Minimum equipment for fiber based printing at home?

eli griggs · Dec 1, 2023

Pieter12 said:
A rack takes up less space than trying to strew 6-10 screens around the darkroom with space for air to circulate and dry the prints.

The screens, even stacked vertically and close, the most recently washed on the bottom, will dry just fine.

Small, super magnets, glued in four corners, and in the middle of square or long sides, of large frames with cork or silicone or rubber "O" rings around them, water faucet washers will work too, to keep them from chipping or shattering each other when stacking frames.

Actually, you can substitute half the magnets with glued on iron or mild steel bits cut from a small flat rod of material, from a hardware or home store.

Use 3# shellac as a reversible glue and paint it over the exposed bits to prevent rust and super magnets silver cover material from falling away from damaged magnets.

Cheers.

MTGseattle · Feb 16, 2024

There's a thread going right now asking about the different versions of archival washers. It sounds like a great many on here use them.
I still don't really have a "simple" way to implement mine into my process. Should I keep it for that day when I can finally setup a dedicated darkroom, or sell it on down the road? It's a Zone VI 16x20 washer.
It doesn't take up any more space than a ton of other stuff I have around that I should also sell and/or donate, so keeping it isn't painful.

Pieter12 · Feb 16, 2024

MTGseattle said:
There's a thread going right now asking about the different versions of archival washers. It sounds like a great many on here use them.
I still don't really have a "simple" way to implement mine into my process. Should I keep it for that day when I can finally setup a dedicated darkroom, or sell it on down the road? It's a Zone VI 16x20 washer.
It doesn't take up any more space than a ton of other stuff I have around that I should also sell and/or donate, so keeping it isn't painful.

Keep it. Unless you get lucky another can be hard to find and expensive.

Bill Burk · Feb 16, 2024

Oh yes keep the washer, go ahead and start doing 16 x 20!

Did you get drying screens yet? May as well size them for 16 x 20. It’s just nylon window screens on a makeshift rack. You let the prints air dry face up after draining as much water as you can. (Face-Down causes a texture to faintly appear on the surface)

MTGseattle · Feb 16, 2024

Oh yeah. I've got true Zone VI drying screens. As silly as the idea seems when I opened the box and saw what they were. I'm still in the rough sketch phase of design on a folding rack for the screens. My last printing session, I simply elevated them all on carboard boxes and had screens spread all over my floor. Not space efficient at all, but it got the job done.

logan2z · Feb 17, 2024

Bill Burk said:
You let the prints air dry face up after draining as much water as you can. (Face-Down causes a texture to faintly appear on the surface)

I dry my prints face down to minimize curling and I've never seen any texture from the screens in the emulsion.

Bill Burk · Feb 17, 2024

logan2z said:
I dry my prints face down to minimize curling and I've never seen any texture from the screens in the emulsion.

Hold at an angle to view.

I discovered it when I tried "after-dry" re-wetting and Selenium toning, toning was irregular.

Also my screens are strange.

I repurposed material from when I was making ultralight backpacking gear. I had a bit of leftover ultralight nylon no-see-um mesh. The screens are not extremely taut. It could be the softer mesh stays in contact throughout the drying process, like a soft bed stays in contact with your body when you sleep while a firm mattress might not.

But it's nothing to me to put them face up and then impossible for a texture to take.

logan2z · Feb 17, 2024

Bill Burk said:
Hold at an angle to view.

I discovered it when I tried "after-dry" re-wetting and Selenium toning, toning was irregular.

Also my screens are strange.

I repurposed material from when I was making ultralight backpacking gear. I had a bit of leftover ultralight nylon no-see-um mesh. The screens are not extremely taut. It could be the softer mesh stays in contact throughout the drying process, like a soft bed stays in contact with your body when you sleep while a firm mattress might not.

But it's nothing to me to put them face up and then impossible for a texture to take.

I've examined the print surface very closely before and never saw any evidence of the screen texture.

I used to dry my prints face up but found that face down made them curl much less so they were easier to flatten in a dry mount press. Since I haven't seen any downside to face-down drying I've continued to do it. But, yeah, if you've seen the impression of the screen in your prints then of course face up is the way to go for you.

Sirius Glass · Feb 17, 2024

I use an Arkay 150 drum print dryer that I picked up for small pocket change from a photo finisher selling off its darkroom equipment and switching over to digital equipment.

MTGseattle · Mar 17, 2024

Print drying: I see 2 strategies moving forwards;

1. A rack/cabinet that stays assembled and is basically the same size (give or take a few inches) as my screens.
2. A knock-down rack that I can put together when I need to dry prints and that will store flat.

1a. What other darkroom item should the rack be used for if it is to remain in cabinet form?

2a. It would be 2 pieces of plywood with Aluminum "c" channel that accepts my screens. The screens themselves will keep it from collapsing inwards, and I'm thinking 2 or 3 webbing straps with velcro to keep it from collapsing outwards.

Why these 2 options? I always have plywood around from my job, and I got the perfect size Aluminum "C" channel on clearance for basically pennies on the dollar.

If I make it a "permanent" cabinet, I could see it as a stand for a later acquisition of a dry-mount press, or it could be the table for my UV exposure box.

I know there are many of you with a lot of different darkroom setups, I'm just seeking opinions and advice.

MTGseattle · Mar 17, 2024

Oh. As to the posts # 79,81,82,83 I always thought screen texture transfer was directly related to screens that saw double duty as RC and Fiber drying screens and it was residue form the RC prints that got transferred with the "new" moisture from the next set of prints?

@Bill Burk I think the "no see um" mesh is likely an issue. I think you would have to wrap that material around a frame a-la painters' canvas to get the appropriate tension.

eli griggs · Mar 17, 2024

MTGseattle said:
Oh. As to the posts # 79,81,82,83 I always thought screen texture transfer was directly related to screens that saw double duty as RC and Fiber drying screens and it was residue form the RC prints that got transferred with the "new" moisture from the next set of prints?

@Bill Burk I think the "no see um" mesh is likely an issue. I think you would have to wrap that material around a frame a-la painters' canvas to get the appropriate tension.

Save some time on an open drying rack and simply use "Closet Maid" white plastic coated wire shelves and plain wood strip or OEM supports.

I worked in at least two darkrooms with these for drying racks and never had an issue.

If you want to use drying screens, a pair of 2"x4" studs stood against a wall, in a space where screens would fit, can be notched to allow the screens to be placed into the notched supports, affixed to the wall as a static "counter weight".knocking down and storing the screens so dust collection in minimun is easy and you can always use a in ceiling track and smooth runners to hand a curtain that makes a "u" raceway, wall to wall for more dust control.

There's plenty of ways to skin this cat.

Mark J · Mar 17, 2024

Just yesterday I tried a drying method that gives completely flat fibre prints. This was described in detail on the FADU forum a few years ago. The method requires a piece of glass big enough to put one or more prints on, with a small margin.
The prints are only hung briefly to get rid of excess water, them placed on the glass wet, and taped around the sides with gummed paper tape ( 20mm wide ) .
After 24 hours the tape edge is sliced with a sharp knife and the prints come off as flat as an RC print and needing no dry-mount press or suchlike.

I used to use wooden frames with plastic mesh each side, and it works, but the prints are not really fully flat, not enough to hang from the top edge behind a mount.

ps. the above taping method also reduces dry-down compensation to a very small level ( prob less than 5% ) .

pps. I use a Nova 16x20 upright washer, and do 16x20" prints from negs up to 5x7" in a 5'x7' darkroom.

GregY · Mar 17, 2024

As Eli G said in an earlier post
"The screens, even stacked vertically and close, the most recently washed on the bottom, will dry just fine.
I've been using that method with the Zone VI screens for more than a decade. I dry my prints face up having had screen imprints on the surface occasionally when drying face down. After toning & spotting them, I flatten them in my dry mount press.
After a darkroom session I often have half a dozen or more 11x14 - 16x20" & occasionally 20x24" prints. Taping them to glass would be impractical.

koraks · Mar 18, 2024

Mark J said:
This was described in detail on the FADU forum a few years ago.

Not only that - it's been practiced by printmakers for decades. And for a good reason - it works. The only times I run into trouble with it is with 8x10" carbon transfers, which tend to rip or lift the tape. A friend gave me a different brand of gummed tape to try out (it's also white instead of brown), but I've yet to try that on 8x10" carbons. For silver gelatin it's a fool-proof method. The only real disadvantage is that you lose the taped edge since there's no way to remove the tape without damaging the print surface.

Tom Taylor · Mar 18, 2024

Nicholas Lindan said:
Keep the enlarger under a large garbage bag when not in use.

That's what I used for years - Husky Contractor Clean-up Bags. The problem is that they are a little too tight for the Beseler 45S head. I recently switched to covering the enlarger with a large Harrison dark cloth that I purchased for the 810 camera. It's too big for an 8x10 but it completely covers the enlarger down to the baseboard and keeps the DC ventilated and from becoming sticky.

Minimum equipment for fiber based printing at home?

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