My new darkroom

darkosaric · Mar 9, 2017

So,

Finally I have dedicated darkroom in my basement (8 m2 only for me ).
In winter it is relatively cold (15 dgC), so FB print developing takes 5-7 minutes, and fixing I do at least for 10 minutes, just in case. But beside that - all is great, I finally enjoy making prints whenever I want .

Still I am not sure what to use on the wall when I will be doing 1x1,5 meter prints (I have Axomat enlarger that can rotate the head for 90 deg), what kind of plate should I hang on the wall (the wall itself is not flat). Is there a some relatively cheap, but good solution? How to fix printing paper on the wall, with the painter tape / masking tape?

TheMissingLink · Mar 9, 2017

Hi Darko,

I would do it with ply wood (Pressspan from OBI/Bauhaus/Hornbach), glew a thin metal sheet on it. Hang it on the wall, perfectly adjusted.

hth

horst

darkroommike · Mar 9, 2017

I used the door of my refrigerator with magnets. There is now a magnetic paint. 2-3 coats of that on a piece of good quality plywood would be great!

kreeger · Mar 10, 2017

The video above shows how Ansel Adams did large prints in his darkroom.
If you fast forward to the 8:25 mark, you will see his horizontal printing setup.
Warning this may inspire you to do other things!

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Mar 17, 2017

Hi Darko,

Congrulations on your new investment. Dont change your lenses with japanese brands and dont try to print japanese cameras with your enlarger.
Or dont mix with pilsener to french champagne. I am seeing you are going to go to ignore that with your sell purchase history. Please dont do that.

Umut

baachitraka · Mar 17, 2017

I have the same serving table from IKEA for the enlarger but on recent renovation of bath room that have replaced the wanne with dusche. So no prints since 8 months :-(

lauffray · Mar 17, 2017

So cool ! congrats on the new darkroom, show us your prints when make some

~andi · Mar 17, 2017

Very nice. I'm sure you'll make some fine prints in there. I'm using IKEA-ware as enlarger table too. The very stable IKEA Björkudden bar-tables are excellent for this (unfortunately they went where most of the solid and affordable IKEA stuff goes: discontinuedland). The serving table is rock solid too.

For wall projection, another idea would be a whiteboard (maybe painted grey, if necessary). Magnetic tape or a handfull of small powerful magnets should to the trick. If you don't want to drill into the walls, the bigger whiteboards come with a rack on wheels too.

~andi

awty · Mar 17, 2017

Great work.
8m2 is huge, mine is about 3m2.
Enjoy.

darkosaric · Mar 18, 2017

Yes, Ikea table is great, perfect size and stable. 8 m2 is indeed big, before I used bathroom, and now with deditaced place - I am more than happy . I got some ply wood, so I will see how this goes on the wall.
@Umut: for 35mm I am using only focomat with focotar, but for medium format I have el-nikkor on my Magnifax. But in any case 95% of the prints are done with Leica enlarger .

winger · Mar 18, 2017

Sweet! Just great to have your own space, even if it isn't perfect. Using it will give you ideas on how to improve it. FWIW, the easel I use for 16x20 is a metal sheet with magnets to hold the paper. The same concept should work vertically just fine. It might just take a little fiddling to know exactly where to put it so it won't fall, etc.. Enjoy!

tezzasmall · Mar 18, 2017

8 m2 is HUGE!!!

My darkroom is separate to the house at the end of the garden in a log cabin, but for an easy life I set mine up in a corner where there was already a bar like area with shelves. Hence my space is about 2 m2 but I get by...just.

Patrick Robert James · Mar 18, 2017

You don't really have to have the paper perfectly flat. The depth of field will cover it, although it must be parallel to the negative/lens. Frankly, with those tiles on the wall, I would just tape the paper up. The tiles would be great to aid placement.

If you want to put something on the wall, I would use galvanized steel personally. It won't rust and you can use any type of magnet you want to hold the paper up.

A few weeks ago I was on Youtube and saw a German guy making huge architecture enlargements in his darkroom which looked pretty primitive to me. You might want to check that out if you can find it. Also check out Clyde Butcher's darkroom. He does large prints horizontally. I think the biggest problem you are going to have is aligning the enlarger to the wall. That is going to be a pain if you move the enlarger.

Good luck, and make sure to keep us updated on your progress!

Neil Grant · Mar 19, 2017

darkosaric said:
So,

Finally I have dedicated darkroom in my basement (8 m2 only for me ).
In winter it is relatively cold (15 dgC), so FB print developing takes 5-7 minutes, and fixing I do at least for 10 minutes, just in case. But beside that - all is great, I finally enjoy making prints whenever I want .

Still I am not sure what to use on the wall when I will be doing 1x1,5 meter prints (I have Axomat enlarger that can rotate the head for 90 deg), what kind of plate should I hang on the wall (the wall itself is not flat). Is there a some relatively cheap, but good solution? How to fix printing paper on the wall, with the painter tape / masking tape?

View attachment 174783

...looks like your dishes aren't in a sink so you're going to get some spills. In fact, like me, you don't have a separate dry side and wet side. All my dishes are in a sink with a clear Perspex 'splash side' to keep water away from my enlarger. Just out of interest, are you left handed?

darkosaric · Mar 19, 2017

Neil Grant said:
Just out of interest, are you left handed?

50-50: I write with right hand, but holding spoon while eating with left, on camera I am left eye dominant.
Sink I will make later: right now I have some semi-solution, when time and money allows it - I will make proper sink.

Today I did some 30x40cm prints, with Mörsch Eco 4812 developer, and used last Fotokemika Emaks papers...

LarsAC · Mar 19, 2017

Wow, quite some progress for a single session!

Lars

darkosaric · Mar 19, 2017

Thanks Lars . This is my first dedicated darkroom, but I doing wet printing for some time in my bathrooms in previous apartments where I lived .

Neil Grant · Mar 19, 2017

darkosaric said:
50-50: I write with right hand, but holding spoon while eating with left, on camera I am left eye dominant.
Sink I will make later: right now I have some semi-solution, when time and money allows it - I will make proper sink.

...thought so - looks like your working direction is right to left.

brian steinberger · Mar 19, 2017

Darko, congrats on the new darkroom! I have a suggestion for the cold chemistry. I use medical heating pads, like to be used for your back. They can be picked up at a pharmacy or drug store. Mine have 4 settings, and I use the lowest setting and it keeps my chemicals up to temperature and my darkroom can get down to 50 degrees fairenheit in the winter. They work great under the trays!

Good luck!

MattKing · Mar 19, 2017

On the subject of tray warming, I again reference one of my all time favorite APUG threads: (there was a url link here which no longer exists)

I haven't seen anything from Murray for awhile. Hope he is doing well.

darkosaric · Mar 20, 2017

Thanks Brian and Matt - I think that medical heating pads are really good idea, I will give them try next winter .

~andi · Mar 20, 2017

Shoot, a fella’ could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff...

My new darkroom

darkosaric

TheMissingLink

darkroommike

kreeger

Mustafa Umut Sarac

baachitraka

lauffray

~andi

awty

darkosaric

winger

tezzasmall

Patrick Robert James

Neil Grant

darkosaric

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LarsAC

darkosaric

Neil Grant

brian steinberger

MattKing

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darkosaric

~andi

My new darkroom

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