Stainless steel trays ?

**Drew Wiley** · 6-Aug-2015, 12:45

Get some marine epoxy, paste-style. PC-11 works well.

**Old-N-Feeble** · 6-Aug-2015, 14:32

Those are worth some money.

**Jac@stafford.net** · 6-Aug-2015, 14:32

Originally Posted by Drew Wiley

Get some marine epoxy, paste-style. PC-11 works well.

Doesn't anyone solder anymore?

**LabRat** · 6-Aug-2015, 19:07

Originally Posted by Jac@stafford.net

Doesn't anyone solder anymore?

The nice thing about marine epoxy is that's tough, waterproof, won't interact with the metals, and if need be, can be removed... An ABS or PVC pipe fitting on them makes a good "stilt"...

SS or enamel trays are great in a water bath set-up, but seem to cool faster in a non-WB set-up...

And for me, metal trays drive my crazy when empty (and cleaning or putting them away), one tap on them and they GONG like Big Ben!!!!!!!

Steve K

**Ron McElroy** · 11-Aug-2015, 20:05

To elevate trays I use the plastic diffusion grids from fluorescent lighting fixtures.

**Vaughn** · 11-Aug-2015, 20:53

I ran a university darkroom for 23 years, 1991 to 2014. We used the same set of SS trays for the whole time (two sets of three trays...Dev, stop and fix -- about 12"x16") - plus I used the same trays when I started taking photo classes in 1977 - plus some were marked Humboldt State College...the name changed to Humboldt State University in 1972. I do not know how long the darkroom had them before then. They looked almost new after a minimum of 43 years of constant use -- average of 125 students a semester with 75 to 80 hours of open darkroom time a week, plus another 30 hours a week of class time (not all in the darkroom, though.) That is why I likes the SS trays!

Sometimes we did not have heat, so I would flood the sink with water as a water bath.

**Nodda Duma** · 12-Aug-2015, 03:20

I was considering upgrading to ceramic or stainless trays from my plastic ones. But after this very good point you made, and the fact I work in the darkroom after everyone's asleep....

Originally Posted by LabRat

And for me, metal trays drive my crazy when empty (and cleaning or putting them away), one tap on them and they GONG like Big Ben!!!!!!!

Steve K

I owe you a beer...You just saved me a future yelling at from my wife!

**Daniel Stone** · 12-Aug-2015, 19:55

Get some of the non-slip drawer liners from Harbor Freight, put those under your trays in the sink. Just rinse out and hang to dry when done, and they'll last you a good long while.

**John Kasaian** · 13-Aug-2015, 09:01

Originally Posted by Dennis

I was just given three 8x10 stainless steel trays by a photographer friend who works digitally and was cleaning out his closet.

I am just curious if there are people out there who prefer stainless steel trays for some reason and is there any reason I shouldn't just drop these trays into metal recycling.
I use glass for my developer tray and regular plastic for the other steps. Not sure why I should add them to my already large enough pile of trays.

thanks
Dennis

Stainless is safer than using glass.

**David A. Goldfarb** · 13-Aug-2015, 10:34

I think stainless is best for normal B&W processing. They last forever and are easy to clean and can be found relatively cheaply second hand these days. I've replaced most of my plastic trays with stainless.

I have some enamel trays as well, but I've used them mostly for floating albumen paper.