Darkroom meets Home Depot

[Matthew Cordery]

So, the new enlarger is starting to arrive (I can't believe I finally bought one of these things and don't have to rent one anymroe) and am working trying to do things to my bathroom to make it darkroom friendly. I imagine some point in the future when, upon walking into the local Home Depot, the sales "help" will run, scurrying like mice. Why? Probably because they see me coming and want to avoid questions like: "I need some thingy like this that goes on the bottom of this other thingy that's going to support this big heavy doohickey in my bathroom. Do you have anything like that? It doesn't have to be pretty" :-P

[David Karp]

Matthew,

For my bathroom darkroom I visited the local Home Depot several times and came away with the following items that might be of use to you (depending on your situation):

-Two saw horses, a smooth piece of plywood, and two clamps to support my enlarger.

-A big piece of melamine coated particle board that I cut to fit in the sink niche, then put some legs on it. This fits over the counter and sink and sits on the counter. It provides a nice table for the developing trays. The niche is big enough to hold four 16x20 trays.

-Some drinking water tubing, a hose clamp, hardware, and a two way diverter from the garden shop. This ran from the faucet under the aforementioned tray table, and across the floor to the bathtub. This hooked up to the print washer, which sits in the tub and drains as might be expected.

-A couple of nails driven into the top of the door casing held a sheet of black plastic blackout material over the door, and gray duct tape held the blackout material over the window. (Don't use duct tape. It is a mess when you have to remove it.)

-The Kodak bullet safelight was suspended by wire from the shower curtain rod.

Well, my first son was born, and all of these additions to the bathroom have been undone. The bathroom is now once again a bathroom (but I have high hopes).

Perhaps some of these ideas might be of some use to you.

Have fun!

[David A. Goldfarb]

If you can't keep your enlarger set up permanently in the bathroom, a typewriter table (do they still make them?) of the sort that doesn't have a crossbar at the bottom will fit right over the commode. It will be too small for most enlarger baseboards, but you can get a set of rubber feet from the hardware store that you can screw into the bottom of the baseboard to fit the footprint of the table, so that it can rest there solidly while protruding over the sides. I use an Omega D-II this way.

If you have to set up and tear down for each session, I also recommend owning trays in several sizes, since smaller trays are easier to set up and take less space and less chemistry, when you don't need larger trays.

A changing bag or tent will also increase your productivity if there are other demands on the bathroom, so you can load holders or load rollfilm onto reels for processing later while others are in the bathroom.

Get a retractible clothesline (or even more than one) like you find in hotel bathrooms--this is very handy.

I keep my timer and safelight set up in the bathroom. Everything else gets moved in and out. It's a cumbersome way to work, but with practice, it gets more efficient, the more work you do.

[Gem Singer]

Hi Matthew,

I can relate to your remarks. I also haunt (and hunt in) my local Home Depot. Among the dozens of items that I have purchased there for use in my darkrooms, is a 5 micron water filter, re-fill cartridges, and a metal stand for my Omega D-2 enlarger. The stand was originally designed to be a folding stand for a Ryobi table saw. It no longer folds and has been modified for vibration resistance. My wife was job- transfered several times, so I have used the stand in my darkrooms in Tuscon and Phoenix, Arizona. Huston, and now Irving, Texas. I spend a lot of time in my darkroom, since it also contains my toilet and photo library.

Enjoy your new darkroom. and good luck with your Home Depot hunting.

[MIke Sherck]

Personally, I haunted the local Ace hardware store. I think the old guys there enjoyed the challenge to their hardware-geekhood!

[Matthew Cordery]

"-A big piece of melamine coated particle board that I cut to fit in the sink niche, then put some legs on it. This fits over the counter and sink and sits on the counter. It provides a nice table for the developing trays. The niche is big enough to hold four 16x20 trays."

I did this, but I built the table for my enlarger. Got a 2'x4' piece of melamine and some stupid looking 4" table legs. Got some little metal plates that you screw into the melamine and the legs screw into the plates. Voila: enlarger table that sits above the sink. The only creepy thing is the enlarger baseboard. I just got a Saunders 4550XLG and the baseboard sticks way out past the edge.... Still, I think it'll work ok. Seeing the post made almost made my heart stop. I was thinking 'oh, this will never make it in there, but it just fits with a couple of inches to spare.

"-A couple of nails driven into the top of the door casing held a sheet of black plastic blackout material over the door, and gray duct tape held the blackout material over the window. (Don't use duct tape. It is a mess when you have to remove it.)"

That was next on my list. I did the window already with 4 mil black plastic. I used electrical tape and that seems ok though I've had to keep putting more on as it's not the stickiest stuff in the world.

[Matthew Cordery]

One thing they had were these 40 watt vanity lights with supposedly 'natural lighting. They have some blue tint to them. Curious to see how they work for examining prints.

[David Karp]

Matthew,

I built my tray table exactly the same way that you did, with the plates and screw in legs.

The only thing I would be worried about is whether the table will flex with the weight of the enlarger on it.

By the way, I have a Saunders 4500 II (shorter post, smaller baseboard, lower wattage lamp). Don't believe the claims that Saunders enlargers don't need to be aligned. John Sexton uses them and told us during a workshop that they do indeed go out of alignment. I have a Parallel from Versalab (which uses a laser and glass plates to align the enlarger). Sexton's claims are very accurate, at least as they apply to my enlarger. The Parallel works great. I found that a periodic check up does wonders to keep the enlarger aligned. The problem is that since they are so sure their enlargers don't need to be aligned, they made no provision to do so. I have used sheet film and 120 film and other slim objects as shims to make adjustments in the column, lensboard, enlarger head, etc. This seems to work.

[Matthew Cordery]

Dave, I was thinking about that. I was looking at the flex and I think I'll end up putting in two more legs in the middle along the sides. I was going to do the old 'mirror test' on the alignment. My wife told me the actual enlarger just showed up via UPS this morning so I haven't had a chance to put the whole thing together yet. The one nice thing is that there's an GFI outlet that I can plug into.

[David Karp]

Matthew,

For what it is worth, I find that my enlarger goes out of alignment at both the negative stage and at the lens. Just giving you some areas to check after you assemble your machine.

Don't let this discussion lead you to think I don't like my enlarger. I really like it - a lot. It is a pleasure to work with. My only suggestions for improvement would be to make it easier to align.

[John Flavell]

Note to Home Depot: Change isle marked "Exterior Doors" to "Darkroom Photography"

[Matthew Cordery]

Sweet. I got the thing all assembled. I'm definitely going to have to beef up that table I built. Does the enlarger light only come on if you have a timer hooked up to the thing? The fan comes on but no light (yes, I have the light plugged in....)

[Graham Patterson]

A few years ago (actually around 24, now I come to think of it), I used a double glazing kit to put sliding hardboard screens in the bathroom. It gave half the window for daylight purposes when 'open', and was good enough for printing when closed. Film work needed a changing bag or night-time. This was in the UK. I don't recall seeing anything quite the same in California.

I used to hang my safelight in front of the mirror of the medicine cabinet.

[David Karp]

Matthew,

I am embarassed to say I can't remember whether it works without a timer. My enlarger is now set up in another house, so I can't look at it. I know there is a transformer that plugs into the wall, and I remember it has a switch that turns on the fan. We are going to have to rely on another Saunders user to answer this one. Sorry.

As an alternative to the Melamine table, you might consider plywood. Home Depot has several thicknesses with very smooth finishes, suitable for staining if you like. This will be much stiffer than the other material and, with the extra legs, should be adequate to support the enlarger with out flexing.

John: My late father-in-law's enlarger table was an old door that he mounted to the wall!

[Ralph Barker]

I think the real trick to doing a bathroom->darkroom conversion is to look at the existing configuration with a creative mind. Determine what needs to remain functional, and what can be safely returned to functionality after the conversion, even if only temporary. Then, visit one of the better Home Depots that have the new "Thingies and Doohickies" aisle.

My current darkroom (former bathroom), for example, had a full tub, enclosed on three sides, with tile partway up the walls. Attaching 1" aluminum angle to the wall studs at the edge of the tile provided a nice 3-sided support for a large enlarger surface made from 3/4" plywood, and edged on the front with a 1x2 for better rigidity. Shelf planks converted the top of the tub into a paper-storage area. The existing sink counter is large enough for 3 11x14 trays, and a round wire kitchen trivet (normally used for cooling baked goods) folded up on one side makes a flat bottom for the sink for rollfilm processing. An expansion clothes-hanging pole makes a handy hanger for film drying clips. Adding black felt weather stripping around the inside edge of the door, along with painting the door jam flat black makes a light-tight seal, even in daytime.


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[John Kasaian]

G.E. Guide Lamps! These are little O.C. night lights that plug into an electrical outlet and probably last forever. Mine are close to seven years old. They don't have a screw in bulb and look kind of art deco. A card of two goes for something like a buck at Walgreens. One of these guys will light up a typical bathroom quite nicely and I've yet to fog any paper. One heck of deal for a safelight.

[Bobby Black]

I think I'm going to make my darkroom into a bathroom and really screw with the guys at Home Depot. ;)

[Norm Johnson]

Just a point of interest in blacking out a room in a hurry. Several of the sewingand cloth stores of the chain variety sell black out cloth. That which I get is white. In fact I used it this evening to block the bathroom to make some cotact prints. It does block the light and I have cut a section out to use as spare to toss over the back of a view camera. It is light enough and reflects the light here in desert. Norm