Darkroom Renovation Phase 1

[Duolab123]

I love it, "How to Build your own Drymount Press". People used to give me all kinds of old do-it-yourself magazines going back even to the 20's. "How to drill your own water well using your drill' - where you could order a bunch of 12 ft long bits for your 1940's 1/4" electric drill. Secret formulas for turning pine wood into oak. I always expected to see a Popular Mechanics article come out which told you how to build a nuke submarine using old washing machine parts. Drug smuggler subs come pretty close, except they're diesel. What I did see was a series of articles in a woodworking magazine describing how to build your own wood lathe. I presume the second installment showed the first project to do with it: use your lathe to make a prosthetic arm to replace your real arm torn off by gettting it caught in your home-made lathe. But is that really a drymount press or a giant electric bug-popper/ combination human-popper? Looks like something the Inquisition could have used.

I have a compilation book of the Popular Mechanics photo projects. Some of the stuff is really funny. I'm convinced that most of the stuff was quasi fiction. Most everything was a drawing and a list of parts. Still it's one of my favorite photography books. The tray rocker with a non grounded motor off a wringer washer etc. I have a neat little cabinet my Dad made from a DIY photo project. I remember he kept his developing tank, thermometer, sundries. It has 4 shelves that are designed to hold 8x10 packages of paper. Grades 1 to 4. He always used DW Kodak Medalist and Microdol-X.

[MrFujicaman]

This dry mount press project is now off the table. I've been told by a helpful expert that there are several different ways this unit could shock the crap out of you!

I'll find a commercially made dry mount press. Want to find something close to where I live. 43068 zip.

Good...I was afraid we'd hear months down the line that it'd shorted or something and killed you !

[MrFujicaman]

Hey Dan...an off the wall idea for you. Shops that make T-shirts with thermal lettering use a heated press much like a dry mounting press. They come in sizes up to 16 by 20. Maybe look for a used one or one off Ebay?

[Richard Wasserman]

If you leave out all the electrical bits and the concrete the Pop Mechanics press would flatten prints nicely. As shown it's basically a heated book press which bookbinders have been using since forever. Put them in there under a little pressure, go to bed and wake up to flat photos. You however would need another solution if you want to actually dry mount.

[EdSawyer]

Agreed on not building a dry-mount press. They are not too hard to find, I got a nice one for < $100 locally, a while back. (I have still yet to actually use it...LOL)

For print drying, I'd probably do something with screens rather than blotters.

[Daniel Unkefer]

I'm going to be making a big pile of 20x24 screens
And blotters have always worked very well for me. Just takes a few days to air dry.

Our local camera show is coming up. Three or four club members have closed out their darkrooms..........

[Eric Woodbury]

I hang my prints to dry the same way and same place as my negatives. They're a little curly, but fiber is always that way and the dry mount press fixes that.

Originally I had screens, but I needed the space. Plus sometimes I could see the screen pattern on my prints. Not good.

[EdSawyer]

I always dried face-up on screens, to avoid any chance of the pattern.

[Daniel Unkefer]

Drop Ceiling Getting There 1 by Nokton48, on Flickr

Drop Ceiling Getting There 2 by Nokton48, on Flickr

As you can see, we are making progress with the drop ceiling. Note the new heat duct in the ceiling, and we relocated the overhead light so now it fits into the drop ceiling. Also the black wire shelving is gone (and all the construction stuff that was on it!), which makes a lot more room for everything darkroom related.

I think I will need to finish the wall to the right of the door, there is room to spare to put the six foot long Delta darkroom sink there. Electricals already in there (to a point), water lines already run just on the other side of the same wall, also the Kreonite Water Board is right there, just needs to be flipped into the new work space. And the Kreonite CPT16 drain line is right there too. I think this is the easiest way to get the new long sink up and running. Next to the new sink on the white concrete wall will go the 4x4 foot Kreonite Plate Washing Sink, and the Calumet 16x20 Archival Print Washer.

Plenty to consider this weekend. Start again on Monday.

Between now and Monday I need to decide where I want everything to go (equipment placement), including the electricals. Lots of cleaning and planning between now and then.

[Daniel Unkefer]

The Kreonite CPT16 color paper processor is in the process being stripped down, as it warms up, it will go into the garage. It has been sold, so that that will give me some extra operating funds.

You can see the water lines upper left and the Kreonite Water Board right there.

Kreonite CPT16 Stripdown Removal Water Board Flipped by Nokton48, on Flickr