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Thread: DIY Dark Slides, some thoughts and a question

  1. #11
    Jim Jones's Avatar
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    Re: DIY Dark Slides, some thoughts and a question

    Plywood has the advantage that it can be stained and painted to block light. Stain might block less light than plywood with a pigment like carbon. Hobby shops may also sell thin plywood.

  2. #12

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    Re: DIY Dark Slides, some thoughts and a question

    I haven't tested black FR4, but I think there is a good chance that it is opaque. My experience with FR4 is from its use in PC boards; it is significantly stronger than a phenolic paper-based PC board substrate, which Garolite XX is. For a large darkslide I'd want to use the stronger material. I have some undyed yellow-green 1/16" FR4, which is certainly not opaque, but useful for making scratch lensboards and such. I painted it with flat black rattle-can spray paint and it adheres okay, but not sure I would trust paint to stand up under many darkslide removal/insertions.

    (Maybe I'm overthinking the paint durability issue - how many cycles per year does a 14x17" darkslide go through? Presumably it's not like a 4x5 holder in the days of a busy studio. But it would be terrible to have paint start flaking off in the middle of a trip or whatever.)

  3. #13

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    Re: DIY Dark Slides, some thoughts and a question

    Thanks again for all the suggestions!

    Since I already have some of the plywood, as well as lots of different black paints, I think I'll do some testing with it to see if it can work for both opaqueness (though I have no doubts there) and durability. It's certainly true that it won't be getting used as much as any smaller formats I've used.

  4. #14
    Jim Jones's Avatar
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    Re: DIY Dark Slides, some thoughts and a question

    Quote Originally Posted by reddesert View Post
    . . . I painted it with flat black rattle-can spray paint and it adheres okay, but not sure I would trust paint to stand up under many darkslide removal/insertions. . . .)
    Glossy enamel might tolerate friction better than flat black. A wax coating might also help. There's negligible optical advantage in flat black dark slides.

  5. #15

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    Re: DIY Dark Slides, some thoughts and a question

    Thanks, Jim; that makes a lot of sense.

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