Home made exposure unit help

dpurdy · Jun 24, 2006

As perhaps the last sunlamp user in the world and a bank of 4 of them that I think might be causing too much heat, I have decided to build a florescent box. I am not having a lot of luck finding good instructions for building one on line. Can someone please direct me to a web page with nice clear written instructions, and perhaps a few pictures, for building a unit large enough to print 16X20?

thank you

KenS · Jun 24, 2006

Can someone please direct me to a web page with nice clear written instructions, and perhaps a few pictures, for building a unit large enough to print 16X20?

thank you[/QUOTE]

try..... Dead Link Removed

Ken

TheFlyingCamera · Jun 24, 2006

I can give you a really inexpensive alternative... you'll be able to hit 16x20 for under $200...

Home Depot sells fluorescent blacklight fixtures - complete units with power supply, ballast, and BLB bulb for about $17. The bulbs are about 18" long. Get at least 6 of them, and one or two surge protector strips to plug them all in to, and then mount them to a piece of plywood, spaced as close together as you can make them. You can then hang this piece of plywood under a shelf, and place your contact frame below it on another shelf. I did mine on an IKEA IVAR shelving unit which has adjustable shelf heights, and it works quite well.

tsobota · Jun 24, 2006

Oh no, you are certainly _not_ the last user of sun lamps. I use an Osram Ultravitalux 300W with good results. Please let me know when you have built your bank of UV tubes, so I'll know that _I_ am the last user, ha ha.

Anyway I sometimes feel that I should be switching to tubes too ..

Cheers
Tom

reellis67 · Jun 24, 2006

TheFlyingCamera said:
Home Depot sells fluorescent blacklight fixtures - complete units with power supply, ballast, and BLB bulb for about $17. The bulbs are about 18" long.

You will likely have to go to the store to find them though - Home Depot has the world's worst website. I've never been able to find this item online, but I think that I have seen it in the physical store.

- Randy

menglert · Jun 24, 2006

Here is the design I used to make my UV light box.

UV light box

If you plan on doing smaller prints, you can use a screw in BLB and a cheap reflector. This would cost you around $40.

Regards,
Martin

Monophoto · Jun 25, 2006

I made my UV box from MDF - cuz it's cheap and easy to work. I used six 27watt spiral compact fluorescent bulbs spaced on 6" centers. The spacing between the top of the printing frame and the bottom of the bulbs is also about 6". Van Dyke exposures tend to be in the three to five minute range.

Incidentally, there is a potential concern about heat buildup inside the UV box that can shorten the life of the ballasts in the CFLs - a concern considering that the bulbs are more expensive than ordinary incandescent bulbs and they are also harder to find. I put a small muffin fan in the box that, together with a vent on the opposite side, avoids excess heat buildup.

Home made exposure unit help

dpurdy

KenS

TheFlyingCamera

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