A new Darkroom!

[Donald Hutton]

Calamity

What is the purpose then of this post? What "question" are you asking? You posted a message about building a dream darkroom and most of what you said had to do with the water problems you were going to have - as a result you were offered loads of advice which you are now scorning - perhaps if you directed the post to what it is you are trying to find out, you will get the answers to the questions you have...? Without doing so, ticking people off for providing a whole lot of useful information is really just rude.

[Calamity Jane]

I'm sorry if I "ticked people off".

I was looking for hints and suggestions on the layout of "the perfect darkroom" and the thread got focused on the ground water. I shouldn't even have mentioned the water or replied to posts about the water! I know how to handle the water.

What I DON'T know is all the ins and outs of designing the perfect darkroom. I have read everything I can find on darkroom design, I have played with dozens of layouts, I have studied what other's have done, what equipment and services they install and where but I don't find a lot of information on "what I would have done differently" from people who have built a darkroom while working with "a free hand". I had always been a renter (before 1997) and had to make do with whatever space I could find and adapt.

Now I have a huge space that is vacant. I can lay it out as I please. I can run electrical, plumbing, vents wherever I want. I can build walls where I want or have no walls at all. The entire basement is easily made light tight, so I can use any or all of it - my darkroom can be 20x36 feet if I want.

One of the problems in selecting a layout is that my photography is evolving, changing. I only got into LF a bit over a year ago. Before LF, the existing darkroom was ok. Now, with LF and getting into alternate processes and work-for-hire, the existing space is too small and inflexable.

Hummmm, maybe I should use the whole basement as a darkroom and go modular with my wet side, dry side, and enlarger table??? That would allow me to rearrange the working area as my needs change . . . what an intersting concept. I have never seen a "modular darkroom" . . . maybe this thread led to a unique concept in the end after all.

Thanks for the seed of an idea Don.

[Richard Ide]

Hi Calamity,

One large darkroom has some advantages. When I had my business, my darkroom was 1600 sq. ft. I built all my tables and counters the same height and on locking casters. It only took a few minutes to completely rearrange my shop. Setting up to layout and mount 8 ft. x 24 ft. prints was no problem. Even cutting a 20 ft. plastic sheet on my tablesaw was a breeze. By the way; woodworking and photography are allergic to each other. I also moved four times and getting up and running in a new location was very easy. If I can answer any questions, I would be glad to help.

Richard

[Donald Hutton]

Personally, my photography has constantly evolved - if there's one thing I'd plan into a darkroom, it's the possibility of change. The other thing is getting your worktops and sink at just the right height for you! I'm resonably tall and built my sink and counter tops at 40 inches - it makes an enormous difference to comfort; and being comfortable in your workspace is the key to wanting to spend time in it...

[mark blackman]

with upto 6 x 11 m to play with, I would be inclined to move away from the standard layout of having everything against the wall and have a central island (above your sump) with the sinks etc. Next question - what's the headroom like? If you can, get a 10x8 enlarger, they are going for a song and will proably out-live you.

What sort of processing do you do? In a space that size, I would be inclined to 'light' as much of it as I could with safe lights, though if you do a lot of film processing in trays perhaps not such a good idea. I Would be tempted with a small dark-room within a dark-room solely for loading/unloading film.

[Calamity Jane]

Mark: Headroom is generally limited and irregular. The floor joists are about 7 feet above the floor but there are ducts, pipes, beams and other things that hang down. I'll pick the best height for my enlarger and then have the table so I can lower it. I have a Dichro 45 on a homemade mount.

Central island? That's interesting. I'll have to ponder that! I was wondering how I was going to cover the sump (so I don't loose visitors) - a central wet island might be just the ticket!

What processing do I do? I do 4x5 and 8x10 B&W, E-6, Rockland's "pseudo tintype", and I am planning to move into wet plate tintypes. I also do P.O.P. printing in 4x5 and 8x10

As I have moved away from conventional film/paper processing, I find my requirement for tabletop dry space (under safelight) has skyrocketed.

[Eric Biggerstaff]

Since space does not seem to be an issue, build two rooms.

A "clean" room is very nice to do work such as spotting, mounting, cleaning holders, working on a PC, storing finished prints, storing portfolio's, storing negatives, etc. Lots of bright light to work by. Very nice to have.

Then next to it, have the darkroom. Sink on one long side, enlarger on the other. Not to far apart as you don't want to have to walk far from elarger to sink. Lots of counter space is a must. Build your own, it is cheap. You can also build your own sinks so the size matching what you will need for the size of prints you make. A pocket door with a light trap at the top and bottom is great.

Everyone will have a different idea on the perfect darkroom, it is a matter of likes and style. Are there any other photographers in the area whose room you can go look at?

www.ericbiggerstaff.com

[Calamity Jane]

Progress: http://www.geocities.com/winnonad/newdarkroom/nd1.html

[Calamity Jane]

DAMN! Photography is HARD WORK!

After 3 days of bustin my britches, I have got the 12 by 16 foot end of the basement de-constructed, the wet and rotten wod hauled out, the new walls framed, sheeted, and a coat of white paint on it, and even got the hot and cold water run in.

When the paint dries, I am going to sheet the unfinished ceiling with builder's plastic to catch any dust that falls from the floor above (eventhough I have thoroughly vacuumed same) - with ducts and pipes and such, it is too uneven to use rigid sheeting. Then the lights will go in.

My existing darkroom table is about 8 feet by 2 feet with a double sink in one end so I plan to put a splash board around it, give it a good heavy coat of exterior paint, and use it as my wet table for now. I have a 6x2 foot utility table for the dry side and a 4x2 foot desk for the enlarger table - my home made 4x5 enlarger mounts on the wall.

I have a bunch of left-over 3/4" plywood that I will cut up for shelves and even have a couple of large pieces of pegboard for storage.

I look forward to moving into the new space and using it for awhile before deciding what other furniture and equipment I want to add and where. In every other darkroom I have had, within a few years, I have had a list of "should haves"! Maybe going modular this time will work out better.

It'll be nice to get back to "work" that isn't as much like "work"! ;-)

Thanks for all the suggestions folks!

[Calamity Jane]

WAHOO! Moved into the new darkroom last week and spent Sunday doing a bunch of POP prints for customers.

There's things to be done yet, like the exhaust fan, lighting control, shelves, etc., but I was wanting to spend some time in the new space to figure out where I want to locate things.

It is GREAT, moving from an 8x10 darkroom to a 12x16 space! LOTS of room to move, room to have more than 1 item on the go at a time . . . it's WONDERFUL! The light-trap entrance at the foot of the basement stairs is great - come and go without letting in light.

I am also finding some of the short-comings and am open to suggestions:

1 - It is a good 30 feet from the darkroom to the baffled entrance on the other side of the basement and it's DARNED hard to find my way from the darkroom to the entrance when walking AWAY from the safelight. I could run a wire from the darkroom to the entrance and install another safelamp bulb but . . . has anyone seen glow-in-the-dark strips that would be paper-safe? If I installed a couple of glow strips it would help avoid running into things ;-) I know my GreyLab timer has a glow-in-the-dark dial and it doesn't seem to fog film (though I am not sure why), so maybe there is a product out there that would work.

2 - What are folks using for shelves?

I'd like to have some free-standing shelving (to avoid attaching to the walls) and wonder if metal industrical shelving might be the best?

3 - What are folks using for mats or "walk ways" on concrete floors?

Thanks gang! I always appreciate your suggestions