Lovely space Roy.
Ah - the most profound problem!
The first darkroom you build for an enemy.
The second one you build for a friend.
And the third one you build for yourself.
Until now I have built five darkrooms. But there are still things to improve. And everytime I study other peoples darkrooms, I learn one or two nice tricks.
Would you mind posting some images of your darkroom? I'll start with mine. I use it one day every week. And even after about twenty years of darkroom work, I still want to change things. (That's why I got the idea of this thread.) My desktop is very cluttered because I'm in the middle of a rearranging my darkroom.
1) My darkroom sink. I adapted an existing sink to do all my film developing, and washing. Above the sink chemicals are stored child-safe. I built my own sodium lamp.
2) An Omega D5 XL enlarger for 4x5 inch negatives
3) A Durst M605 enlarger, my darkroom books and negatives.
4) The wet bench with photographic paper to the left, and film tanks underneath.
5) Bulk chemical storage and processing clock.
Here's my latest wetplate collodion darkbox. This one will keep me out of the ether/alcohol fumes. I wanted this box as light and small as possible, to fit on the front seat of my car (have to remove the wheels for that), yet still able to do full plates. The box is 1/4" thick aspen plywood attached to a 3/4" thick reinforcing frame. Full plate will be tight in here but do-able. Smaller plates should be no problemo.
The box is hexagonal rather than rectangular and the sleeves go in at 45 degrees through the angled front sides. It seems much more natural for my arms to go in that box at a 45-degree angle rather than straight on. I can still reach every point inside the box if needed. The sleeves are constructed of an exterior layer of aluminized nylon and an interior layer of Porter's premium darkroom fabric. The sleeves have integrated elastic bands at one end and in the middle to form a light seal.
The angled rear panels are essentially upward sliding doors that should allow easy access to the interior. The silver tank is about 13" high and can easily go inside these doors. So, there should be plenty of room for holders as well.
There is a red acrylic safelight window on the top and another red angled viewing port 45 degrees off vertical on the front. The top of the box forms a hood over the inset and angled front window. I intentionally designed that viewing window to be at my eye level to avoid any stooping over. I'm hoping the top of the box will be an adequate hood to prevent glare on that window. If not, it shouldn't be difficult at all to attach a fabric hood around that window.
I built a tray out of red acrylic that fits between the dropped silver tank and the front wall of the box. It has a drain hole and attached acrylic hollow tube that goes through the base of the tank. The clear tube will be covered by a black rubber hose that will attach to some tubing below the box. The drain hose will empty into a yet to be determined waste container of some sort. The box is elevated slightly on ~ 2.5" high feet with room for the hose to curl underneath. I figured a slight curve to the black hose would prevent light from entering the tank.
I've also kicked around the idea of a gravity-fed water supply from the top of the box but haven't decided where it should enter yet. I built a lip around the top of the box to help prevent anything put on the top from falling off. I'm thinking of adding a net or bungee cords to the top to help hold stuff in place. I'll probably tweak this thing a bit more before I'm done.
The silver tank is similar to Kerik's design with a foam seal to allow transport of the tank when full. The thing is on 14" wheels and the front pair of legs are attached in such a manner as to act as handles for pulling/pushing the thing around.
I've also built a back panel-easel sort of thing that is attached to the folding rear leg. (Maybe I'll do some plein air painting with this as well).
If I were to do this again I would probably have the base squared off in the back to provide an exterior shelf for the tripod on one side and a water container on the other side for ease in transport. That wouldn't increase the weight very much but it would add to its functionality.
How well this thing will work is still up in the air, but I think it will be quite functional even though butt-ugly. I should be able to strap a tripod on the rear, transport needed chemicals and trays inside the box, and carry the camera on the top. I'll give it the initial trial sometime this week.
Joe
A few more pics of it in transport mode:
The first darkroom you build for an enemy.
The second one you build for a friend.
And the third one you build for yourself.
Okay, I got a bit carried away on the cabinets- they were having a sale!
The wet side: 3' x 6' stainless steel sink.
It's kind of hard to see the ventilation system, but it is a 4" PVC pipe for
a septic system. I enlarged the holes & it runs down into the basement
& outside. I like the idea of all the fumes being drafted over the trays
& down, rather than over my nose.
Dry workbench: Film fridge & 1200watt mercury-lamp UV exposure unit.
Dry side enlarger bench: Durst Laborator CE100 & tunes.
The room is 11' x 13' and is on the lower floor, so no external windows.
It was a cinch to set up, but it took me a year to convince my wife
that she needed more light for her sewing room... Sure beats trying to
build out the basement!
Now, if I can just get some help cleaning up the printmaking studio I can
post those pics to Wet Canvas.
Thanks Andrew! Really hoping to be able to bring it along.Dang Bill. All the creature comforts! Hope to see this rig up in Northern MN this fall
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