Why I have dustless negatives. I think!

[Macwax]

Strange as it may seem, I have what is called an open heating system which means that I have no return ducts in my cellar. The cool air comes down the air returns and dumps into the cellar to be sucked directly into the heavily filtered furnace. For some reason, it seems to act like a giant filtering system in my darkroom and I have virtually no dust on my negs. Very little attention to the negative and bingo, a clean print. Go figure.

John MacKechnie

 

[Snapshot]

Some people have all the luck.

 

[haris]

Ok, John, what are you trying to do, to make us jealous?!...

 

[Macwax]

Wait, maybe everyone should rip out their ductwork!! I really thought it was going to be a nightmare, but it is really just the oposite.

It's always fun when the HVAC guys show up at the house to clean the furnace and scratch their heads. Apparently, homes were sometimes done this way in the sixties. I guess they felt they could heat the basement for free.

Oh yeah, the darkroom is at an almost constant 68 degrees. In the really cold weeks we just had in PA, it dropped to 65. I'm never going to move!

John

 

[Snapshot]

Oh yeah, the darkroom is at an almost constant 68 degrees. In the really cold weeks we just had in PA, it dropped to 65. I'm never going to move!

John

OK, now you're making me really jealous.

I did block off the heating duct and as a result my negatives don't tend to accrue a lot of dust. Also, I was fortunate enough that my darkroom is adjacent to a cold cellar. I store all my chemicals and paper in there on a shelving unit and it's just a matter of taking two steps and opening a door to get at them.

 

[jstraw]

Wait, maybe everyone should rip out their ductwork!! I really thought it was going to be a nightmare, but it is really just the oposite.

It's always fun when the HVAC guys show up at the house to clean the furnace and scratch their heads. Apparently, homes were sometimes done this way in the sixties. I guess they felt they could heat the basement for free.

Oh yeah, the darkroom is at an almost constant 68 degrees. In the really cold weeks we just had in PA, it dropped to 65. I'm never going to move!

John

My darkroom never dropped below 65 if I left the door open or 63 with it closed. It never got above 68 through the winter. I'll be interested in seeing what summer does. I have a walk-out basement and the narrow (6 foot) wall at the south end of the darkroom is a south-facing exterior wall but it's shaded by a deck.

 

[MikeSeb]

My home exists in some sort of altered quantum field or strange photographic event horizon, such that every quark of dust in this corner of the space-time continuum is sucked onto my film. Some days the stuff looks like a Life Saver that fell out of a kid's mouth and rolled behind the sofa.

Enjoy your good fortune--you SOB!

 

[jstraw]

I use a film drying cabinet of my own making and all my film goes STRAIGHT from the cabinet to sleeves or in the case of 4x5, mylar covers. No dust problems.

 

[mark]

Just admit it, you sold your soul and now you are trying to get us to do the same.

I see you great tempter, and I shun you, back back, vile tempter. I cast thee from my site.

 

[pnance]

I have meant to install a air fan for my darkroom, but like the dustlesss nature of the room, I've absentmindedly left film hanging to dry for weeks with no dust; if really dries rather fast, I'm just lazy sometimes.

 

[Marco S.]

Here's an easy affordable, albeit not attractive way to dry film. Perfect for hanging 120 size films. Might be tough for 135-36, though unless you have a really tall basement and a 8 foot ladder.

Marco

 

[mark]

cool.

 

[Snapshot]

Someone posted how to make your own film dryer for a few dollars and some elbow grease. Here is the link...

http://www.mediabaron.com/filmdryer.html