A collection of darkroom tips and tricks that don't need a whole thread to themselves

[ShannonG]

There is a thread over in "style and techniques" that was started by Heroique Here's the thread (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?115678-A-collection-of-LF-ideas-amp-discoveries-that-don-t-need-a-whole-thread-to-themselves) and it has some great information.

I thought it would be good to have one here filled with tips, tricks and discoveries from everyone's experience. Anything related to the darkroom, could be developing, processing, and the like or general stuff like rubber mats near the enlarger or glow in the dark tape on the light switch. Anything that makes you more efficient or that's just more fun.
S

[dsphotog]

After 40 years, I got tired of sloshing chems on my hands when rocking trays, so I tried using a 2 1/2 inch nylon spring loaded clamp (#69290 $1.39 each from Harbor Freight) as a grip on the edge of each tray.
The metal springs rust quickly, but they are cheap enough that I can replace them frequently.

[John Kasaian]

My current dark room safe light is a short string of red led Christmas lights I got on clearance a few years back. Before that I used GE Guide Lamps (amber night lights) which are no longer manufactured (two on a card for about a buck, IIRC)

[N Dhananjay]

Foot switches... DJ

[Michael Wesik]

I've found that the trick to drying prints dead flat is humidity....

I've covered my drying rack in plastic and set a humidifier (the same kind you'd purchase for your house except you avoid any unit that produces steam/heat) inside to set the humidity at around 95%. My prints - ranging from 20x30 to 50x70 inch image size - are squeegeed emulsion up only with a soft windshield wiper and placed face up on screens. Once set inside the humidified drying rack the humidifier is turned down to a low setting for 9 - 18 hours and then turned off. The residual moisture from the print(s) will hold the humidity in the rack and let the it drop slowly giving the emulsion and paper base the opportunity to dry slowly and together. Prints are then left in the rack for 12 - 36 hrs and then placed under weight for a week, if necessary, or straight into storage. Ilford's new Classic paper dries quite flat and I've processed several sheets of 56x80 inch paper without needing any pressing post-drying. Much of this depends on your climate and your ambient humidity but it's done wonders for my work.

[TXFZ1]

Save the 4x5 cardboard spacers from the Kodak film packages. I use them to adjust the exposure time when making contact sheets using 8x10 paper. I will contact 4 negatives to each sheet and trim afterwards. Place the paper. Arrange the negatives. Cover with glass. Start the light/exposure. Just carefully place the spacer onto of the negative and this allows different exposure times to be used for the same contact sheet.

David

[ShannonG]

easy squeegee station,,,use a extra tray,shallow and over sized for your prints..adhere 2 boards 1in. by 2 in.into the try,,place a sheet of glass on that.the glass should be smaller than the tray so water can be pushed off the edge and collect in the tray dump the tray when its full..keeps the darkroom a little cleaner and it stores easy.

[tgtaylor]

I been using one tray to process salt prints from developing through toning, fixing, HC, and final wash so successfully that I purchased a flat bottom 16x20 and 20x24 tray for silver prints.

Thomas

[walbergb]

I made Ralph Lambrecht's test strip jig with a couple of modifications. It greatly reduced the amount of paper I use/waste determining proper exposure, contrast (to the 1/6 or 1/12 of a stop), burning & dodging. I have his book, but he has graciously made the plans available onlinehttp://www.waybeyondmonochrome.com/WBM2/TOC.html.

[Kodachrome25]

I removed the lower glass from 2 out of 3 of my LPL AN glass neg carriers and replaced it with custom cut styrene plastic masks in order to overcome Newton Rings with films like Acros, APX25, Techpan and Tmax. I did one for 4x5, 6x12 and side inserts for the 6x12 for 6x6, seems to be working fine so far.

[Jerry Bodine]

I made Ralph Lambrecht's test strip jig with a couple of modifications. It greatly reduced the amount of paper I use/waste determining proper exposure, contrast (to the 1/6 or 1/12 of a stop), burning & dodging. I have his book, but he has graciously made the plans available onlinehttp://www.waybeyondmonochrome.com/WBM2/TOC.html.

I, also, made this test strip printer, using mostly MDB materials glued together and some brush-on paints. It's a wonderful device and worth the time to make. Here (http://www.waybeyondmonochrome.com/WBM2/TOC_files/TestStripPrinterEd2.pdf) is the link (see p.5) to the printer drawing. In the process of making it I wondered why the two LOWER #10 washers were necessary, so I queried Ralph and he quickly replied that they are necessary to prevent pinching the edge of the photo paper, thus preventing #3 from lying properly on the paper. If I'd chosen not to install those washers, the problem would have surfaced immediately upon use and necessitated some dis-assembly to install them. Other than that, the only change I made was to substitute longer screws for item #8 so that they were long enough to push on some small table leg protectors over the exposed threads. Then when the #5 cover is opened and laid back, it has cushioned "stops" to rest against.

[Peter De Smidt]

If you use a color head to print on VC paper, check out Paul Butzi's article on how to figure out what settings will allow you to keep the highlight exposure fixed while varying contrast. It was the best single thing I've done to improve my printing. See: http://www.butzi.net/articles/vcce.htm

[ShannonG]

Brown glass jugs (many sizes) with nice lids are a lot cheaper at a home brew shop rather than the usual photo suppliers.. A 1 gallon brown glass jug $4.50.

[JoeV]

I've been using 3-drawer plastic storage boxes as vertically-stacked trays, handy for those with very small darkrooms. Two of them, side-by-side, will give you six trays, enough for a rinse step between each chemical plus a holding tray at the end. Here's a video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC0-NRU3oZ4) describing the process.

~Joe

[ShannonG]

a small air compressor is more powerful and cheaper in the long run than canned air for cleaning negs before they go in the enlarger