Lets See Your Darkroom

[gteeter]

Drible drible, i am very envious. Very nice job on your new darkroom Glenn.

Thanks Jan!

[gteeter]

Really beautiful darkroom. Really top notch job.

I don't think you will have a lot of luck finding the beseler 8x10 kit for the enlarger unless you find one second hand. They are no longer making them.

Thanks Robert for the compliment, and also for the info on Beseler. B&H still lists this item for sale, along with at least one other merchant (Calumet?) but perhaps they haven't gotten word yet and/or updated there websites. It's sad to see LF manufacturers end product lines, but I guess that's business, and progress...

Guess I'll have to find a used beseler 810 head, or build a workable facsimile myself...

[gteeter]

Glenn,

PM me for some advice for reducing clutter and organizing your darkroom better.

Jamie

Indeed I could use some pointers in that regard. I managed to tidy up the darkroom for those photos, but you should see the rest of the house!

[gteeter]

that is one. long. sink. wish mine were that nice and roomy

The overall wet-side length was pretty much dictated by the space I had to work with. Didn't make sense to me to not use the whole length for sinks, and it feels luxurious to have the space. It's the first time I've had the Jobo plumbed up properly in a sink and it's very convenient.

[Dave Langendonk]

Looks great Glenn. I have a similar amount of sink space and use every bit of it. It's great to have if you have the space. What's powering all those ventilation grates? I'm interested to see what you did there.

[gteeter]

Looks great Glenn. I have a similar amount of sink space and use every bit of it. It's great to have if you have the space. What's powering all those ventilation grates? I'm interested to see what you did there.

Hi Dave,

I installed a fairly large in-line exhaust fan in the garage--a Panasonic rated at something like 400-600 cfm. The inlet and outlet are 8" ducts. I ran the inlet 8" duct along the wall between the darkroom and the garage (on the garage side) and ran three separate 6" ducts through the ceiling to the wall where my sinks are. Then I ran these three ducts down the wall using 'wall stack', which is rectangular ductwork designed to fit into stud cavities. These are connected to the exhaust plenum also made from wall stack which runs the length of the sinks. I have nine intake ducts (visible in the photos) which I can open and close in different areas to maximize the airflow depending on where fumes are being generated.

There is a separate duct that connects the darkroom to the house (with filtration) for makeup air. In practice, there is a lot more air exiting the system than entering through the intake filter, because overall the darkroom is quite leaky with respect to air. This is obviously a negative pressure system--I didn't think it would be a good idea to potentially exhaust fumes into the house proper, as could happen with a positive pressure ventilation setup.

I haven't noticed any major problems with dust in spite of the fact that I'm pulling air into the darkroom from the garage, and through electrical and light fixtures. Also, because I located then fan outside the darkroom it is pretty quiet, although not silent which is what I was shooting for. Most importantly, the system does a pretty good job of pulling the fumes off of the trays.

Thanks for the interest, and sorry for the lengthy reply!

[rezdm]

Back couple of years ago my d/r was just in kitchen:

This enlarger was from late 80's or even 91-92, the last attempt of Soviet industry to make a replica of some Durst.

Later on, it was 2x2m toilet+bathroom (yeap, with bath) in Leiden, Netherlands, in a typically Dutch small restroom. There were two(!) of us printing at the same time, helping and disturbing each other, but the result was great:

[John Jarosz]

About the suit. My grandfather always wore a suit. I never saw him in any other clothes. He was a tool-and-die maker. Even when he worked on his lathe in the basement, he wore his suit. Sign of the times.

Fred Picker made a crack about one of his friends always wearing a tie in the darkroom. He said that he (Picker) didn't wear a tie, but: "I have to shave"

Nice darkrooms

[Erik Larsen]

I envy you guys with the endless sinks, what a luxury. I can only fit 4 16x20 trays in the sink proper. If I print bigger I have to use skinny troughs and roll the paper through the chemicals. My space is 10x10 only but serves me well. Most of it was cobbled together with either a hammer and nails or a welder. Nothing hi tech about this space A peg board vacuum frame is that white thing on the wall that is used for horizontal printing with a not shown portable 8x10 enlarger.
regards
erik

[Daniel Grenier]

My first post on the forum--greetings all!...I did the work myself....

Greetings indeed. That has to be one of the finest looking darkroom I have ever seen. Awesome job!