40 or 42 inch rolls of silver fibre paper

[esearing]

Bob, if you buy the 50 inch roll , do you have access to a band saw that could cut the roll down the entire roll to the 40 inch or what ever size you need. Then you have the left over for test prints and smaller print sizes of the same paper.

I have seen plans for large paper sizes using a dresser drawer with internal light baffles that remain closed until lifted. Clamshell style box with oversized hinged lid. Might work with roll paper.
Finding a drawer that is 30in deep would be the challenge as most furniture is only 24in deep or less.

[bob carnie]

Bob, if you buy the 50 inch roll , do you have access to a band saw that could cut the roll down the entire roll to the 40 inch or what ever size you need. Then you have the left over for test prints and smaller print sizes of the same paper.

I have seen plans for large paper sizes using a dresser drawer with internal light baffles that remain closed until lifted. Clamshell style box with oversized hinged lid. Might work with roll paper.
Finding a drawer that is 30in deep would be the challenge as most furniture is only 24in deep or less.

Funny you mention this , I did it once using a table top saw , it was the most scary thing in my life (well almost) I am petrified of saws but I do have assistants availabel.. I would then think about 56 inch roll cut to 40 inch which would leave me 100ft of 16 inch, Not a bad idea
just need to figure out which saw is the best.

I knew if I asked enough questions I would get a suitable answer. now I just need to find the right portable saw I can bring into the darkroom, I have tons of experience cutting from the roll, its how we did murals in the 80's thanks esearing

[xkaes]

The motors on my electric saws give off very bright blue sparks -- something to check out.

[John Layton]

....and loads of little paper-crumbs!

[John Layton]

Here’s my DIY setup for big (40x60 inch) prints. In the foreground is the paper roll holder on a temporary work table. The large easel on the wall, while positioned very precisely with a bracket and rotatable hold-downs, allows for accurate placement, focus, and the creating of test strips, after which the easel is removed, its leading paper hold-down removed, and placed with its now “open” end against the bottom edge of the paper roll holder platform, at which time I’ll feed paper into the easel and cut it with a razor knife and replace that leading edge hold down and remount the easel to the wall, after which I’ll expose it, using my DIY horizontal enlarger:



After making the exposure, I’ll then remove the easel’s leading edge hold-down once more, but leave the easel in place on the wall while I carefully slide the exposed paper out and carry it into the print darkroom, and slide it into the large single processing tank/tray (here set up for 30 x 40, but the 40 x 60 tank, visible in the first photo leaning against the wall, also fits over the sink). Note that this view is of the “feed-end” where chemicals get dumped from their tubs into the tray, with agitation being accomplished by rocking the whole thing side to side and back to front:



At the end of each chemical step, the left hand side of the tray is lifted slightly and held up by an extra 2x4, after which I’ll open the waste gate on the opposite end and allow each chemical to pour back into their original tubs, which are themselves slid back and forth underneath the processing tray. After each solution is poured out, I very carefully squeegee off the print to allow for maximum solution recovery as well as minimal carryover to the next chemical. Pretty nifty I think!:



Finally, after a thorough washing of the print, I’ll again gently squeegee the print with the tray tilted and waste gate open, and roll the whole print around a “pool noodle” as I wipe of excess moisture on the prints backside with a clean microfiber cloth. Finally, I carry the rolled print back into the studio and carefully hang it to dry. The great thing about this setup is that once the exposed paper is placed into the tray for processing, it never gets handled in any way until I wrap it around that noodle…almost entirely mitigating the risk of those horrible creases!

Oh…and here’s a better view of my DIY horizontal enlarger, consisting of a motorized carrier which many will recognize as the rear (usually vertical) frame from a Beseler 4x5 enlarger, which has been carefully positioned and taped to the work table, ensuring that the “enlarger” part of this setup, which itself has been fastened to the moving part of the carrier in a way that allows no lateral movement as it rolls closer or further from the easel (on wheels) using the motor, remains absolutely square with the easel. The enlarger features a glass negative carrier, held in place in contact with the lower flange of my Heiland LED VC head which I’ve removed from my Zone VI enlarger. This head is wonderful in that the wavelengths it emits are very precise and therefore very efficient, keeping expose times very reasonable. Oh…and the fine focus mechanism is cobbled from the focus bed of an ancient 5x7 Linhof:

[Jim Andrada]

Once upon a time I decided I'd like to build a 28 foot wooden sailboat. Nice sturdy one at that. I'd already built a couple of small boats (and they didn't sink!) but this one was going to be quite a different story. The keel was to be cut from 9 inch thick oak. Now, 9 inch thick oak is not something one tosses around the workshop casually. So I started by buying a humongous bandsaw that stood 7 feet high weighed 1000 pounds, and had a cutting height limit of 19 inches.

The point of all this is that there are bandsaws around that will cut a roll of pretty much any diameter and there is probably one in a woodworker's shop not too far from you. Far safer than using a table saw, cuts cleaner, less waste, etc etc.

But maybe even better than vertical bandsaw would be an angled metal cutting saw. Like these.

https://www.amazon.com/Metal-Bandsaw/s?k=Metal+Bandsaw

If the roll is under 5 - 6 inches thick you can probably get one with base for not so mucho dinero and sell it on ebay when you're done - or keep it for next time. If you haven't worked with one of these, they're very safe, cut a thin kerf, and work by twisting the bandsaw blade so the length of the cutoff isn't limited. If the roll is thicker, any decent metal fabricator in the area will have one with greater capacity.

[bob carnie]

Once upon a time I decided I'd like to build a 28 foot wooden sailboat. Nice sturdy one at that. I'd already built a couple of small boats (and they didn't sink!) but this one was going to be quite a different story. The keel was to be cut from 9 inch thick oak. Now, 9 inch thick oak is not something one tosses around the workshop casually. So I started by buying a humongous bandsaw that stood 7 feet high weighed 1000 pounds, and had a cutting height limit of 19 inches.

The point of all this is that there are bandsaws around that will cut a roll of pretty much any diameter and there is probably one in a woodworker's shop not too far from you. Far safer than using a table saw, cuts cleaner, less waste, etc etc.

But maybe even better than vertical bandsaw would be an angled metal cutting saw. Like these.

https://www.amazon.com/Metal-Bandsaw/s?k=Metal+Bandsaw

If the roll is under 5 - 6 inches thick you can probably get one with base for not so mucho dinero and sell it on ebay when you're done - or keep it for next time. If you haven't worked with one of these, they're very safe, cut a thin kerf, and work by twisting the bandsaw blade so the length of the cutoff isn't limited. If the roll is thicker, and decent metal fabricator in the area will have one with greater capacity.

Thanks a bunch Jim for this and the link I will definately look seriously at this as We are moving into another stage of our operation where 30 x40 murals will be important and wanted.

[bob carnie]

Thanks a bunch Jim for this and the link I will definately look seriously at this as We are moving into another stage of our operation where 30 x40 murals will be important and wanted.

Looks like 30 x 40 paper safes are no longer available, anyone know where I may find one for purchase.

[willwilson]

John, that is one hell of a setup. Do you have plans on that single tray processor or could you post more photos?

Jim, vertical bandsaw would work well I think. You would probably want new to not contaminate things with metal shavings from previous use. Bob, the vertical bandsaw have a feature that allows you to set the speed of the cut automatically. You could test on some wrapping paper of wallpaper or similar.

Bob, your posts always inspire me to get out a role of paper and print big. Thanks for hanging around here and contributing so much to the community.

[Jim Andrada]

Given the tight wrap on a new roll from the factory I dont think you'd have much problem with crud getting very far into the paper. One reason I suggested the metal cutting saw on a stand is that the roll stays stationary and the only thing that moves in a constrained arc is the handle of the saw (and the cutting blade of course,) but one hand is only on the handle and hopefully the other hand is holding the roll far enough away from the cutting area.

By the way, I was working for IBM at the time and they asked me to go to Japan for three months to mange a new product announcement for Asia - Pacific. Announcement schedule kept slipping and net was I stayed in Japan six years, learned the language, and got married (Still together 34 years later.) Never built the boat, but I still have the saw. Life happens.