The tables don't move, you are just seeing the effect of angle imparting compression. The photo on the right shows the tray stacker from inside while the other angle is outside the door.
One thing I cannot figure out, does either of the tables move? In one picture the enlarger stand seems to be right next to the development stand and in the second there seem to be space between them.
Hi Luis thank you for taking the time to take these. I was wondering if both of the upper outlets are controlled by the single lower one?
Also I am digging the peg board solution. That would allow a lot of flexibility on storage solutions like hanging tool and perhaps even small shelves.
claudio
Hi ic-racer,
the more I think about it the more it makes sense to store the processor under the top surface. I would gain a lot of space when the processor is not there and it makes the surface top easier to clean and to build. Besides I would not gain much by having the processor always on top of the counter.
In addition, I see that you have a water filter in addition to the thermo-valve. I do have a thermo-valve, but I have been debating if I should have a water filter as well? A couple of questions: Most filter I see have one for hot and one for cold water, why is this? Are they different in any way?. I think your way of doing it (filter the mixed water) is better as you would have only one filter. Do you have any suggestions on which filter to use?
claudio
Hello everybody,
I just started getting back to Film Photography a few months ago and I am in the process of planning a darkroom. The attached image shows the design I have come with. The reason for this post is to ask for suggestions and/or improvements from people with much more experience that I have.
The size of the room will be 8’ x 9’6”. I think the layout of the room is fairly standard. The only unusual item is the rotary processor placement. In order to fit a 7’ sink, I would put the processor on a moving platform that can move back and forth. This would give me at least partial access to the front of the last foot of the sink when the processor is pushed back to the wall. I just am not sure if that would be useful of more of a hindrance.
I have been going through the Darkroom Portraits thread to get some ideas but I would welcome any suggestions for improvement.
I will start out with 35mm negatives but in the future I hope to move to medium format. On a related subject, the Beseler enlarger that I have came without a lens. Any suggestions on a good lens for 35mm negatives?
thank you
Claudio
I know that it might be a bit late but if I were you (and anyone else building or contemplating building a wet darkroom), I would get "THE DARKROOM HANDBOOK" by Dennis Curtin and Joe DeMaio. This covers everything you need to know about designing/building the room itself, how much space will be needed in your sink for different size trays, how to show the plumber, electrician what you need. All kinds of good stuff, all of which can save you time and maybe money. You might be forced to find this used but when I reworked my darkroom in 2014/2015, I noticed that it was once again available new, only paperback this time....Regards!
Generally speaking, if one's hot water heater is of metal construction, then it will begin to corrode on the day it is installed. This corrosion increases rapidly when the sacrificial anode is eventually consumed, and if it's not replaced. Which most never do.
That means it's usually far more important to filter the hot water line than the cold. My tank was getting so bad (18 years old, on a 10 year warranty) that my hot line filter was clogged with rust particulates and needed to be changed every month or less, while the cold line filter was barely discolored.
I finally bit the bullet and installed a brand new non-metal fiberglass-and-resin lifetime heater tank. One with real heating elements, before the DOE outlawed that technology in favor of heat pump designs. My tank is inside the darkroom, so a heat pump would have turned the space in a de-facto human refrigerator.
How can one improve on basic darkroom water lines?
One can add more outlets. One can add dedicated outlets. One can add water tempering controls. One can add a flow meter to the print washer outlet. One can add a timer for overnight washes. One can add a check valve.* One can install any of these devices using unions, so they may be removed for maintenance without destroying the entire water panel. One can use copper pipe.
I have three darkroom sink outlets. The first is hot and cold line filtered only with manual mixing. The second adds computerized water tempering, flow control, and timing. The third adds backflow prevention.
Ken
* Also known as a backflow preventer, or anti-siphon valve. Most print washer designs have underwater feeds, and so are susceptible to vacuum-induced siphoning. Don't want your print wash water to inadvertently mix with drinking water.
Not sure what it's like your side of the pond, or who is doing your electrics.
What do you mean when you say to use unions?
These are copper pipe slip union joints. This particular design requires soldering (sweating) to attach, but now days there are also non-solder variations available. The purpose of these joints is to allow you to disconnect portions of the water system piping without needing to destroy it by cutting into it.
Disconnecting might become necessary if you later wish to expand the system. Or if you have installed inline pieces of equipment that may later need to be removed for maintenance, then replaced once they are fixed. Unions make that task much, much easier.
In my case I have installed both hot and cold line 1-micron cartridge filters, the Hass Intellifaucet (the 1-micron filters are there to protect the stepper valves in this expensive device), and a Delta inline flow meter, all plumbed using copper pipe and unions. Were any of these items to need servicing they could be easily removed without destroying any of the existing pipe work.
I even drilled and back-threaded the plywood water panel itself for quarter-inch mounting bolts. That way I can not only disconnect mounted equipment from the piping, I can also easily unscrew their mounting bolts from the panel without needing to pull the entire panel completely off the wall.
As for timers, the Intellifaucet has one build in. But another good solution might be to install one of those garden hose timers used to control overnight landscape watering devices. These are common in the heat of the Southwest where less water is lost to evaporation if the watering happens at night.
Here's a couple pages of examples of these devices.
Ken
Claudio your darkroom design has come a long way.
A few suggestions.
Ventilation- In the last drawing you have the exhaust fan near the door and it's a single point vent. If that is the only place the fan can actually go you might want to consider creating a low soffit 24" above the sink and enclosing a duct and having a few vents in that duct that correlate to the stop bath fixer and toner locations. This will draw fumes right off the trays and will also give you a shelf to store tanks and jugs and have your timers. You can also use it to push your faucets closer so you don't have to reach as far for them. Where is your fresh air coming from? The fan won;t draw unless there's a source of fresh air into the darkroom.
A hot water recirculator loop and pump. It's a pain when you're processing film and having to wait for the hot water to reach the darkroom to get th water to the right temp. A recirc loop and pump gives you almost instant hot water.
Negative drying. Unless you are doing a vast quantity of film all at once, you really don't need a drying cabinet if you keep a clean darkroom. Just hang a thin vinyl covered steel cable across the whole length of the sink, and high enough where you can reach it but not so low as it's in the way. This way you can hang negatives over the sink to drip and dry, prints as well although I recommend drying screens for prints and you seem to have room for them. I attached two pieces of angle iron that came with holes every inch on the opposite sides of the sink, then attached two turnbuckles, closed end and hook ended, and can run a very taut cable between them. And because I used 1 hook end on each side of the cable I can remove it at will.
If you have a picture of your water system setup, could you post it?
Ken, all those bottles high up on the shelf are asking for an earthquake disaster.
In most places in North America you can place a power outlet within arms reach of a faucet if you use a ground fault interrupt (GFI) outlet or breaker. I bet this might be an issue in the UK as you use a 230 vac system and neutral is not always attached to ground like here in NA.Not sure what it's like your side of the pond, or who is doing your electrics. Over here if you employed an electrician to fit the electrics I think you would struggle to get power fitted above the sink at all because I am certain it is against building regulations. Of course, if you are DIY there are things you can do....... Also, over here if you were adding the electrics as a new circuit to the consumer unit it would be a notifiable alteration to local building control, and yes it would all have to be RCD protected.
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