Darkroom Sink on A Budget

[BTilson]

Hello all... I am in the process of converting a 10x10 storage building I have into a darkroom. Step one is done, the building is now light tight, completely and totally pitch black with the door shut. The building is already wired for power, but there is no sort of plumbing running to it. I've been pondering various ideas to get a basic sink in there without having to run a full on pipe system from my house out to the building. Here are a couple of my ideas, I'd like some input on them, or suggestions for improvement if possible.

1) Buy a cheap used sink somewhere and mount it. Run the faucet intake (or whatever it's called, I'm no plumber) through a sealed hole in the wall to the outside, which I will then be able to hook a water hose up to.

2) Even cheaper, get a big tupperware container, cut a hole in the bottom of it and hook up some sort of drain hose, and run a waterhose in through the wall to provide the water.

The water out of the hose will be rather cold, I imagine quite a bit colder than the standard 68° that is recommended for chemical temps. The only way I can think of to combat that without spending lots of money will be to get warm water from the house and bring it out to the building in jugs.

Installing "real" plumbing or getting one of those nice darkroom sinks is unfortunately pretty much completely out of my budget, so if anyone has any good ideas on how I can get the basic "sink" functionality that I need, that would be wonderful.

Thanks in advance!

[Tim Meisburger]

If you are heating the room, you can mount a container (trash can) on a shelf above the sink and periodically fill that with water from your hose. If that water sits in the room long enough, it will stabilize to the average temperature. Conect a hose from the base of the can to your sink faucet.

Alternatively, here in Asia they sell little in-line electric water heaters that would easily do what you need for less than $100. Not sure if they are available in the states.

Alternatively, buy a plastic electric kettle that you can heat water in, and a bucket for mixing. Screw a plastic faucet on the bottom of the bucket and set it on a shelf over your sink. Voila!

[Allen in Montreal]

I built, from scratch, a darkroom sink for dad many years ago.
You can do it slowly, picking up a few parts here and there and building as you have the spare funds. I made his out of press-wood (particle board I think it also called?) and epoxy paint. Wait until there is a sale at the lumber yard, buy one sheet, plan out the cuts before hand. Once assembled, paint it with epoxy paint, it is not cheap paint, so only use one gallon and paint the inside only. You can do the cracks with plastic wood or something, remember that step is just to makes the edges smooth so the epoxy paint can make a nice seal without cracks.

You can add the plumbing as you go and have the cash. A simple set up is hot and cold into a thermometer and out as single flow with two cheap industrial faucets to adjust the flow. Google plumbing tips and you can walk yourself through it. E mail me for some jpegs if you need some help.

Slow and steady and you will have a nice darkroom, 10x10 is a very workable size!

Use a rubber bucket or those cheap, long rubber storage units for clothes etc until you are ready to transfer to the sink when it is ready. When I worked at the wire service, in the days of only sending black and white images on the wire, we build darkrooms in any old place possible, it is amazing what you can get away with!

Good luck,

.....

1) Buy a cheap used sink somewhere and mount it. Run the faucet intake (or whatever it's called, I'm no plumber) through a sealed hole in the wall to the outside, which I will then be able to hook a water hose up to.

2) Even cheaper, get a big tupperware container, cut a hole in the bottom of it and hook up some sort of drain hose, and run a waterhose in through the wall to provide the water.

.......

[Mark Sawyer]

Just a note that if you have a container of water standing for a long time, stuff will grow in it!

[Bruce Barlow]

My favorite sink was the one I made out of a single sheet of plywood and painted with the epoxy paint you get to reline your bathtub. Amazingly cheap, built exactly to size, didn't leach heat out of trays. I wish I had done it again rather than spend thousands on my "dream" stainless steel sink.

I mounted a kitchen faucet on a platform that just rode on the back - I could move it abywhere I wanted. Put a thermometer-thingie on the spout that attached via a garden-hose fitting.

"Build Your Own Home Darkroom" has plans.

[sly]

We found a flat bottomed, 6 foot, fiberglass bathtub at a demolition sale. Cut it in half lengthwise. The top half is in the garden used as a cold frame. The bottom half is my darkroom sink. My darkroom is in an outbuilding and has only cold water running off the garden tap. I keep a kettle in there and add hot water to the cold as needed. Not ideal, but it works.

[jp]

A couple of cheap choices...

Thin plywood box lined with fiberglass. Build the shape you want, get some fiberglass fabric (boating or autobody applications), resin, hardener. Any fiberglass fabric will work, but a woven pattern will bend over the edges better than a chopped random pattern. Use some cheap disposable paintbrushes to apply the resin/hardener mix.

Less custom, but really cheap. you can get about 2x3' black plastic trays at lowes for mixing concrete. Two of these would be nice.

Along a similar line, there are plastic sleds for towing behind snowmobiles, which are similar shaped and construction, but longer, such as 5 feet long. These tend to be more expensive.

[Toyon]

I see darkroom sinks on craigsl*st periodically. I got a terrific one for $100. Somebody out there, probably not too far from you, wants to get rid of one for short money. Recycle.

[Wallace_Billingham]

another idea for the water anyway is to get a larger water jug like sports teams use they have a built in spout in the bottom. Most of these are 5, 10, or 20 gallons in size. Then go to a petshop and get a submersable aquarium heater and put it in the bottom. Aquarium heaters as made to heat water from the high 60s to the high 70s so they would be ideal (and cheap) for this application.

[Allen in Montreal]

we use to do this in the portable wire darkrooms too, it works great, but even better when you throw a small fish pump in there too to keep the water mixed well and al of it at the same temp.

another idea for the water anyway is to get a larger water jug like sports teams use they have a built in spout in the bottom. Most of these are 5, 10, or 20 gallons in size. Then go to a petshop and get a submersable aquarium heater and put it in the bottom. Aquarium heaters as made to heat water from the high 60s to the high 70s so they would be ideal (and cheap) for this application.