Darkroom cabinets?

[Jay Decker]

Anyone know of a good style, source, or manufacture of darkroom cabinets?

Thanks,

Jay

[Cletus]

I use a heavy electronics workbench as an enlarger stand. The Formica top weighs about 250lbs and is supported by steel cabinets with movable shelves. Makes an excellent darkroom accessory and can often be got for the price of gas and labor to pick it up. Craigslist can be a great source if you're building a darkroom.

[sepiareverb]

I've got an Ikea darkroom. Went together quick and plenty solid. Near me there is a big architectural salvage place that also sold cabinet seconds from various shops- perhaps you might find a cabinet shop and ask about getting what they take out or about seconds.

[Dan Henderson]

I built the cabinets for my first and now second (hopefully last) darkroom. I built them 42" high so I don't have to bend over, 30" deep to have plenty of worktop space, adjustable shelves, and no doors on the cabinets since I could see no need for them.

[vinny]

is there such a thing?
I built mine but I'd search craigslist for someone doing a remodel. maybe get there old cabinets.

[ic-racer]

What country are you in? I got these units from Home Depot. They came in a flat box and assembled easily with a screwdriver.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v670/ic-racer/Jobo-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v670/ic-racer/DSCF5061.jpg

[Winger]

In my first darkroom, I used a sink cabinet from Home Depot and just put a flat formica top on it. I didn't move it when I moved to PA. In my current one, I went to a salvage place and found two cabinets that had likely been in a hospital X-ray room (big slots underneath) and got a huge door for the top. The local Home Depot didn't have the same ones and I needed more space 'cause I added an enlarger when I moved. My engineer hubby ("no such thing as over-engineered") bolted it all together. I'd post a picture, but I'd have to do a bit of cleaning so you could see the bench.

[Jay Decker]

What country are you in? I got these units from Home Depot. They came in a flat box and assembled easily with a screwdriver.

I am in the US. The Home Depot units look nice.

I am deviding a room in my basement and am thinking about making a darkroom 8 or 9 feet wide about 15 feet long. I'll use it for developing film, wet plate, and gum over Pd printing. I have some money available for the project, so I'd like to build a nice space. But, it would be nice to build a nice space without great expenditure...

Thanks for the ideas, please keep them coming!

[ROL]

I got these units from Home Depot.

Me too, 'cept mine were discounts from OSH:


http://rangeoflightphotography.com/SupportPics/DarkroomPix/DR1.jpg

[William Whitaker]

I believe the Home Depot cabinets shown are Mill's Pride which were sold flat-packed and you assemble them yourself. I used them in my darkroom in California about ten years ago. When I last checked (4 years or so ago) Home Depot no longer stocked them, but only offered much more expensive prefab (already assembled) cabinets. I found cabinets at Ikea similar in style and quality to the Mill's Pride cabinets and which appeared to be perfectly suited for a darkroom. I haven't outfitted a darkroom since the California time, but thought if I did, I would go back to Ikea. The price was much more favorable than what Home Depot seems to be offering now. YMMV, of course.

[Reinhold Schable]

Are we talking about cabinets for counter-top-to floor, or cabinets above the counter top?
Do you want (need) doors and/or drawers?
Do you want it to look like a HouseWonderful kitchen photo?
Or... "It's a workspace 'fer cryin out loud, spare me the fancy stuff"...?

I don't like drawers or doors. Things get lost.
Narrow wood or glass shelves above the counter lets light pass down to the work surface.
Vertical storage bays under the counter for trays and working chemistry.
Robust shelves that easily support gallons of chemistry wihout sagging.
No knee-banging handles or cabinet fronts.
A foot rest at toe height for those loooong printing sessions.

It's not as quick and snazzy like Ikea, but it suits me.
My darkroom here:
http://www.classicbwphoto.com/classicBWphoto/Darkroom.html

Reinhold

[Drew Wiley]

Just be aware that the Cheapo outlet stuff is all frass core (termite excrement), so you
don't want them in an excessively damp place. The laminates or melanine coatings are extremely thin. Same with Ikea stuff. Premade Formica countertops are cheap enough
(in my case, free; or I just make them myself). Once in awhile you can run across actual
Kreonite lab fixtures for free or next to nothing, if a commercial lab in closing down in the
neighborhood. Quality of assembly of outlet furniture kits is also abominable or worse; but
Ikea-ish stuff might be OK for the dry side, if you at least have acid barrier liners between
shelf material and anything intended to be archival. A simple colored pH testing pen kit
will tell you if any of the wood acid has bled through the incredibly thin melamine coatings.
Formaldehyde glue is another topic - it will be there, and can mess with things, at least
until it's thoroughly outgassed. Might want to store your keeper prints and unexposed
paper elsewhere.

[Jay Decker]

Are we talking about cabinets for counter-top-to floor, or cabinets above the counter top?
Do you want (need) doors and/or drawers?
Do you want it to look like a HouseWonderful kitchen photo?
Or... "It's a workspace 'fer cryin out loud, spare me the fancy stuff"...?

No, I do not want it to be "HouseWonderful" fancy. But, I also don't want it be it to be "ghetto" - I want it to be a place that I like to work in.

I intend to build my own wet side sink, counter, and shelves. I have enough room on the dry side for lower drawer and shelf units with upper cabinet unit over one end, where I plan to store camera equipment...

The big pieces of equipment are a plate burner, Jobo film processor, film drying cabinet, film freezer, paper cutters, and future dry mount press and mat board cutter.

[bob carnie]

Very lovely looking darkroom , its so clean , I am embarrassed to post any pictures of mine ever again.


What country are you in? I got these units from Home Depot. They came in a flat box and assembled easily with a screwdriver.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v670/ic-racer/Jobo-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v670/ic-racer/DSCF5061.jpg

[bob carnie]

Jay - home depot has a metal shelving unit that is 8 ft wide by 7 ft high three feet deep with potentially five levels. Its painted black , and looks nice in the room and was only $149 and easy to assemble.
for a small darkroom this would be perfect
I have one of these at home in my light room for holding all sorts of stuff, from negatives, inks , portfolios .

At work I have an industrial size one that would be too big for your space but same idea 3 ft deep shelves , this one is 12ft wide by 11 ft high.
I have all my chemicals , beakers , darkroom stuff on it in a logical order , It has made a great change to my darkroom space.
All my trays , buckets and such are under the sink.

Both of these units were the best damm purchases for my darkroom at work and my lightroom at home I have ever purchased.

[Scotty230358]

As my darkroom is only 7ft 6in high my Durst laborator rests on a mahogany coffee table (otherwise the head would hit the ceiling at full extension) I use it with a Japanese kneeling chair and it is surprisingly comfortable to use. My Durst modular 70 stands on a 36 inch square table I bought from Ikea with a two drawer desk pedistal underneath.

The movable cental island is a standard double width kitchen cabinet which is reinforced by a 4x2in frame on the bottom and 1/2 marine ply on top. I bought them without doors to save on costs. My undersink storage are 2 single and one double kitchen cabinet again reinforced in the same manner as the central island.

[Charlie Strack]

This thread is at an opportune time for me--I'm planning to build a darkroom in my basements. 15 years ago, I did this, and used the Mill's Pride cabinets from Home Depot--they worked out fine. I did seal all exposed fibreboard edges with shellac, and never had a problem with moisture.

Now I need to find a new source for affordable cabinets.

Charlie Strack

[bigdog]

I believe the Home Depot cabinets shown are Mill's Pride which were sold flat-packed and you assemble them yourself. I used them in my darkroom in California about ten years ago. When I last checked (4 years or so ago) Home Depot no longer stocked them, ...

My experience, also. I used the same white Home Depot (Mill's Pride) cabinets in my prior darkroom. When we moved 3 years ago, they got donated to my wife's new painting studio, since I was going to build a much larger darkroom! :p Since the flat-packs were no longer available, I ended up building the cabinets myself. No doors, which does make things easier to see, but doors do look nice ...

[Mark Sawyer]

I built my darkroom cabinets myself to custom-fit a particular space. If I didn't need them to fit an exact space, I'd buy some good used kitchen cabinets from craigslist or the like.

[Dan Dozer]

When I built my darkroom about 8 - 9 years ago, I had a choice between the Home Depot variety and a similar type from Lowes. The cabinets from Lowes were less expensive (assemble yourself). They are just particle board construction but have held up just fine even through two floods (sink piping came loose). Occasionally dripping water/chemicals on the cabinet fronts doesn't damage them. Fancy Schmancy looks are great, but you need to decide what you're going for and how much you want to spend. I was much more intersted in spending the money on darkroom supplies than cabinetry.