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Thread: Building a darkroom

  1. #11
    Stephen Willard's Avatar
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    Jun 2002
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    Fort Collins, Colorado
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    687

    Smile Re: Building a darkroom

    I would use florescent lighting. It is brighter and cooler.

    Rather than buying a big sink I would buy a JOBO ATL 2 plus or better. They are programmable, fully automatic, and can process anything (film, prints, color, b&w) up to 20x24. You will need both a tempered water supply and a cold water supply along with a drain for the JOBO.

    Make sure your darkroom is vented. I also have two air purifiers in mine. They both use charcoal filters which will remove toxic fumes.

    My darkroom serves as my office as well, so I actually have a window with a nice view in it. I have a light tight shade that allows me to close off the window when I am processing. My desk and computer are in a side room off the darkroom with a door. This is real nice because I have easy access to desktop computer and a database I use to record all printing information about each print I make. I also surf the internet when I am waiting for my ATL to process something which is exactly what I am doing now:-)

    Make sure you have space for a film dryer. I use the JOBO Mistral II. It does a good job at keeping dust of the film while it dries.

    I have small compressor that is connected to an ionizer so that when I blow film or anything else the ionizer will neutralize any static charge allowing the dust to be easily removed.

    I have tons of cabinet space, and I use every bit of it. The more cabinets the better.

    Hope this helps or at least gives some good ideas to think about.

  2. #12

    Join Date
    Jan 1998
    Location
    Fort Worth TX
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    253

    Re: Building a darkroom

    I think a sink is a necessity and I think you can't have too much sink. I have two 8 footers in my darkroom and it is really not enough.

    lee\c

  3. #13

    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Richmond, VA
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    1,057

    Re: Building a darkroom

    I wish I would have put a few more outlets in my darkroom and had a master switch that would turn everything off when I left the rooom. I always seem to be leaving a safelight or timer on for a day or two before I realize it.....

    John

  4. #14

    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    London
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    105

    Re: Building a darkroom

    I use a shallow (4") sink which allows me to spill a little developer while agitating dishes etc and rinse equipment out without worry. You could get away with a counter I'm sure, but the sink means you don't have to be careful all the time. And of course, Murphy insists that you WILL spill an entire bottle of fixer at some point in the future - best to let accidents like that happen in a sink. It's worth it for the peace of mind.

    I'll second the cabinets idea. Don't put stuff on shelves - they just gather dust and are a pain to keep clean: put them in cabinets. I use kitchen units from the local DIY store.

    Ditto the power sockets - you can't have too many of them, but make sure they are on an residual current breaker (not sure what they are called in your part of the world - but they will break the circuit before you get a bad shock).


    Cheers, Bob.
    Last edited by Bobf; 6-Sep-2006 at 04:27.

  5. #15

    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Westport Island, Maine
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    1,236

    Re: Building a darkroom

    In my old darkroom, I built a 9' sink out of plywood. I loved it. Painted it outside with Epoxy paint used to reline bath tubs (REALLY bad fumes), and moved it in. Cheap and highly usable. Faucet was on a small platform that fit over the back, and plumbed with hoses so I could move it from one end to the other as needed.

    In my new darkroom, I splurged on stainless steel. Wonderful, but unnecessary. I would have been as happy with plywood, and could have bought many lenses with what I would have saved. Its valve is a round knob shower valve connected through a dial thermometer and then to faucets at either end. It keeps temperature absolutely steady without adjustment (except for twice a year in spring and late fall - adjustment takes about a minute). A lot less expensive than the photo versions, and for me just as good. A faucet in the middle is plumbed straight from the water supply, bypassing the control, so I can mix Dektol without altering my temperature adjustment.

    Nevertheless, the common denominator is SINK. For me, I gotta have a sink. I've used formica on sawhorses, and I'm too much of a slob, I guess. And now I'm an old fart who can afford what he wants.

    My critial dimension was the distance between the wet and dry sides. Not too much to feel like a hike, not too little to squeeze my expanding waistline. I think it's 32", and it's perfect.

    I second the cabinet idea, especially up high (I'm 6'6" - altitudinally challenged). Keeping things orderly and out of sight has been good for my head when I print. I built cabinets suporting the dry-side top - they're extra high to fit my height, but students have used them successfully. The sink is extra high, too. Cabinets can often befound for really cheap at box stores and cabinet places when folks have ordered and then canceled them. Not a wide selection, but I've picked up stuff for pennies on the dollar.

    Do exactly what you want. When it's done, you'll love it.
    Bruce Barlow
    author of "Finely Focused" and "Exercises in Photographic Composition"
    www.brucewbarlow.com

  6. #16

    Join Date
    Feb 1999
    Posts
    1,094

    Re: Building a darkroom

    I bought one of those black, plastic sinks from B&H, I think. It's five feet long by about 24 or so inches wide and has a drain. I actually cobbled together from 2-by-4s a stand for the sink. I used stove bolts to bolt it together. Given my incredibly lousy carpentry skills, this was truly a monumental effort on my part, but it turned out well. I hired a plumber to hook up the faucet and the water supply.

  7. #17

    Re: Building a darkroom

    Quote Originally Posted by Bruce Barlow
    ...they're extra high to fit my height, but students have used them successfully. The sink is extra high, too....
    What height are your worksurfaces. I am a couple of inches shorter, and trying to work out what height I want.

    Steve

  8. #18

    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Posts
    101

    Re: Building a darkroom

    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Kefford
    What height are your worksurfaces. I am a couple of inches shorter, and trying to work out what height I want.

    Steve
    Experiment a little bit with some saw horses and boards but consider starting with something an inch or two below your elbows. If you are going to stand on a mat, make sure you account for the mat when experimenting with counter / sink height.

    Rob

  9. #19

    Join Date
    May 2002
    Posts
    1,031

    Re: Building a darkroom

    I built a darkroom in my previous house (haven't done so in this one. Yet.)

    For basic stuff, I was really happy with an 8x8 room, with a 6 foot counter on one side for "dry" operations -- the enlarger -- and an 8 foot counter on the opposite side for the "wet" stuff. I had an ordinary kitchen-size sink (single tub) which I got from a local building salvage yard, along with the 8' laminate countertop. The dry side counter I built using a door for the countertop.

    One thing to consider is your own comfort. I'm tall enough that I quickly grow tired of working on standard-height counters, so I built everything 4 inches higher in the darkroom.

  10. #20
    Eric Woodbury
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Posts
    1,637

    Re: Building a darkroom

    There is a nice post over at apug.org with lots of pix of different darkrooms. I would recommend studying this.

    My new darkroom is 9' wide and 12' long. This gives me a counter a little wider than 3' and 12' long. Two enlargers, one coldlight and one condenser. The enlargers are set into the counter top so the counter is all one level. There are two sinks opposite, an 8' and a 3' wash sink that is a bit lower. I tried to make it as comfortable as possible in an attempt to make me want to be there as much as possible and make visitors welcome. This includes lots of little safelights such that there are no dark corners where things disappear. Also, a stereo.

    As mentioned in other posts, I wired it with switches such that when I leave, I can turn the whole room off. There is maybe one plug that is off the main switches so that the clock keeps time. There are three main circuits. I've divided this into 1) lights, enlargers, things that might fog film, and 2)everything else, vent fan, stereo, timers, things that need to be on in the total darkness, 3) is a heating/A/C circuit. Each circuit goes through a GFI for safety around water.

    For general lighting I use track lights. Color is good. Fluorescent lighting has bad color and glows after it is turned off. I use string pulls to turn on/off the white lights and leave the safelight on all the time for printing. There is a footswitch for a white light over the fix tray that is handy for detail examination of prints.

    Ventilation is provided by a large exhaust fan near the developer tray that vents outside. Fresh air comes through the door vent from the room next door. I don't operate the fan often, as the air stays pretty good. I don't use many nasty chemicals.

    The main sink has a wide front rim on it so that I can lean on it. It is fairly high. The wash sink is lower so that getting prints in/out of the washer is easier. One sink I built from plastic 20 years ago and one is plywood that I will paint this weekend with epoxy paint.

    Floor is painted concrete with a rubber mat. There are plenty of shelves for storing paper, chems, trays, and tanks. The cold water is filtered and the hot water comes from a flash heater in the laundry room. The hot water is a bit of a pain and I suppose I could ad a small electric 6 gallon heater, but have not yet. Flash heaters are good for lots of hot water, but for small amounts to warm wash water don't, the demand is not great enough to activate the flash heater. All or nothing. Both hot and cold water have shutoff valves so that like the electricity, it can be off when not in use. I don't need a fire and I don't want a flood either. S**t happens.

    Have fun. Get it done and make photographs.

    -EW-

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