Not moving the darkroom

[Ken N]

The house is going up for sale and we're going to be moving to an apartment a couple states away. It's time to contemplate the disposition of the printing side of the darkroom. I'll keep the film side active with the move, but printing is going to be that other nameless technology.

Sadly, my killer darkroom will end up getting dismantled and hopefully will bless some people around the APUG gang. I'll be doing a bunch of classifieds, I guess. Hopefully somebody within reasonable distance of Iowa will be interested in some of the bigger items, like the Omega Super Chromega D enlarger, the print washers, trays, easels, etc.

There is also the RH Designs StopClock Professional and ZoneMaster II. Tons of items to either upgrade or do a complete turn-key darkroom with Omega 6x6cm and 4x5" enlargers.

Also, there are two unopened 50-sheet boxes of Polymax Fine Art and RC paper in 16x20 size, along with boxes of papers that date back to the 1950's that include Dupont Defender DL Velour Black. In fact, I have one partial box of Dupont Defender 8x10 that has a Use Before Date of 9-49. (trust me, there isn't enough restrainer in the world to get a good print from it, but I have done a fix/wash/recoat tests with excellent results and the paper has a character unlike anything available today).

I'm not very happy about losing the darkroom, but I vowed that this was going to be my last one and I've definitely gotten my enjoyment and purpose out of it. I really would like to bless people with the stuff at reasonable prices and AVOID ebay.

So, unless somebody jumps through their computer keyboard at me saying "I'll take it lock stock and barrel", I'll be listing stuff in the classifieds here over the next few weeks. The bulk of the items will be very reasonably priced, whereas other items (RH Designs gear, washer, easels) will be fair but not giveaway priced.

I am not looking forward to losing the darkroom, but I haven't done enough custom printing for others over the past two years to justify keeping it rolling. My primary business has been in custom development for B&W and E6 film, so it makes no sense to take up half a uhaul to relocate it to an apartment.

I just wanted to give everybody a heads-up of what will be coming in the next couple of weeks.

Ken N
Iowa

 

[Peter Schrager]

I'll take the defender if I have to drive to iowa

 

[fdonadio]

Do I get a discount on the 4x5 Chromega if I fly to Iowa?

 

[~andi]

Sad to see another darkroom bite the dust. But understandable - especially if its a business thing. With those paper prices skyrocketing (at least over here) wet printing gradually becomes an exclusive hobby...

 

[Ken N]

Just to update you all on the progress of things...

The RH Designs items are gone. They got snorfled right away and are winging it to a very nice darkroom home where a lot of my gear actually originated from.

The big/heavy items that don't ship well would be the enlargers, the 15-slot print-washer, the big 4-blade easel and the print dryers.

My reasoning for decommissioning the print-side of the darkroom is really just because of massive logistics issues. I have a killer darkroom with 20 linear feet of work surface. It's pretty awesome, but it doesn't translate well to urban condo living. As to andi's mention of cost--that's actually pretty minor. My processing/printing costs are significantly less than digital output. And I'm MUCH happier shooting with the OM-3Ti than I am with the EOS-6D.

Just a hint on the Super Chromega D, for a "cash and carry" deal, it will be an absolute screaming bargain. The base is actually for mounting vertically, though. The lab it came out of had it bolted through a concrete wall. I've got it bolted to a 4x6" hardwood pole that is glued and screwed to a stud wall. Yes, I have the power supplies for all the enlargers.

Ken

 

[Ken N]

Oh, for anybody in Colorado, I may be able to make delivery to the Denver area in a week or so.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

So you are usurping the rules of this forum by offering items for sale without being a subscriber?

Kind of lame.......

 

[fdonadio]

So you are usurping the rules of this forum by offering items for sale without being a subscriber?

Kind of lame.......

The OP said he would be "doing a lot of classifieds" and said something about "in the coming weeks".

Also, he didn't say *where* he sold the RH Designs stuff.

So, I hope he understands how things work here and that he will subscribe and post in the classified forum.

 

[Ken N]

The OP said he would be "doing a lot of classifieds" and said something about "in the coming weeks".

Also, he didn't say *where* he sold the RH Designs stuff.

So, I hope he understands how things work here and that he will subscribe and post in the classified forum.

Sorry, my schedule went haywire on me and we had some changes in destination.

The RH Designs stuff was sold through other means, not here. As to posting the rest of the stuff in the classifieds, I just haven't had the time to do it. We're in major packing mode now and I'll probably just let the stuff ship to our new destination--Anchorage, AK and deal with it all later. When I DO get around to posting the stuff, I'll do it through the proper means.

ken

 

[AWS_ATL]

Anchorage is a beautiful place. I grew up in fox, alaska.... miss home very much. Enjoy living in gods country while you can.