargers shouldn't suck back photons due to their immense gravitational pull. I'd suggest roller blades to cut down on commuting time between the wet and dry sides.

Murray

langedp · Feb 27, 2008

jeroldharter said:
langedp,

You're a nut.

You should construct a building around that Durst. You might also need a small power plant. I wonder how long the electronics on that thing will last?

Jerold,

Since you're a psychiatrist, is that your professional opinion? I've been called a lot worse.

I wouldn't say nut, I would say, ambitious.

It turns out, they gave me all their spare parts for the durst as well. I have a complete set of spare electronics. My undergrad is in electrical engineering which came in handy to diagnose a few "issues" with the enlarger after I brought it home.

Dave

langedp · Feb 27, 2008

MurrayMinchin said:
langedp,

Darkrooms shouldn't have an echo and enlargers shouldn't suck back photons due to their immense gravitational pull. I'd suggest roller blades to cut down on commuting time between the wet and dry sides.

Murray

Murray,

Just a little tinge of envy do I detect? Let me tell you, all enlargers should be designed this way.

Check out Christopher Burkett's darkroom. He has two of these gems!

Dead Link Removed

Dave.

Curt · Feb 27, 2008

Three people were used to get my Durst enlarger into my Dodge Ram 4x4 truck and that's taking it apart as much as we could. They are big and heavy but worth it. I used to think my Beseler was big. Enlarging up to 8x10 is great, I'm glad I didn't go with a Beseler conversion.

MattKing · Feb 28, 2008

This should be cross posted with the "Does size matter" thread

Matt

ic-racer · Feb 28, 2008

Curt said:
Three people were used to get my Durst enlarger into my Dodge Ram 4x4 truck and that's taking it apart as much as we could. They are big and heavy but worth it. I used to think my Beseler was big. Enlarging up to 8x10 is great, I'm glad I didn't go with a Beseler conversion.

I saw your "looking for an 8x10" thread a while back and wondered if you ever got one. Have you posted pictures of it yet? Which Durst did you get?

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