Measuring Devices

[shutterclank]

What do people use for measuring and storing chemicals? Im curious.

i use distilled water to mix all my chemicals from gallon jugs. i use the empty jugs to store the chemicals.

i found that the Nalgene Economy Graduated Cylinders are pretty inexpensive and accurate over the range i need them...

what about everyone else?

 

[lacavol]

I know I'm cheap, so I use the Chefmate 600mL measuring cups I bought at some discount store. $2 each, they seem to work well as I just have a small hand tank. I have 4 of them for Developer, Stop, Fixer, and Hypo Clearing marked on the side with a permanent marker. I also have a 60cc. syringe I bought at All Electronics.

 

[shutterclank]

I guess I never thought about using the syringe. Most of the volumes are pretty manageable, perhaps I might look in to that...

 

[Bob-D659]

Two glass graduated cylinders and a whole bunch of $ store clear plastic kitchen measuring cups in various sizes, all checked with the lab cylinders and new markings applied if needed.

 

[shutterclank]

Excellent. Recallibration!

 

[MattKing]

A whole bunch of mismatched graduated cylinders - most from kitchen supply or Dollar stores, but a few that are designed for photographic purposes - including a 45 ml Patterson graduated cylinder that I use for small quantities of things like HC110 concentrate.

I have at least one Kodak graduated cylinder (a glass one!) that is probably nearly as old as I am, but I don't actually use it, because it is glass.

 

[Diapositivo]

Graduated cylinders from AP and Paterson.
Cheap 10ml plastic syringes bought at the chemist's.

 

[Rick A]

I bought 6 matching 1L measuring cups for $1 each at the dollar store. I use childrens medicine syringes from the local pharmacy, couple of bucks each, I have two dedicateed to Pyrocat-HD, one for Rodinal. I have a large assortment of 8oz, 1L, and 2L plastic bottles, the 8oz for storing D-76, the larger sizes for storing stock solutions and working solutions of other chems.

 

[shutterclank]

common theme seems to be to take this opportunity to save cash on a darkroom setup on measuring devices. kind of why i was curious about this.

 

[Bob-D659]

Not to save cash, a good way to stop accidental cross contamination. I have four 300 ml measuring cups for RA4 processing, labeled Water, Dev, Stop, Blix, for 8x10 and 11x14 drums. Another set of 600ml ones for 16x20 drums. A set of 1 liter ones for B&W film and also a set for C41 film, all labelled for specific chemicals. Plus a few unlabelled ones for general usage. And at 1 $ each, not expensive insurance either. Esp for RA4 printing where the dye residue makes every chemical almost the same bluish colour after one trip thru the drum.

Same with storage bottles, 500ml water bottles are $4.00 for a case of 35, complete with water, drink the water, remove the paper labels and you now have 35 reusable and squeezable bottles so no air is trapped above the solutions.

 

[shutterclank]

For storage, I recommend brown/amber glass bottles for most chemicals. The are available dirt cheap from Photographers Formulary (among other places) and they're nice because you can buy them in conveniently standardized sizes (1L, 500ml, 250ml, 125ml etc). That makes them versatile for keeping concentrates and stock solutions since you can store developer (for example) in small bottles that hold enough for a single use - that way you don't have partially empty large bottles in which the developer will oxidize faster. Or you can start with your stock solution in a larger bottle (say 1L) and then transfer it to a smaller bottle as it is used so you always minimize the amount of air space. Easy to clean too.

are the brown/amber bottles a must? i figure if i put them in a regular plastic bottle and store them away from light, it is the same effect. the brown/amber is to shield it from light, correct?

 

[MattKing]

are the brown/amber bottles a must? i figure if i put them in a regular plastic bottle and store them away from light, it is the same effect. the brown/amber is to shield it from light, correct?

Correct. Although the brown/amber bottles definitely help you and others clearly identify the contents as "chemicals!" and therefore help prevent accidents, especially if others have access to your darkroom.

 

[Bob-D659]

Except they really don't need shielding from light, esp when they are stored in a darkroom. So beer is a chemical too.

If you have children or illiterate adults in the house, put a #%$%$# lock on the cabinet, don't depend on labels or breakable glass bottles. Remember the old song "Little brown jug." it had chemicals in it too.

 

[Worker 11811]

I have a selection of vintage Kodak glass beakers. Two 32 oz. One 10 oz.
I use a 50 ml. glass graduated cylinder for measuring small amounts and a 10 ml syringe for tiny amounts.

I have four Pyrex measuring cups to make and pour working solutions for developing film.

I use a selection of 1/2 gal. and 1 gal. plastic milk jugs for stock solutions. They are plentiful and basically disposable.

I use some of them (well washed) for water. I fill them from the tap then let them sit with the top open for about a week to let the chlorine evaporate. The rest are used for chemistry. I'll refill them a couple-few times until they get grungy then I throw them out. One of the water jugs will get demoted to chems. I replace the demoted water jug with a new one so I always have a supply of jugs and water.

 

[rmolson]

Measuring

For mixing gallon and half gallon sizes of developers I use a half gallon and full gallon clear acrylic pitchers graduated in liters and ounces from a restaurant supply.If it’s good enough to eat from , then t is goo enough for photo chemistry .

 

[Vaughn]

Three glass graduated cylinders -- after finding out what acetone does to the plastic ones! But definitely for only my use, not the students -- I need them to last!

A one-gallon SS beaker and a magnetic stirrer has been working in the university darkroom for a long time. Used primarily to mix D-76 and Dektol...and HCA. Stop bath and fixers are from liquid concentrates and are mixed in the bottle. At any one time we aim to have 4 gallons of each on hand, ready to use. A mess of brown gallon bottles for everything, except for the stop bath which is in clearer plastic bottles. Big labels on the bottles, with warnings, etc.

Any toners made up are labeled with needed info, etc. The last thing I want at the end of the year is a bottle of some unlabeled brew left on our shelves!

Vaughn

 

[shutterclank]

Three glass graduated cylinders -- after finding out what acetone does to the plastic ones! But definitely for only my use, not the students -- I need them to last!

A one-gallon SS beaker and a magnetic stirrer has been working in the university darkroom for a long time. Used primarily to mix D-76 and Dektol...and HCA. Stop bath and fixers are from liquid concentrates and are mixed in the bottle. At any one time we aim to have 4 gallons of each on hand, ready to use. A mess of brown gallon bottles for everything, except for the stop bath which is in clearer plastic bottles. Big labels on the bottles, with warnings, etc.

Any toners made up are labeled with needed info, etc. The last thing I want at the end of the year is a bottle of some unlabeled brew left on our shelves!

Vaughn

I agree with labeling containers. especially since some of them have very similar colors...