Recommend a timer and a weighing scale.

[Anupam]

I am looking for suggestions for two darkroom accessories - an easy to use timer that works in complete darkness, and a scale to weigh small amounts of chemicals for alt. processes. I have managed to get by with a variety of ingenious makeshift solutions, but if reasonably priced efficient solutions are available, I might as well get them and be done with it.

1> A timer that will work in the dark for tray development and not fog film - needs to be very compact as I carry this stuff around when I travel.

2> Weighing scale for chemicals - again compact and cheap is great. It's for chemicals so has to be sensitive to small weights, but if there is a model that can also measure slightly heavier stuff - maybe as a kitchen scale or for small postal parcels - that would be an added bonus.

Thanks,
Anupam

PS: My DIY solution for the scale was a homemade balance beam that used water as the weight measure - balance the beam out, and put X ml of water in one cup and then put chemicals in the other cup until it balances out again - that'll give you X gms of chemical. Great fun and recommended but now I'd like to move on to a more readymade plug-and-play solution.

[vinny]

I've had this one for several months. It's accurate, very compact, and easy to use. The lid pops off for use as a larger tray.
http://www.amazon.com/Triton-T2-Digital-Formula-Jewelry/dp/B000MMC5PE/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=miscellaneous&qid=1213567767&sr=8-14

[Anupam]

Going to that page I also saw this waterproof digital thermometer (http://www.amazon.com/Taylor-Professional-Waterproof-Digital-Thermometer/dp/B00009WE4B/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1213568929&sr=1-1) - looks cool - are these accurate and any good for darkroom use. As you can tell, I have a bout of accessory shopping coming on :)

[David Karp]

I purchased a small electronic jewelry weighing scale from a guy on E-Bay. It measures in tenths of grams. Works just fine for weighing chemicals. It has a tare feature. I purchased the version with the calibration weight, and am glad I did.

[Kirk Keyes]

I've bought 2 jewel/dope scales off ebay and they were both remarkably accurate (I checked them this lab quality reference wieghts). One was 100x0.01g and the other 1000x0.1g. They are small, which can present a problem with the 1000g scale, but other than that, I'm quite happy with them. And I think both cost well less than $20 ea. with shipping.

[David Karp]

I checked. Mine is a My Weigh, and I purchased it from this guy: http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=1.

Mine might be an MX300. It is not handy, so I can't check it out for a while.

[Anupam]

Thanks, David. Those scales look good - I'll order one.

Any ideas for a timer solution or thoughts on the thermometer? An immersible digital thermometer would be nice if it were accurate.

[Colin Graham]

I checked. Mine is a My Weigh, and I purchased it from this guy: http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=1.

Mine might be an MX300. It is not handy, so I can't check it out for a while.

I have a MX-200, bought from the same guy. Works great, had it about 3 years now. Mine is limited to 200g, but not much of a limitation in practice.

I recently got one of those $10 instant read digital thermometers from the baking isle in the grocery- man those are great! Checked it with an oral thermometer and it's right on the money.

[Alan Davenport]

Their triple beam balance is ideal for photo chemical measurements and could handle small packages as well. It can handle over 2600 grams in 0.1g resolution.

http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=18

[John Cahill]

[as I carry this stuff around when I travel.

2> Weighing scale for chemicals - again compact and cheap is great. It's for chemicals so has to be sensitive to small weights, but if there is a model that can also measure slightly heavier stuff - maybe as a kitchen scale or for small postal parcels - that would be an added bonus.

Thanks,
Anupam

*******

I use a scale made for measuring gun powder charges for reloading ammunition to check my spoons measurements. Cost less than fifty bucks U.S. and is accurate to about one tenth of a grain.

[SparkoShell]

Check ! here is a best scale store (http://www.myscalestore.com/industrial-scales/bench-scale/) for you . You will find these really useful. I personally use this source to get every kind of scale. One best thing among the store that there is every kind of scale you want to get.

[jamesaz]

I've used a cheap timex indiglo watch as a timer for years. Light is soft and you always know where it is. Probably better options available now though. It did require the pushing of a button to light up. Good luck