The little bits and pieces

Spring clothes pins from the dollar store. I round off the clip end on my sander, bend out office paper clips and put them through the center of the spring. They make handy clips for film or prints to hang from a line.
Gallon jugs of distilled water, only 89 cents each from grocery store. Our city water is full of stuff so I figure that is safer to use to make up dev or fix.

Clothespins allow me to hold together cardbord rectangles the way I want for burning / dodging. I re-use these cardboard rectancles again and again as I don't need to cut them to give them the shape I want.

Wooden clothes pins can be reversed in the spring to get finer jaws, which are less likely to retain water drops.

A salad spinner like this one. Put the film real in it and give it a few whirls before hanging/drying the film. Removes most of the excess water off the reel and film without having to squeegee and risk scratching.

Used (empty) windshield washing liquid canisters for used chemicals.

My new favourite squeegee surface: a sheet of acrylic, with edges and corners filed down. I tried ferrotyping with it, but although it works, it's finnicky, and I didn't love the high gloss on fibre paper, so I was looking for alternative uses.

I'm also deeply in love with yellow waterproof masking tape to label bottles. It can be wiped dry, it tears perfectly straight, sticks without leaving residue even after a long time, and provides a super-smooth writing surface. It's considered high-end for paint jobs, but the limited volume of darkroom usage makes it valuable.

Got also a mechanical garden hose water timer I'll try for the washing of prints.

I'm relying on canned dusters for now, but is there a more eco-friendly option, like a small compressor?

The scoopula is amazing for picking up small quantities of powdered chemicals.
More expensive, but a lifetime investment is my ULINE Happy Feet mat. It's padded for comfort, has grips for adherence even with spills, can be easily cleaned, and it has tapered edges with yellow/black security lines to avoid tripping on it.

Michel Hardy-Vallée said:

The scoopula is amazing for picking up small quantities of powdered chemicals.
More expensive, but a lifetime investment is my ULINE Happy Feet mat. It's padded for comfort, has grips for adherence even with spills, can be easily cleaned, and it has tapered edges with yellow/black security lines to avoid tripping on it.

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I bought a small portable rechargeable Craftsman air compressor from the home store. Just be sure to get a filter that attaches between the hose and nozzle that captures any condensation - works great. I think it was about $99 USD.

Mke

The half gallon pump and sprayer from Harbor Freight for my waterless darkroom.

These work very well, as a one piece water spray in your sink area. The nozzle can click open with a push spray 'button' and the bottle has both a powerful jet and very fine spray and it goes quite a way with a few pumps of it's plunger rod.

Just be sure you're using it in a deep well or with a piece of Plexi, etc as a background to direct water back into the sink/away from the wall, etc

It's also a great way to wash up tanks, reels and the sink itself, as the half gallon is no waisting water.

Godspeed to all.

eli griggs said:

The half gallon pump and sprayer from Harbor Freight for my waterless darkroom.

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I have one to treat my apple tree, and am wondering if it could work as an air compressor to blow dust...

Michel Hardy-Vallée said:

I'm relying on canned dusters for now, but is there a more eco-friendly option, like a small compressor?

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Haven't tried it, but one thing that springs to mind is the refillable sprayers sold in kitchen stores. Canonically, you'd fill these to a line with oil (olive oil, canola, corn oil, etc.) and pump pressure into the bottle with a built-in hand pump; the pressurized air then sprays the oil to give the effect of aerosol cooking spray but at much lower cost and with your own choice of oil. Obviously, you'd want a new one with the oil left out, and I don't know if the nozzle (designed to spray liquid as a mist) would give a powerful enough puff -- but it might be possible to drill out the nozzle to a straight hole. I used to have one in my kitchen, it lasted ten years or so with olive oil in it; I'd think it would last at least that long running dry.

- Cell phone for timers and Massive Dev access
- Instant read thermometer
- Bottle opener
- Lab-Box for lazy days

Donald Qualls said:

Haven't tried it, but one thing that springs to mind is the refillable sprayers sold in kitchen stores.

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Oh man, you sent me on a rabbit hole of electric dusters, mini-compressors, refillable spray cans, tubeless tires inflators, and PAM substitutes... Here are some brief conclusions:

- People who work in electronics seem to appreciate the electric dusters, which are basically just small vacuum cleaners working in reverse. They're efficient at pushing dust away from computer cases, but can get noisy since they rely on a fan to push air. They will also pump whatever dust is already in the air, so you need to check filters. Could work, but I like my darkroom to be a quiet place.

- There is a LOT of oil spray bottles to replace PAM and other cooking sprays, and they seem to fall into two categories: basic piston systems, like the ones used in bottles of household cleaner (you press and it sprays), and those that can build pressure. They're all designed for a wide jet, but the best candidate would be the systems that build pressure.

- A similar system is used in refillable aerosol systems, usually designed for paint, but it looks like you can build more pressure. You usually connect a bike pump or a compressor hose to them. The final spray is broad, but if the nozzle accepts a straw, you could concentrate the jet.

- Tubeless tires inflator system work the same way: it's a bottle that you fill with pressurized air from a pump, and there is a valve to release it all at once to seat the tire. Key would be the control of pressure release, so that it doesn't blow all at once.

- Finally, small compressors fitted with filters and hose seem to be a pretty useful solution, and surprisingly not that more expensive compared to those electric dusters. But you need the space, the fittings, and it's noisy when the tank fills. They would make a lot of sense in a professional darkroom: get a big tank, install it away from the work space, and run tubings to the working area.

So in the end, I'm tempted by the oil/paint sprayers systems. They look cheap and maybe a bit flimsy, but could be fun to try.

Rabbit holes aren't always gateways to madness (and/or we're not all Alice).

99 cent aquarium thermometers. Just as accurate as anything else, and fine for B&W work. Also, the larger wallpaper trays from Home Depot use more chemicals, but they're easier to work w/ than the tight fitting darkroom paper trays and a heck of a lot less money. The 11 watt red safelight bulb from Freestyle ($4) works great. It's screwed into a floor lamp, and gets moved closer or further away to suit the papers.

A small, handheld water mister has come to my rescue many times. I fill it w/ distilled water, and spritz the film and papers once they're hung to dry. That, along w/ the hot shower to increase humidity, totally got rid of the drying mark problem.

michael_r said:

That yellow tape sounds useful. What brand/type is it? (if you’re ok giving away the secret )

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Haha, of course:
https://www.homedepot.ca/product/sc...xs-1-88-in-x-45-yd-48-mm-x-41-1-m-/1000777563

I doubt it and suggest you'd be better off simply buying a steel or aluminum air reserve tank from Harbor Freight, fill the tank with a charge of air and then tote that up to your darkroom, with a coiled yellow hose and small hand gun, fitted to the outlet of a good moisture/ dry air filter set-up.

This is the method I've used and all you need is at Home Depot, though if you do no have a compressor already, buy an oil-less unit that can deliver 150 psi, even though the newer tanks, if any, will only fold at 90 psi or 120.

Cheers.

Michel Hardy-Vallée said:

I have one to treat my apple tree, and am wondering if it could work as an air compressor to blow dust...

Click to expand...

Michel Hardy-Vallée said:

I have one to treat my apple tree, and am wondering if it could work as an air compressor to blow dust...

Click to expand...

eli griggs said:

I doubt it and suggest you'd be better off simply buying a steel or aluminum air reserve tank from Harbor Freight, fill the tank with a charge of air and then tote that up to your darkroom, with a coiled yellow hose and small hand gun, fitted to the outlet of a good moisture/ dry air filter set-up.
Cheers.

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Now I have to ask the stupid question: if I don't have a compressor, where can I fill the tank? Can I fill it with the gas station air pump?

You can but DON'T.

That air is filthy with oil, water, mold and fungus in many cases and whatever capers were sucked in when it's compressor took in air.

I had written a much more detailed reply earlier, however it is nowhere to be seen.

I'll write more later, however, getting your own small, compressor set-up is the idea idea, however if you feel that you really need to suffer for your art, you could try filling the air reserve tank with a bicycle pump.

Cheers.

I do no use them much but some plack painted hardwood wood strips, with imbedded tiny super magnets that I used to hold paper flat, with a borderless easel, years ago, when I first resumed a darkroom at home.

They also worked well with small, one off pics that needed a border

If you need or want a matboard frame for, say 7"x7" photographs, these can hold a 'hinge' in place quite strongly and you are always free to make bigger/stronger examples to meet your own needs.

A last use to mention is, with a ferrous metal board or fridge, etc, these are good for tacking prints flat so you can view/think about them and their issues.

I also have a tally clicker, but was wondering what to do with it! Good suggestions.

An ink pen taped to a recoil mechanism for an ID badge taped to the back wall of the enlarger stall. Always have an ink pen handy and NOT rolling around.

A dry erase board for multitudes of uses with multi color markers. Life saver!

A pair of spare reading glasses of high magnification with the "hands-free" loop to hold them around my neck when I work. Great for quick close ups of whatever...

I found that the glass amber bottles that are all over amazon are great for storing chemistry. I got a pack of 12 4 oz bottles and they work wonderfully. Since they hold a multiple of the volume of chemistry I'm working with, they'll never be half full, so it's great for shelf life. I keep little bottles of D23 mixed up, as one bottle will make enough to develop 1 roll at 1+1 dilution . No air to ruin the developer . Great for low volume B&W work.

I also intend to use them to decant Multigrade developer when I run out of my polymax so that I can extend the life as much as possible.

My one gallon amber glass jugs were free from my local compounding Pharmacy, Robetussin syrup used to come in amber glass.
For years my safelights were GE Guide Lamps---plug in nightlights that came two on a card for a buck. After three decades one of them burned out so I bought a short string of red led Christmas lights at 50% off closeout at a CVS.
I needed some small measuring cups for adding chemicals to a processor---Walmart sold me three Betty Crocker's for the job. I don't remember how much I paid but they were cheap 'cause that's how I roll

My quest for an inexpensive, pre-assembled print drying system might have found its destination in the range of synthetic mesh clothes drying systems.

I found a foldable one that's designed to lay sweaters flat to dry. It's big enough for three 16 x 20, and cost me about 20$. When I'm done, I fold it back and it's no bigger than a book.

There are more elaborate ones that can be stacked up too.

I built my own print drying screens out of 1x2s, screen beading, a coat of shellac and widow screen. Old school, cheap and easy with simple hand tools.