DIY UV exposure box

[jp]

For the past couple of years, I've been using a metal halide light hanging from the ceiling in the basement for a UV light source. I've wanted something I could put in or near the darkroom for UV printing.

I was over at Tillman Crane's darkroom, lusting over his fancy UV boxes. I told him I came over to look at his UV lights so I could build something. He whipped out "The New Platinum Print" and suggested the plans in it. http://www.amazon.com/Platinum-Print.../dp/0966609905 I took photos of the pages with the instructions and gave it back to Tillman. I'm sorry it's such an expensive book at amazon, but I'm respecting the author's copyright and not posting my high quality cell phone pix of the instructions. There are probably other plans free or cheap, but I'm just referencing my sources.

I found 18" t8 black light bulbs on the 75% off already-marked-down-clearance-rack-prices at Lowes; I scored all I needed at $1-something per bulb. The box has 11 light fixtures in it; this comprises most of the cost; these were sourced new in contractor quantity at ebay. Cooling is done with an antec case fan and removes heat from the upper and lower sections of the box; air intake is in front underneath. Hinge is a nylon strap. Metallic insulation is leftover scrap insulation4less, but reflectix works fine too. With fixtures, bulbs, wood, I have about $200 into this; something you'd pay $700-800 for (with nicer woodworking of course) at B&S.

[jp]

and





http://www.flickr.com/photos/1375969...7635019029286/ for bigger images.

[Tin Can]

Yep, making one of those is on my list. Nice job, pretty sure I don't need 'plans'.

Thanks for sharing!

[Dwarak Calayampundi]

Hi

Thanks for the post really helpful I have just gotten interested in platinum printing and was thinking about a uv exposure box contacted B&S for a quote to ship to Australia the shipping costs as much as the box itself. So decided to build my own box just one question on the wattage of the T8 tubes what kind of wattage should it have for platinum printing I am thinking of making a small box with 8 tubes to cover max 8x10.

[jp]

I have 18" 15 watt tubes. I could print bigger than 11x14. If you did 8 tubes that would be plenty. Cyanotype is much slower than platinum, so you could get away with less light just fine

[Dwarak Calayampundi]

Thanks for the quick reply much obliged.

[Cletus]

That's really a beautiful box I thought about building one myself sometime ago and I ended up getting a deal right here on the forum for one of the B&S Edwards Engineered UV boxes I can't imagine there's any advantage to this more expensive box over a nice home-built one like your'n as long you have the facilities to do it and I'd say go for it and it's lucky you live next to Tillman Crane and could look at his book but I think you can also go on the interwebs or figure out how to build one yourself if you don't want to pay hundreds of dollars for the other book if you really want to try platinum printing it's not that hard.

[UlbabraB]

Nice design, mine is very similar but I hadn't thought of putting reflective material inside the box, kudos!

[Tin Can]

Your bottom image reminds me of 2000 Burning Man Installation. Some group erected Black Light Village, where several acres had old parking lot lighting fixtures with hundreds of 4 foot black light tubes installed. It was subtle from a distance until you walked into the vast area and noticed everything white was glowing.

A huge project, that required a semi-trailer and a big generator. We imagined some Dot-Com millionaires funded it on a lark.

and





http://www.flickr.com/photos/1375969...7635019029286/ for bigger images.

[jp]

That's really a beautiful box I thought about building one myself sometime ago and I ended up getting a deal right here on the forum for one of the B&S Edwards Engineered UV boxes I can't imagine there's any advantage to this more expensive box over a nice home-built one like your'n as long you have the facilities to do it and I'd say go for it and it's lucky you live next to Tillman Crane and could look at his book but I think you can also go on the interwebs or figure out how to build one yourself if you don't want to pay hundreds of dollars for the other book if you really want to try platinum printing it's not that hard.

I've seen the Edwards Engineered boxes and Tillman speaks highly of them. If you got a good deal on one, that's excellent. I looked around the Internet as well for ideas and wanted to inspect a known good box in person. It was a total bonus that he's got books on that stuff. It took me one afternoon and one evening in the shop to build. If someone doesn't mind a day of tinkering and particularly electrical work, it's worth building something. If time is money though, someone has to get paid and Edwards isn't unreasonable in that respect.

My girls want a blacklight now. We put different things in there just to see how they glow. My fingernails glowed quite a bit actually. But this box is too bright for adults or kids to be staring into for long periods. If I lived on the west coast, I'd probably have been inclined to visit Burning Man, not as a neuvo hippy, but for creativity/tinkering appreciation/diversion.