Dust on Durst

Mats_A · Feb 18, 2010

Is there even a theoretical chance to get a print whithout dust? I dust off the negative, the negative holder, filter and filterholder. Then I make a print and Presto! New dust in new interesting places.

How do you oldtimers do it? Retouching the print or do you work in a magical dust free environment?

r

tkamiya · Feb 18, 2010

I have my enlarger set up in level 10 dust free clean room with atomic level particle cleaner at all air vents. (just kidding....)

I'm not an old timer but I have been printing for about 6 months in regular residential setup. My enlarger is 40+ year old Omega D-II. When I got this enlarger, I've taken it apart and cleaned every part of enlarger using wet rag, compressed air, and vacuum cleaner. Before I set the negative in carrier, I clean it with soft lint free cloth, sandwich it, then use compressed air to blow dust. Then print. I see dust maybe 1 out of 20 prints and only very small ones. If I omit cleaning the negative and blow part, then I see it 50% of times.

I have yet, another enlarger in my garage going through the cleaning process. With this one, I have to scrape off all the lose paint, refinish and paint. Then dust, then assemble.

Can you identify the kind of dust you see? Is it coming from enlarger itself?

jp80874 · Feb 18, 2010

I do the things you suggest. I wear white cotton gloves when I touch the things you clean. When I built the darkroom I sealed the rafters. The wall board I used has a smooth surface that is easily washed. The ceiling and walls are this material. At every joint the edges were taped. The air coming into the darkroom goes through a furnace filter. I vacuum the room before a day of enlarging. All these things help. I still have to spot a few prints and that is bad because I am old and my hand shakes. I have made new prints to avoid this. Some times I have reshot the picture. There is no easy answer. I like the craftsmanship of a fine print done in the darkroom. It might be much easier to use Photoshop, but that is not why I am in the darkroom. Stick with it.

John Powers

mike c · Feb 18, 2010

Dust is gets bad in summer time here in L.A., the humidity is low.My darkroom is in the garage,the only thing that helps is a wipe down with a moist towel every other week or so.Have a air inlet that has a furnace filter installed that helps,but its still there.Allso use a static brush.Another thing that may help is to see if your Enlarger chassis is grounded

Mats_A · Feb 18, 2010

I suppose I should need to disassemble the enlarger. The focus wheel is rather stiff also. Problem is the enlarger belongs to the local photo club and I suspect I will get one of my own in the future. But maybe it is better to practice disassembling on somebody elses equipment

r

ic-racer · Feb 18, 2010

You are using a condenser head, right?

Mainecoonmaniac · Feb 18, 2010

I hate spotting prints so I try to keep my negs clean. You might have dust in your enlarger bellows. What you could try is to remove the lens board extend the bellows (some enlargers have 2 sets) , then turn on a vacuum cleaner then gently tap the bellows to dislodge the dust. If your vacuum cleaner is small, you might be able to vacuum the inside of your enlarger.

tkamiya · Feb 18, 2010

shimoda said:
I suppose I should need to disassemble the enlarger. The focus wheel is rather stiff also. Problem is the enlarger belongs to the local photo club and I suspect I will get one of my own in the future. But maybe it is better to practice disassembling on somebody elses equipment

r

Well... If you don't own the equipment, don't disassemble... You can mess up the alignment and affect everybody. But you should be able to clean quite a bit by taking off easily removable parts. You know the problem is a portion higher than the film carrier. Better yet, how about work with people who own and maintain the equipment...?

Marco B · Feb 18, 2010

shimoda said:
Is there even a theoretical chance to get a print whithout dust? I dust off the negative, the negative holder, filter and filterholder. Then I make a print and Presto! New dust in new interesting places.
r

How about the easel for your photo paper? Any dust flying around there and ending up on the print while exposing, will do no good either.

To be absolutely sure you have no dust on your negatives, get a compressed air canister or compressor to blow of dust, and than inspect against strong light before really assuming its clean. Quite often, you may discover an additional air burst is necessary.

If I didn't mess up the negative before printing, which I try hard not do by inserting in sleeves directly after drying of the film, I do manage to print about 80-90% virtually dust free.

Mats_A · Feb 18, 2010

Problem is that the darkroom has been largely abandonded for many years (digital, any one ?). We are a small group of renegades that have started using it these last months. So nobody is really maintaining the equipment.
Am thinking about setting up my own darkroom but there are an infinite amount of wants and wishes and only a finite amount of money.

r

jerry lebens · Feb 18, 2010

Sometimes overzealous cleaning of the darkroom can throw dust into the air and cause problems - it can take days for recently disturbed dust to settle. I always found that regular wipe down with a damp cloth was the best method of controlling dust. Whatever you do, don't try to control dust with a vacuum clear...

It's also worth checking that your film handling methods don't generate static thus attracting dust. Some neg bag materials - especially the polythene types - create a static charge when the film is withdrawn from the sleeve and should be avoided. The static effect can be reduced, to an extent, by 'earthing' charged negatives by touching them against an exterior wall prior to placing in the enlarger.

Regards
Jerry

buzzworm · Feb 18, 2010

The reality is that all prints need some spotting. It can be quite fast and easy with a little practice and the correct tools, at least on B&W.

Marco B · Feb 19, 2010

buzzworm said:
The reality is that all prints need some spotting.

Not true. I have printed plenty of negatives, even 4x5, that didn't need spotting (I am not saying there wasn't even a single tiny speck of dust every once in a while, just that there wasn't anything that was obtrusive enough to force spotting on these prints, a tiny dust speck in an image of scrubs or something often goes completely unnoticed while viewing).

It just takes a bit of care. Personally, I rather spent 10 minutes and re-inserting a 4x5 negative in glass negative carrier maybe 3 times, than having to spot for an hour... Admittedly these were "fresh" negatives, that I didn't print or handle before, but it can be done.

Rick A · Feb 19, 2010

I have a small air purifier, which is nothing more than a fan pulling air through a hepa filter, which helps greatly in keeping the dust to a minimum. Vacuum cleaning at least once a week helps, so does using an anti-static spray. A seperate grounding strap from the enlarger to a good grounding source will help. Dusting your gear using a fabric dryer sheet, as it disperses static. Use of a humidifier in the winter works wonders to aid in keeping static and dust to a minimum. I also clean my negs with a product called Innovera screen cleaning wipes. They are safe for nearly all surfaces especially LCD, CRT, and plasme screens, and are non-alcohol, non-abrasive, and anti-static. I pick it up at the local Rite-Aid in the computer section(right next to canned air). Keeping the DR clean is a tough chore, but once started, easy to maintain.

Rick

Mainecoonmaniac · Feb 19, 2010

There are tons of good used darkroom gear that can be had for cheap on Ebay.

Dust on Durst

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