Drying cabinets?

[cyrus]

So I've decided to get serious about replacing my kitchen with a darkroom. I won't be tearing out any cabinets - I'll just build a sink and place it on top of the kitchen counter, and the cabinet storage space underneath can be useful as usual (minus the pots and pans I never use.) The fridge and the dishwasher have to go too, as does the range (to be replaced by a mini-fridge, micowave and hotplate)

So do I really need a film drying cabinet? I seem to have gotten along thus far without one simpy by hanging the negs off of my shower curtain rod. Don't really have a dust problem in this part of town, though the shower steam could take care of that too - but if I'm going to build a rather large and "professional" darkroom, should I get a dryning cabinet anyway - is there some reason I don't know for having one? They cost about a grand brand new... Do the filters on these things really work? The one other "pro" darkroom I used had a drying cabinet but theyu never turned it on.

Also, do I really need a temperature-controlled mixing faucet/valve? I don't know if the flow of water gpm in my apartment will be sufficient to keep accurate temp readings (1/2 to 2 gallons per min, I think) Thus far I've been using a handheld or digital thermometr, and mixing by hand... The cost isn't prohibitive but I'm already a bit quesy about doing the plumbing...

[Brian Ellis]

You certainly don't need a film drying cabinet unless you plan to process massive amounts of film at once and don't have enough space in your bathroom. They're used mostly by labs (back when labs used to process film) and schools.

It never occurred to me to get a temperature controlled mixing faucet. I guess it would be nice but no harm seemed to be done without one and where I lived the water temperature ranged from about 68 to 82, usually closer to 82 than 68. The only time water temperature was really critical to me was with film developer and for that I just cooled the water down with ice cubes before mixing the developer. For prints I used the Zone VI Studios timing adjustment device. But someone who has a mixing faucet might point out the advantages.

[Ted Felton]

You don't need a drying cabinet or a temperature contol valve, but if you had them they would be very useful and you would like using them.

Ted

[Oren Grad]

I've never used a drying cabinet.

Very few people need an automatic temperature-controlled mixing valve; I don't have one. But in my darkroom I do have in-line thermometers for two of my faucets. They don't control anything, but they do allow me to monitor the temperature while leaving my hands free and let me save my fragile glass thermometers for the tasks where they're really needed. Not outrageously expensive, either. For an example, go to the B&H website and search on their stock number "DEWT".

[Capocheny]

Cyrus,

The newspaper I use to work at had a drying cabinet and it worked well. As you may surmise, there were strict deadlines that had to be adhered to. And, of course, when the film was processed... it had to be dried in a hurry. So, we used an air filtered, drying unit.

With the number of newspapers converting to digital from film... you might be able to buy a unit from some newspaper at a really, really, decent, discounted price. :)

Otherwise, a shower area works well.

Cheers

[neil poulsen]

I decided on film drying cabinets more for dust control than temperature or humidity control. I couldn't find any that I liked, so I built my own.

By using poplar that I bought at Home Depot, it was easy to get wood that was smooth and straight. So, construction wasn't difficult. All I had was a Skill Saw, and I had no way to rip wood. If I recall, I didn't even have to cut for length. One of the available lengths in the differing widths of wood worked out fine. I just needed to cut the end pieces to size, and that was only two cuts per end. After fitting and gluing it all together, I sanded the seams and painted it to match my darkroom. Looks and works great.

Anyway, consider making your own.

[Louie Powell]

Like Neil, I made my own. Mine is a cabinet that is tall enough to allow a 36x roll of 35mm film to hang without touching the bottom. It's made from MDF, with plexiglass "glazing" in the door so I can see what is happening.

I equipped mine with a double-filtered fan that draws air into the cabinet, passes it by a 200w light bulb that is there mainly because it's a very inefficient light source and generates lots of heat. Air leaves by way of a set of holes in the bottom of the cabinet.

I had a scrap of ClosetMaid metal shelving that was just perfect to use as a rack from which the film hangs. I have a combination of film clips - some made for that purpose, and some that started out life as plastic cloths pins.

If I use the fan/light, film dries in less than an hour. Normally, I just let the film hang in there overnight. The beauty of it is that the film is protected from dust.

[Ron Marshall]

I made a small "drying tent" to keep the dust off of negs when the bathroom is unavailable. It is made from plastic sheeting and 1x1 inch wood frame. One side is fabric covered to provide ventilation. The top has clips attached to hand the film. About one hour and $5.

[Michael Graves]

Don't know about the drying cabinets. I've got one of those air cleaners that deionize the air and I get nice clean negatives. However on the temperature control end, I'm going to disagree with a few of the posts here. The cost of the mixing valves is going to minimal compared to the rest of your outlay. They're relatively easy to install, and once you have them you have one less factor that is out of your control. My wife and I intend to sell our house in the summer and I'll be doing a full-scale darkroom in the new how. I fully intend to install an 8-foot sink with full temperature control, a dedicated water heater and a chiller. That's a little less than a thousand dollars in outlay and it will be the biggest expense I'm going to face.