Large print processing tray idea

[rwhawkins]

I'm getting ready to do another round of 30x40 inch printing. Last round I made 3 ABS trays 48x18x6 inches with a spigot like this:

The process was to roll the paper on a long foam pool float and roll and unroll the paper, then move from tray to tray. Some issues cropped up; the Ilford fibre paper seemed susceptible to damage during the process. I also got some fixer staining if I wasn't extremely careful. It also takes a lot of room, I had to temporarily expand my darkroom into an adjoining area. I thought about using just one tray and swap chemicals using the spigot, but dumping the chemicals in and out of a 5 gallon bucket was a bit unwieldy.

So here's my new idea. A single large tray 30x40 with a well along the side where I place an attachment to a 4.5GPM pump (https://www.amazon.com/Seaflo-PRESS...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=K46DMM42HT8PJYJ7ZWPN) The plan would be to plumb the pump through solenoids to the 5 gallon buckets holding dev, fix and water. Process would be straightforward using the pump to fill and drain the tray. I could even add a bit of nitrogen burst if needed, but I'm hoping the agitation from filling and draining would be sufficient.

I'm interested if anyone has tried such a thing as well as additional ideas from you folks.

Cheers,

RW

 

[Gerald C Koch]

I bought several plastic trays from a restaurant supply company. They are very sturdy and about six inches deep. They are the trays that busboys use when they break down a table and so are quite large. IIRC they were less than $5 each.