Darkroom portraits

[ic-racer]

Some updated photos of my darkroom.

Very nice!

 

[26x30]

This is my new darkroom, and even though the area is exactly the same than always, I have introduced some improvements. First of all, I have put a wood sink that my brother Saver made for me. It is 1.75 m x 0.65 m x 0.20 m. It has a lot of special resin layers and it has been reinforced with fibber glass. Second, I bought the 12x16 Nova Washmaster-ECO Archival Print Washer and I put it on a metal support above the sink, just at the right hand. Notice that the water do not drain trough the sink, as the hoses go directly to the drain pipe. In third place, I have put a ventilation system. I used a vent that can move more than twenty times per hour the total volume of the darkroom (Just in case, this is the vent I bought: Soler & Palau TD-350/125 SILENT). The air is exhausted trough plastic pipes directly to the backyard. I also bought a 12x12 Doran Heavy Duty Darkroom Light Tight Louvers in Adorama, and I put it at the door.
I keep the rest of the equipment: Meopta Opemus 6 printer, RH Designs Analyser Pro, etc.
Now, I am able to print both RC and Fiber Paper. My Meopta can print as big as12x16, and I can put four trays inside the sink, so I can work with two fixer baths when I make 12x16 baryta base printers.
I am annexing some pictures in order to show you how my new darkroom looks like. They are not very good, but you can see how the sink looks like, the dry side and the wet side, the washer support, the ventilation system, and what things are located just under the sink.
Finally, I want to thank all of you that gave me ideas about how to ventilate my room when I asked for help to the forum, and mainly to my brother Saver, who made the wood sink and help me to put everything in its place.

I have made it through this thread about three times, page for page, and this is still the one that really grabs me. I am thinking about actually reducing the area that I plan to use just to emulate this setup. Great job!

 

[Henry Alive]

Henry Alive Darkroom - September 2011.

This is my actual darkroom. It is simple and small, and it is perfect for printing as big as 12x16 FB papers. However it is possible to print 16x20 if it is necessary.
The enlarger is a Durst M805, condenser one, mounted directly to the wall and working with my Analyzer Pro from RH Designs. The wood sink (1.75 m x 0.65 m x 0.20 m) has a lot of special resin layers and it has been reinforced with fibber glass. I also have the 12x16 Nova Washmaster-ECO Archival Print Washer and I put it on a metal support above the sink, just at the right hand.
The darkroom has a ventilation system. I used a vent that can move more than twenty times per hour the total volume of the darkroom (Just in case, this is the vent I bought: Soler & Palau TD-350/125 SILENT). The air is exhausted trough plastic pipes directly to the backyard. I also bought a 12x12 Doran Heavy Duty Darkroom Light Tight Louvers in Adorama, and I put it at the door.
I hope this information could be helpful to people that have small rooms available to become darkrooms.

 

[ParkerSmithPhoto]

Help me design my darkroom!

Hello, APUGers. I'm a recent subscriber, but a long time photographer. Fifteen years as a full time professional, please check out my sites to see my work.

Can you help me design my darkroom?

I've been back to regularly shooting film for two years now, mostly medium format. I've been using a Diafine processing, scan and inkjet print workflow for all of this, but I am really getting the itch to work in silver again. Still have most of my darkroom stuff and I am looking to build my first proper space in my basement.

A bit of darkroom history for me: I've never had a real darkroom, just spare bedrooms and whatnot with windows blacked out. No sink. The lack of a real working space has kept me frustrated over the years, which is why I went to scanning.

I recently got this sink off CraigsList and built a base for it. Drains into a bucket. Decent for making contact sheets in its current setup, but the sink will hold four 16x20 trays and I'd like to make real finished prints. Under the sink will be one more shelf for trays and chemistry, high enough to fit large plastic storage boxes on the floor.

The table with the LPL enlarger is built by me, too. Drying racks go underneath (currently being reconfigured).

So as you can see from the photos, I have a great space in my basement that measures a whopping 16 feet square. There is a very natural space where a wall can go (bit tricky to build around existing ductwork, but shouldn't be too much trouble). Window on the left houses an A/C unit and is very easily blacked out, as is the door. A/C can provide lots of fresh air, and the wall behind the sink goes directly outside, so ventilation should be fairly easy to install.

The three overhead lights will be converted to pull chain fixtures for lights and safelights. I will add power wherever needed via the electrical panel in picture 3. Water lines can be tapped right above the sink, which is our master bathroom. Drain lines are also accessible for a sump pump. I'm very handy with plumbing, electrical and finish work.

I'd love to "crowd source" this and tap into all of the expertise at APUG. Is 16x16 too big? The space can be smaller, though building the wall would be more difficult. I also have a 20x24 dry mount press and would like to have a finishing area. My only concern was that perhaps that should be outside of the darkroom area, but if I can fit it in and the room is well ventilated, I hope that might not be too big of an issue.

Let me know your thoughts. All feedback will be greatly appreciated.

 

[ParkerSmithPhoto]

Darkroom Automation

Forgot to mention that one of my goals is to get the timer and meter from Darkroom Automation.

After reading up on these, they look like a very simple, powerful and elegant solution. Pretty much have everything else I need, except for the computerized water control panel, archival print washer, compensating developing timer, 250 sheets of ADOX MCC, and the...

 

[jeroldharter]

Forgot to mention that one of my goals is to get the timer and meter from Darkroom Automation.

After reading up on these, they look like a very simple, powerful and elegant solution. Pretty much have everything else I need, except for the computerized water control panel, archival print washer, compensating developing timer, 250 sheets of ADOX MCC, and the...

I suggest that you start a new thread for this as you are likely to get a lot of advice.

Please entitle it usefully, e.g. "Darkroom Design Advice" rather than "Please Help Me!!!" so that others can find the information in a future search.

 

[canuhead]

well I gotta say this is the first time I've seen a Gardena hose reel in a darkroom The spray handle attachment would make cleanups a breeze though !

 

[ParkerSmithPhoto]

Darkroom Plan 1.0

I graphed this out in Photoshop (easy to do if you set the Grid to Gridlines every 1 inch, Subdivisions 2) and after measuring everything I have, this is what I came up with.

This layout gives me 3.5' to 4' pathways and plenty or room for everything I need and currently own. The enlarger table can float in the center of the room and leave space for an additional sink on the right hand wall. (I even added the Darkroom Automation logo to get myself motivated.)

The mounting table will probably be constructed out of MDF with a nice coat of sealer. A good friend has a router/table saw and will work for beer. He's Irish.

Except for the LPL and the sink, all of these things are currently scattered all over my basement, on various shelves or on junky folding tables that I've set on cinder blocks. It will be nice to get it into a place where it all works together.

Let me know what you think.

Parker

 

[swhiser]

Just getting started ...

... in a 13' x 17' basement space.

*** QUESTIONS ***

o What inline fans do people like for ventilation?
o What do people find are successful systems for water temp control?

 

[swhiser]

Silly questions. This is a huge thread and there's more than enough information. I'm having a good read.

Ulrich's informative post addresses the vent question ...
(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

He has a killer exhaust system over his sink.

Helios Ventilation Systems (UK & Germany)
http://www.heliosfans.co.uk/

Not having found such a great venting company in the US, I'm hoping Helios can deal with us here -- particularly in terms of the voltage differential versus over there.

 

[swhiser]

Omega Man

Am I the last person on Earth building a darkroom?
Pleeeeeeaaaaaaassssseeeee! It's like The Omega Man around here.

 

[swhiser]

Nice Plumbing

Well I finally got a scanner installed and acually figured out how to get something scanned. So here are some quick shots of the new darkroom (officially opened Apr 1). About 7 years late - we started on the new house then got a lot of attention taken by caring for ageing parents (now deceased) and taking care of my wife's brother while he was dying of cancer. So a planned 3-year project took 10 years to complete. Now with all that behind us, we are at least grateful to have our lives back and the darkroom - better late than never!

Bob

Lopaka - Patience is a virtue. I must say that is one of the smoothest temp control arrays on this whole humongous thread! You deserve it.

 

[Trond]

Hello,

I use a simple ventilation system based on this:
http://www.clasohlson.no/Product/Product.aspx?id=164597409

The fan itself is installed outside of the darkroom to keep the noise down.

For water temperature control I use a Intellifaucet D250:
http://www.hassmfg.com/search.pl/1320025593-83266?keyword=1092

It is very accurate, and I am very happy about it, but it is not super quick to compensate for variations in the water supply.

Trond

 

[langedp]

Am I the last person on Earth building a darkroom?
Pleeeeeeaaaaaaassssseeeee! It's like The Omega Man around here.

No, you're not the last. Maybe one of the last though

I'm another one, putting the final stages of my 4th darkroom together. My previous one is in this thread on page 54. I moved back to Michigan about a year ago so I'm building another one. It's been awhile in the making. I've been without for a year and I'm itching to get going again.

The Hass Intellifaucet is what I use for temp control. It works well for color processing with the Jobo. Ventilation is a work in process but I plan to use a ceiling exhaust fan to extract and a pair of Doran darkroom vents on the other end of the darkroom for intake.

 

[ic-racer]

No, you're not the last. Maybe one of the last though

I'm another one, putting the final stages of my 4th darkroom together. My previous one is in this thread on page 54. I moved back to Michigan about a year ago so I'm building another one.

Did you transport the Durst horizontal? How did that go?

 

[langedp]

Did you transport the Durst horizontal? How did that go?

Yes, I brought the Durst with me. I moved it myself rather than having the movers do it to make sure it didn't get damaged. I'm installing sinks and plumbing right now so the Durst is sitting in storage until I get things finished. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll get some pictures of the finished space put up here. Can't wait to be up and running again.

 

[Robert Hall]

Just did an update of the darkroom. We just finished our Fall class, it was a lot of fun.

http://www.roberthall.com/Darkroom/index.html

Let me know what you think.

R

 

[Trond]

Just did an update of the darkroom. We just finished our Fall class, it was a lot of fun.

http://www.roberthall.com/Darkroom/index.html

Let me know what you think.

R

I think it looks fantastic. And huge! Must be a great place to work in.

Trond

 

[Tom Kershaw]

Robert,

Is the wooden slatting in your sink fixed or movable?

Tom

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Just did an update of the darkroom. We just finished our Fall class, it was a lot of fun.

http://www.roberthall.com/Darkroom/index.html

Let me know what you think.

R

Holy cow! If I buy my own plane ticket... can I come play for a day?

 

[Robert Hall]

I can pull it out in sections, Tom.

Robert,

Is the wooden slatting in your sink fixed or movable?

Tom

 

[chioque]

Here is a shot of my darkroom. It is a small walk-in closet with my DeVere 5108 8x10 enlarger and Jobo tanks. All processing of film and prints actually happen on a Jobo CPA-2 and Chromega roller in the spare bathroom.

Your definition of "small walk-in closet" must be totally different from mine, if you can fit-in a 8x10 enlarger in it

 

[swhiser]

Vitamin D, I believe. Your body would cease absorbing calcium and you would collapse into a pile of brittle bone fragments.

An honorable way to go.

 

[darkroom_rookie]

My darkroom has a fairly small footprint of 5 square metres (about 55 square feet):



Colour safelight with #13 filter and 15W bulb, b&w safelight with 3 layers of Rubylith, film stash, bulb stash & various bits and pieces, Fujimoto 450 M-C, lightbox, RRB 20x24", Gossen Labosix, Minolta Color Enlarger II currently under repair, RRB 10x12".



Ultra Endura 42" from 2004, Ilford box containing Crystal Archive 14x20s cut from a roll, cutting arrangement feat. Kaiser Proficut 3 sitting on a working surface on top of the sink which can fit three 17x21" trays and is drained into a large bucket, fresh Ultra Endura 42", Crystal Archive 20", Jobo drums. Processing of 30x42s and soon 36x50s is done with a drainage pipe in the adjacent room, a former bathroom.



Three 25x31" trays made out of plywood, epoxy and polyurethane. They just about fill the width of the darkroom laid next to each other on top of the sink with a little extra space to exit the room. Any suggestions on the best developer for Warmtone FB paper?

d_rookie

 

[2F/2F]

darkroom_rookie,

It looks nice, but it is not wise to store paper or chemicals in the darkroom, from what I have always been taught. Supposedly the fumes can affect the emulsions. Color should go in the fridge too, especially professional emulsions, which are shipped at their optimum color balance.