Building my own darkroom for 4x5 negs

[graywolf]

I have always lusted for a Nova Dip & Dunk hand line as seen here

http://www.sinwp.com/articles/Supernova.htm

Always seemed like the easiest way to process small numbers of 4x5 film.

[Dan O'Farrell]

I have always lusted for a Nova Dip & Dunk hand line as seen here

http://www.sinwp.com/articles/Supernova.htm

Always seemed like the easiest way to process small numbers of 4x5 film.

I'm always open to new suggestions, and this one is new to me. I'd like to try it out.

D.

[lenser]

Sirious, I have a JOBO CPP2 system advertised in the for sale section and it includes the 3010 tank. Take a look and maybe we can do business. I also have several other darkroom items available if you want to send me info on specifics that you ae looking for.

.Lenser

[Sirius Glass]

Sirious, I have a JOBO CPP2 system advertised in the for sale section and it includes the 3010 tank. Take a look and maybe we can do business. I also have several other darkroom items available if you want to send me info on specifics that you ae looking for.

.Lenser

I already have my CPP2 and 3010 Expert Drum.

[BKP]

Hand-line or sink-line. You can find 1¼ gallon tanks and 4 up hangers. If you can find a tank to fit the 1¼ gal. tanks. Then build a box out of plywood to fit the tanks, tarp and Styrofoam (insulation). Later on you can get a "C&G Phototherm" unit or it's equivalent for temperature control for C-41. I have used this for E-6, C-41 and B/W for years. I have also cut my 35mm reels to fit into the tanks. 20 exp. reels (I bulk load). I owned a "Imagemaker 1" in the early eighties. The rotary system works well but the sink-line is more personal. I developed Kodalith and LPD-4 in trays, because they are so thin. All methods are fine, so long as there is consistency. This was how it was done, once upon a time....

[angusparker]

I'm fortunate enough to have some space in my home to build a dedicated darkroom, but I am a little confused about which direction to take with the processing equipment
I'll want to be developing both colour and b&w 4x5 negs (no slide I dont think)

I'm not sure if I should be looking for a drum & electric agitator setup, or tanks, or even trays

if anyone has any thoughts on this I'd gratefully hear them

thanks
Simon

Here are some thoughts I posted on my blog on "Suggestions for a 21st Century Darkroom" that might be helpful. I would second getting a Jobo and the Expert drum if you are doing 4x5 - processing 10 sheets at a time is a godsend and time saver. As I mention in the blog post, you might want to skip optically enlarging all together and make digital negatives to contact print. Anyway food for thought.

[chuck94022]

I have always lusted for a Nova Dip & Dunk hand line as seen here

http://www.sinwp.com/articles/Supernova.htm

Always seemed like the easiest way to process small numbers of 4x5 film.

I settled on dip and dunk using a combiplan sheet holder and plain old rectangular, 1.5 liter juice jugs easily found at the supermarket. The jugs sit in a water bath for color processing. A precisely controlled bath can be made from a plastic storage container or ice chest, a PID controller easily found on eBay, a temperature probe (they are sometimes sold together), and a simple water heating coil.

If you prefer to avoid the water bath construction project, you can use a sous vide controller (Anova makes a good one) that will hold temps to +- .1 degree.

I never liked the results from my combiplan as originally built. Fill/empty times are too slow for me, and I also got streaky results frequently. Going fully lights out, dip and dunk worked well for me.

That said, I second others opinion regarding starting with B&W, the tolerances and the room to experiment are much higher. You don't need a water bath for B&W. You learn a lot that way, and once you have your darkroom skills (tailored to your room) up, moving to color can be done with confidence.