Gear that comes from non-photography sources

[Laminarman]

I brew beer, and these work well for that. I wonder how well they would work for photo chemicals? I have a number of these laying around. At homebrew shops they are cheap, and the best part is you can buy the rubber sealing ring for pennies which means unless you drop it, the things will last forever.

https://www.amazon.com/Grolsch-Glass...34853301&psc=1

These are 1 liter size and $5 a bottle, but split up between a few guys would work if buying a case of 12

https://www.northernbrewer.com/colle...with-flip-tops

[JMO]

I am re-posting the following after a suggestion from another thread on controlling paper development times in cool/cold darkrooms:

Here in the Midwest some of us LFers use electric pig warmer mats to keep print developing trays of the various chemicals at constant temperature (whenever the darkroom is colder than the 21C or 70F). There are no doubt many brands of such pig warmers, but those I've used successfully are made by Kane Mfg., and at their webpage you can see these mats come in a variety of dimensions. Since they are designed for heavy-duty use in farrowing barns by hog raisers, they are totally unaffected by the water and other chemicals that we use in photo darkrooms, and to provide warming temperatures in an appropriate range for DR uses.

The thermostat controller I use is the ESAPCO Model TH-15-HM designed for Corrosive Environments, and this link is to a distributor that sells on-line. It regulates the temperature of solutions in my enlarging trays to the desired 21C (or whatever one requires), and the whole system (mat and thermostat) is economical and very robust.

In my part of the Upper Midwest there is no concern about my basement becoming too warm in the summer, as the soil temperature about 3-4 feet below ground never gets above “cellar temperature” for wine storage which is 50-55F - so I use the pig warmer mat throughout the year.

[Tin Can]

I need a pig warmer for my piggies (toes) they are cold right now.

And around here there is plenty of farm gear.

Great tip!

[scheinfluger_77]

prescription glasses are they?? or store brought magnifiers.

Prescription. My two eyes do not match, significantly, so store mags don’t work for me at all.

[SParis]

I discovered just this week that Ace hardware carries large washers, both steel and plastic, in both Copal 0 and Copal 1 sizes.
OK, they're not exactly Copal 0 and 1, but close enough for when the lensboard is too thin and the retaining ring won't screw down far enough.
Haven't actually used one yet, but I'm thinking they might need a little light-blocking goop or glue. don't get it on the threads!

[SParis]

King size top sheets from Walmart for backgrounds for child photography. Just open the side seams on the top and they slide on the crossbar for the background stand.

I've used sheets in several colors, including dark green, navy blue and black for all kinds of backgrounds. The no-iron kind is best.

[Joe O'Hara]

I am re-posting the following after a suggestion from another thread on controlling paper development times in cool/cold darkrooms:

Here in the Midwest some of us LFers use electric pig warmer mats to keep print developing trays of the various chemicals at constant temperature (whenever the darkroom is colder than the 21C or 70F). There are no doubt many brands of such pig warmers, but those I've used successfully are made by Kane Mfg., and at their webpage you can see these mats come in a variety of dimensions. Since they are designed for heavy-duty use in farrowing barns by hog raisers, they are totally unaffected by the water and other chemicals that we use in photo darkrooms, and to provide warming temperatures in an appropriate range for DR uses.

The thermostat controller I use is the ESAPCO Model TH-15-HM designed for Corrosive Environments, and this link is to a distributor that sells on-line. It regulates the temperature of solutions in my enlarging trays to the desired 21C (or whatever one requires), and the whole system (mat and thermostat) is economical and very robust.

In my part of the Upper Midwest there is no concern about my basement becoming too warm in the summer, as the soil temperature about 3-4 feet below ground never gets above “cellar temperature” for wine storage which is 50-55F - so I use the pig warmer mat throughout the year.

If you aren't in a pig-raising part of the country, you can do a similar thing with seedling mats. They are intended to go under flats of, you know, seedlings to help them germinate faster.

I found a nice one (Vivosun) that's about 21x20 inches, so it's big enough to go under a 16x20 tray. With an inexpensive temperature controller (Willhi WH1436A) having a submersible thermistor probe, I can keep a tray of developer to +/- 0.2 deg F once everything comes to equilibrium. Both were purchased at the well-known internet retailer that has a name beginning with the letter A.

An insulating layer of closed-cell foam or a piece of acrylic (we all have pieces of scratched acrylic, I imagine) underneath is important, especially if you have a stainless steel sink. My seedling mat uses about 45 watts so there's no spare heat to waste.

The seedling mats are designed to be waterproof, but nonetheless I'd strongly advise using a GFCI outlet to power it.

Separately, I use the same Willhi temperature controller with a cheap electric space heater to keep my darkroom at exactly 70 deg F when I'm using it.

[Roberto Rico]

I use plastic Peanut Butter jars instead of glass baby food jars.

[Doremus Scudder]

... Both were purchased at the well-known internet retailer that has a name beginning with the letter A...

You know, there's no law or forum policy that prohibits naming resources, retail or otherwise, as far as I know. Why not help us out and just give us the name of the retailer rather than a riddle we have to puzzle out? I just think it would be more helpful, so I'll do it: AMAZON

Sure, it's obvious, but it took me a minute to get there in my pre-caffeined state

Doremus