DIY Darkroom Trays/Sink?

[LFLarry]

Anyone ever built large darkroom trays or a sink before?

I would like to learn from your experience and knowledge because I am considering building a sink and some custom trays, but I wanted to maybe hear some ideas that have been tested and are known to work.

I was thinking of building the tray/sink out of plywood and then lining them with some type of laminate and sealing the seams with some type of waterproof silicone or something. Just a rough idea.

I have heard of people building stuff like this, but never knew the details before.

Anyone?

Thanks

Larry

[Dhuiting]

I’m doing that exact thing right now. Building a 12’ sink out of plywood. Using this as a guide: https://hubpages.com/art/Photography...TipsTechniques

There’s also plenty of discussions about this on this very forum if you search the topic.

Best of luck!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Liquid Artist]

I buildings trays out of plywood 2x2 nd lined them with plastic sheeting.
I plan on remaking them with 1x2, and painting them with marine paint.

I also plan on making a sink. Like Dan said there are several threads on the topics in this forum.
The search filter isn't that good so just use google.

[LFLarry]

Hi Dan, I just read the article via your link and this looks really good!

I didn't see the Steelcote brand epoxy paint he was talking about specifically. I found this at home depot:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Seal-Kre...1005/203002753

What paint are you using?

Thanks!

I’m doing that exact thing right now. Building a 12’ sink out of plywood. Using this as a guide: https://hubpages.com/art/Photography...TipsTechniques

There’s also plenty of discussions about this on this very forum if you search the topic.

Best of luck!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[LFLarry]

Hi, thanks for commenting. I think the easy part is building the sink and trays and the more difficult part that I was hoping to solve is the waterproofing part. I did some trays many years ago and I used some type of plastic/rubber liner material from the hardware store and I found the corners to be problematic and then I had to come up with some type of solution around the top edges of the trays, etc.... A pretty big hassle. The waterproof paint or epoxy has my attention and I am going to go down that route this time, I just need to find the right paint for the application because we don't want the prints being impacted by the paint. I was hoping to find someone here that has already done that so I could learn from them. I will keep searching on the forum.

Thank you.

I buildings trays out of plywood 2x2 nd lined them with plastic sheeting.
I plan on remaking them with 1x2, and painting them with marine paint.

I also plan on making a sink. Like Dan said there are several threads on the topics in this forum.
The search filter isn't that good so just use google.

[LabRat]

Search online for "Hydroponic Flood Tables" first...

Very inexpensive, and strong, and good sizes for photo lab use... ;-)

Steve K

[LFLarry]

Hi Steve, I have been looking at those. The biggest challenge I am running into is I can't find them local to me (I live in a rural area) and shipping is outrageous... But, the idea is really good and I will continue to try and find some locally to see in person and review them. The other issue is fining them in the sizes I need without them either being too small or too big. That is why I came to the conclusion of custom building something.

Thanks

Search online for "Hydroponic Flood Tables" first...

Very inexpensive, and strong, and good sizes for photo lab use... ;-)

Steve K

[lab black]

To seal my darkroom sink, I used fiberglass and marine grade resin over plywood with great success.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jHUI0CiYbs

[malexand]

I built my darkroom sink out of plywood - it's pretty simple if you have basic power tools and basic DIY skills. I went this route to maximize the sink space for the rather small room space I had - commercial sinks were either too big or small (or too $$$).
The design is just a large tray - 1 big flat piece with 3" sides, glued and screwed with a drain hole cut at one end. Then I covered it all with marine fiberglass and resin. That was really the worst part - fiberglassing is a messy and stinky business, but not all that difficult. Several coats of marine epoxy paint would probably do just as well.
This whole assembly got set on top of some inexpensive cabinets and shimmed at one end to allow proper drainage. Reasonably so anyway - I didn't bother with sloping all sides toward the drain so there is some modest pooling in one corner, but I deal with it...

[photog_ed]

To seal my darkroom sink, I used fiberglass and marine grade resin over plywood with great success.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jHUI0CiYbs

I did the same with a plywood sink I made 20 years ago. I then painted with epoxy marine paint as others have mentioned. Alas, I was divorced soon after and had to leave it behind.

About 50 years ago (in my teens) I made large trays by making frames out of 2x4s, laid them on the floor - I had a very large darkroom in my parents' basement - and simply laid plastic sheet inside the frame. The floor became the bottom of the "tray." I don't remember how big the tray frames were - probably about 30x50 inches. I think a gallon of solution was enough to cover the one print I made this way. As for how I got the solution out of the trays when finished, it seems I have blocked that part from my memory. It probably involved lots of bailing.

- Ed