Economical 8x10 developing trays

[gone]

I usually scrounge or make my darkroom trays, but saw these today at Walmart in the housewares/furniture area. $1.29 ea, and 8x10 prints fit nicely.

 

[fgorga]

Good idea!

I had a similar thought, of finding inexpensive not made specifically for photography trays, recently.

I am gearing up to make some 11x14ish alternative process prints on 13x16ish paper when the weather warms up and I can work in my garage. The space in my basement dimroom limits me to 8x10 paper.

With shopping at places such as Malwart about an hours drive away, I had yet to make the trip to see if they had anything suitable. Our local small town hardware store did not have anything useful in this regard. Hopefully, I'll be able to find a larger version of the trays you bought.

Can you tell me, are the dimensions listed on the label for the top of the container or for the inside of the bottom? I'd imagine it is the top dimensions, but I thought you'd be able to confirm that.

 

[Wayne]

Too deep for me. I posted about the Sterilites that I have a few days ago. They cost a bit more but are not as deep and they have an elevated square on the bottom so its easy to pick up prints. I think these are them. I have regular photo trays, I only use these when I need extra trays for special processes or if I know I want to walk away for a few hours cuz lids.

 

[awty]

Neato
I prefer ribbed trays for prints, makes it easier to get the chemistry around. Also a pouring corner makes it easier to pour the chemistry into the 1 ltr sauce bottles.
Be good for tray developing sheet film, but I use nonstick shallow oven trays for that.

 

[ParkerSmithPhoto]

I usually scrounge or make my darkroom trays, but saw these today at Walmart in the housewares/furniture area. $1.29 ea, and 8x10 prints fit nicely.

Those super deep dish pans are great when you don't have a sink to work in. Much easier to control the fluids.

 

[gone]

I remember your post Wayne, but couldn't find it when I went searching for it. These are about 10" wide and 13" long at the top fgorga, and 8 3/8" wide and 11 1/16" long at the very bottom. It's hard to see in my photo, but that 8x10 print lies perfectly flat in the bottom/ w/ plenty of room on the long ends to get your fingers under the paper. As mentioned, ribbed trays are better, but this is what they had, and after 1 1/2 hours in Walmart I had reached my limit. Normally I just put two or three debristled toothbrushes on the bottom of trays to keep the paper off the bottom. Works just like ribbed trays.

You're right, they're too deep. I plan on cutting them down.

It's easy to find DIY trays in stores, the trick is finding trays that are close to the dimensions of your print. A lot of chemicals get wasted if the trays are too big.

 

[pentaxuser]

These are about 10" wide and 13" long at the top fgorga, and 8 3/8" wide and 11 1/16" long at the very bottom.

What's a "fgorga"?

I presume this is the top lip of the tray but I had a look at the letters near any words as I am always striking letters that are close to the one I need to strike but I can think of nothing that seems to fit.

Thanks

pentaxuser

 

[mshchem]

I usually scrounge or make my darkroom trays, but saw these today at Walmart in the housewares/furniture area. $1.29 ea, and 8x10 prints fit nicely.

This is Paterson 12x16 trays set of 3 24.95 USD.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/40356-REG/Paterson_PTP336_Plastic_Developing_Tray_Set.html
And 8x10 12 USD.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/40359-REG/Paterson_PTP334_Plastic_Developing_Trays.html
For 49 USD you can get proper trays and a couple packages of developer.

 

[mshchem]

Too deep for me. I posted about the Sterilites that I have a few days ago. They cost a bit more but are not as deep and they have an elevated square on the bottom so its easy to pick up prints. I think these are them. I have regular photo trays, I only use these when I need extra trays for special processes or if I know I want to walk away for a few hours cuz lids.

Those are nice bins. I'm sorting valuable photo manuals and literature using those exact same boxes

 

[mshchem]

I remember your post Wayne, but couldn't find it when I went searching for it. These are about 10" wide and 13" long at the top fgorga, and 8 3/8" wide and 11 1/16" long at the very bottom. It's hard to see in my photo, but that 8x10 print lies perfectly flat in the bottom/ w/ plenty of room on the long ends to get your fingers under the paper. As mentioned, ribbed trays are better, but this is what they had, and after 1 1/2 hours in Walmart I had reached my limit. Normally I just put two or three debristled toothbrushes on the bottom of trays to keep the paper off the bottom. Works just like ribbed trays.

You're right, they're too deep. I plan on cutting them down.

It's easy to find DIY trays in stores, the trick is finding trays that are close to the dimensions of your print. A lot of chemicals get wasted if the trays are too big.

Don't cut them use them for washing. Get some proper trays.

 

[NedL]

Too deep for me. I posted about the Sterilites that I have a few days ago....

Those are the ones I use. 9x11 inches fits comfortably in the bottom with room around the edges to agitate or lift... If you pop one of the "handles" off, it makes it easier to pour out of ( cover the resulting hole with a piece of tape on the outside to prevent drips ). The fairly sharp corners make them easy to pour out of without spilling -- into a bottle, or whatever. The plastic is hydrophobic, which makes them easier to clean thoroughly. There is also a size that is perfect for 5x7 inches and accommodates 5x8 okay. I'd like one that would fit 9x12 inches ( a common art paper size ) or 11x14.

 

[Donald Qualls]

IMO, those Sterilites in the first couple photos are too small for the print shown -- I recall a rule that there should be at least an inch all the way around the print, to avoid surge effects and local overdevelopment at the edges of the print.

I do use a tub very much like that for the tempering bath for my color chemicals, however; deep enough to stand the bottles in, my sous vide just fits over the turned-over rim, and by the time it's getting too shallow (when emptying) to dip water efficiently with a 2L pitcher, I can lift it to dump the rest.

When I clicked through to this thread, I thought it was going to indicate finding high temp plastic or silicone baking dishes at a good price -- 9x12 size ought to be just about okay for 8x10 prints, and it's a standard size for brownies or sheet cakes.

 

[Tim Stapp]

Look at the humble restaurant bussing tubs, gray in color. They have negative ribs (three troughs) to allow picking up a print. I bought a 4 pack at the local (Gordon Food Service in my case) for like $35. Very useful for many things. I store all of my chemicals in them, just in case.