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Classic! Lots of reading in between the lines with some of those stories ��
Well im considering making little spring hooks or something to tension the negative. I think part of the problem lately...

Wow. Not sure about others, but my darkroom sessions seem to be linked to some kind of murphy's law thing.

The last printing session I had was amazing, went smoothly, great prints.

Today's...

Thanks all, have confirmed my suspicions.... Nitrile gloves are great, have just got into using them.

So they key is water and keeping things dry it seems!

Hi all,
I have been at the gelatin in a small dark room on and off for roughly 30 years (only B&W that is). Up until pretty recently I have never paid much close attention to the chemical side of...

As a lover of Pano's usually the widest my Saunders Easel can go, by whatever the format was vertically, but as of last week when I tucked into my 50" roll, it is on average 3 - 4ft by whatever the...

Thanks Drew, excellent explanation.

Well I'll freeze a bunch of Acros 8x10 and I guess start on Delta 100 or maybe investigate another film. I have not shot anything fast for a while, and this might sound like a really daft statement,...

Drew do you like your grain you mean?
I am printing on MGFB1K, (only as of last week) which seems to be a nice white base and lovely image. Should I expect that Ilford keep producing 50" rolls of...

By the way, thanks Kumar!!!! Awesome service.

well I know a lot of people have been there before, but as I shoot only B&W I thought I was OK and foolishly believed Fuji when they assured their commitment to film...
Yes I will be buying boxes,...

Actually used Google translate on Yodbashi but its almost impossible it seems to get past checkout with Phonetic or some such, post code etc.... any suggestions?

Hi sorry to drag up an old post, but I was shocked to just discover that my beloved Acros is being discontinued; I had a look on Yodobashi, and there price is a LOT cheaper than Japan Exposures, but...

Thanks ic-racer, I need to digest that, but from what I can roughly figure out I should have at least 5mm. I have my enlarger raised to top height, and my baseboard on the floor. Funny what you...

Well I made my first 2x4ft print last night, and uncovered another wee issue that I probably should of anticipated; well thats hoping that the roll of paper was not x-ray damaged when it got...

Thats a good idea; I can leave it in the early evening when overcast or no moon/new moon so I can vacate and reenter the darkroom....

Actually on a similar theme - there is no reason why I could...

Joshua and Kirk, GREAT idea. To tell you the truth I had never heard of magnetic paint!
Actually at first I thought that it was in the same category/ isle as striped and chequered paint :)
I wonder...

WOW. I can only imagine looking at one of these enormous prints in person! There is something very different about a proper silver gelatine print, and made with a decent negative it would be a...

Thanks guys, this is a revelation for me! I think as i have heard over and over that enlarger alignment is critical and to get the sweet grain everything must be dead flat, I just resigned myself to...

Hey! IC-Racer I just saw a post you wrote in 2010 about enlarging lenses;
quote
"Isn't stopping down an enlarger lens also helping to overcome the curving of some types of FB paper?

Perhaps in...

Is there a calculation for actual depth of field with enlargers? For example, tonight I cut a 600mm bit from my 1250mm wide roll (or 24" x 50") and taped it onto my baseboard. It was almost flat,...

Thats the way I'll do it to start with for sure, I understand now what is meant by 'scrolling'. I would be keen with the larger prints especially with wash-aid, and prep for selenium as well as...

Great to get up to date on all sorts of new thread on all sorts of topics....
Have been absent for a year or so with life being life, and am rekindling the darkroom 'fire'....

Was investigating...

Ok. Its a rotary vane pump, on the following link its the exact model shown on top right hand image, of the pump with a separate belt driven pump....

Ah Drew, the real McCoy? They sound expensive!

I was not sure about the bleeder valve, I will look into this, I was more meaning a bleeder board? Similar to a CNC suction table, a sacrificial...

Classic! We don't have either of those, but I was shocked to find out shop bought non free range eggs we got the other day poached better than our girls eggs did!
Hmmm.. food for thought....
...

Well I am not sure what I am up to, I have a lot of different hobbies and interests, but am also really engaged at work; Lately I have been thinking I may have a bit of an issue at jumping at...

Ha! So its universal then? I have only just recently discovered this phenomena that is projects far outweighing time or enthusiasm. I sometimes think of John Travolta in movie 'Phenomenon' where...

Drew and John I agree, I always have a 5mm or so 'reveal' with crisp edges between image on print and matt board - looks real sharp.

Daniel Easel sounds great - I think I am swaying toward what...

Hi Drew, ok. I guess in some ways that makes the design easier if I know I am going to take care of the edges independantly.
I have 2 saunders easels, they are fantastic, I would love to have one...

John I have not used FB paper from a roll before, do you think it will be prone to bowing up in the middle in protest to being help down at each edge? The natural curve of it is quite tight, its a...

Thanks John, interesting to hear about the DW FB, I was just going to ask Charley about that very thing!
I pretty much only use the Ilford Classic FB Glossy DW paper, so I was hoping to figure out a...

Thanks Charley, thats really helpful!
The holes in my easel are not that much bigger. So it seems that mine may work yet, but only once I get the high flow pump.
Although the base would be a lot...

Thanks Charley,

Jim yeah there are leaks galore. I will check with plastic sheet next few days (work gets in the way of recreation!) channels are 8mm deep too.

I just found out that positive...

Randy I'm really intrigued!

Bill contact prints are amazing; it wasn't that long ago I saw one in person, that was done in the early 1900s - I was a bit taken back by the detail recorded. It...

A 20year DIY? woah! now we're talking! Well Sir I wish you all the best - my mind is currently boggling!

Jim I agree, from what I can tell after reading a document about CNC vac tables, a 4x8ft...

Yup! My last one was making a box for a 50" x 90ft Classic FB roll, I came up with what I like to think of as a good design! Next one after the easel is to come up with some method of automating a...

I didn't pay that for it of course! Less than its worth but more than not much....

No I have not tried a shop vac, I just thought of a quick test, sellotape over each row of holes, and tried it -...

This is the pump I am using, but a 240VAC version. Oil-less laboratory style single stage diaphram pump....

Randy my pump pulls down to -85kap which I think is -25inHg? So it must be a cfm thing, or total flow. I don't think the pump has enough flow by a long shot.
Its great to hear that you use...

Hi all,

I came up with a hair brained scheme to build a vacuum easel, after buying a roll of nice curly double weight FB paper.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. It doesn't work.
...