Home Made Contact print Frame

John Bartley · Mar 22, 2005

Just in case anyone else out there is thinking about this and needs a bit of a push. They're not too hard to make, and if my first one (shown here) turned out good enough to use, the next one should not only work, but should be cosmetically decent as well.

Contact print Frame - Home Made

cheers eh?

.

dschneller · Mar 22, 2005

John Bartley said:
Just in case anyone else out there is thinking about this and needs a bit of a push. They're not too hard to make, and if my first one (shown here) turned out good enough to use, the next one should not only work, but should be cosmetically decent as well.

Contact print Frame - Home Made

cheers eh?

.

Very nice John! So, how do I order one? Do you deliver?

panchromatic · Mar 22, 2005

Good Job!

Donald Qualls · Mar 22, 2005

Okay, so I'm *really* lazy -- I have two that came with a lot of darkroom supplies that I really bought for the 620 spools...

Digidurst · Mar 22, 2005

Donald Qualls said:
Okay, so I'm *really* lazy -- I have two that came with a lot of darkroom supplies that I really bought for the 620 spools...

Two that you're not using? Man, I betcha if you put them up for sale they'd get snatched in hurry

Donald Qualls · Mar 22, 2005

Who said I wasn't using them? The adjustable one (with leaves like a printing easel) will take 5x7 if I remove the leaves, otherwise up to 4x5, and I've used it several times for cyanotypes. The other is postcard format, and I'm sure I'll find a use for it eventually.

Neither one is big enough to interest the LF junkies...

Dan Pelland · Apr 3, 2005

Hi John - Thanks for some good ideas. Nice job!

John Bartley · Apr 3, 2005

Dan Pelland said:
Hi John - Thanks for some good ideas. Nice job!

Thank you Dan,

I wish I could remember who passed along this next tip, so I could give credit, but....I can't remember Anyway, the glass that I used was simply "float glass", a sort of greenish tinged ordinary 3mm thick "window glass". Some one wiser than I am pointed out that this acts as a filter and restricts the amount of blue light that can pass, thus affecting the resulting print. I am in the process of tracking down "affordable" ('cause I'm a cheapskate) "crystal" glass, which is described to me by a glass dealer as "untinted" or "optically clear". Now the optically clear part, I'll take with a grain of salt, but....at least it wouldn't have the green tint.
I hope this tid-bit helps someone.

cheers eh?

Ole · Apr 3, 2005

Donald Qualls said:
Okay, so I'm *really* lazy -- I have two that came with a lot of darkroom supplies that I really bought for the 620 spools...

I'm even worse - I bought one. 8x10". Then I "accidentally" picked up five more - in all sizes from 6.5x9 to 13x18cm. some are really old, without glass, and obviously intended for glass plates. Others seem unused, or at least seemed unused when I got them.

And 90% of the time I use the one 8x10", and the rest is the 9x12cm...

Mongo · Apr 3, 2005

John Bartley said:
I am in the process of tracking down "affordable" ('cause I'm a cheapskate) "crystal" glass, which is described to me by a glass dealer as "untinted" or "optically clear". Now the optically clear part, I'll take with a grain of salt, but....at least it wouldn't have the green tint.
I hope this tid-bit helps someone.

cheers eh?

Look for PPG Starphire glass. This stuff's as clear as glass gets, and can be ordered by most window glass suppliers.

John Bartley · Apr 3, 2005

Mongo said:
Look for PPG Starphire glass. This stuff's as clear as glass gets, and can be ordered by most window glass suppliers.

Thanks for the tip Mongo - I'll call tomorrow

cheers

TracyStorer · Apr 4, 2005

Hi John, I like your innovations, I have long thought there are improvements to be made on the old style printing frame, but have never gotten around to trying to implement them. Not too long ago, I made some traditional ones for QCC in Atlanta. I found them to be a lot of work, but do-able. Shown below, four 11x14 frames in White Oak.

Stainless steel-piano hinges, hand bent Brass springs, cabinet grade Baltic Birch backs, Aluminum "U"channel re-enforced spring-ways......)

.[/QUOTE]

John Bartley · Apr 4, 2005

TracyStorer said:
... Shown below, four 11x14 frames in White Oak.

http://www.mammothcamera.com/contactprintingframes.html

Very nicely made Tracy - looks like very carefull mitreing and finishing. While mine do work well, they are quite "butch" in construction due to a "need for speed" while constructing. I can think of several improvements that I will make in my next one, including one that I see in yours. In mine, the depth of the glass from the top of the frame is too deep, making it hard to easily do accurate test strips. On my next one the supporting material will be much thinner as is yours. I think that hardwood is the way to go also for the next one.

Dan Pelland · Apr 4, 2005

As a matter of fact, I have wondered just how clear glass really is. If anyone knows of a good on-line distributor for quality glass, I'd love to know. My local dealers are kinda difficult.

Donald Qualls · Apr 5, 2005

Dan Pelland said:
As a matter of fact, I have wondered just how clear glass really is. If anyone knows of a good on-line distributor for quality glass, I'd love to know. My local dealers are kinda difficult.

Schott has a web site, I believe -- they came up a while back (somewhere) in a discussion of making your own glass plates; they can apparently supply high quality glass in the 1 mm thickness needed, precut to size, for quite a reasonable cost per piece. Among other things, they list a "crystal clear" glass as suitable for optical windows, but sell the same material in a "float glass" form made the same way as window glass.

Home Made Contact print Frame

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