I believe that AA made murals by rolling the paper from one side to the other in a long narrow tray like wallpaper hangers used.
If one uses a developer that takes several minutes to complete like Ansco 130 dilute, then the unevenness in the image will not be a problem.
I'll copy and reprint a post from awhile back...and if any of this can be useful to you - great!
Here’s my DIY setup for big (40x60 inch) prints. In the foreground is the paper roll holder on a temporary work table. The large easel on the wall, while positioned very precisely with a bracket and rotatable hold-downs, allows for accurate placement, focus, and the creating of test strips, after which the easel is removed, its leading paper hold-down removed, and placed with its now “open” end against the bottom edge of the paper roll holder platform, at which time I’ll feed paper into the easel and cut it with a razor knife and replace that leading edge hold down and remount the easel to the wall, after which I’ll expose it, using my DIY horizontal enlarger:
After making the exposure, I’ll then remove the easel’s leading edge hold-down once more, but leave the easel in place on the wall while I carefully slide the exposed paper out and carry it into the print darkroom, and slide it into the large single processing tank/tray (here set up for 30 x 40, but the 40 x 60 tank, visible in the first photo leaning against the wall, also fits over the sink). Note that this view is of the “feed-end” where chemicals get dumped from their tubs into the tray, with agitation being accomplished by rocking the whole thing side to side and back to front:
At the end of each chemical step, the left hand side of the tray is lifted slightly and held up by an extra 2x4, after which I’ll open the waste gate on the opposite end and allow each chemical to pour back into their original tubs, which are themselves slid back and forth underneath the processing tray. After each solution is poured out, I very carefully squeegee off the print to allow for maximum solution recovery as well as minimal carryover to the next chemical. Pretty nifty I think!:
Finally, after a thorough washing of the print, I’ll again gently squeegee the print with the tray tilted and waste gate open, and roll the whole print around a “pool noodle” as I wipe of excess moisture on the prints backside with a clean microfiber cloth. Finally, I carry the rolled print back into the studio and carefully hang it to dry. The great thing about this setup is that once the exposed paper is placed into the tray for processing, it never gets handled in any way until I wrap it around that noodle…almost entirely mitigating the risk of those horrible creases!
Oh…and here’s a better view of my DIY horizontal enlarger, consisting of a motorized carrier which many will recognize as the rear (usually vertical) frame from a Beseler 4x5 enlarger, which has been carefully positioned and taped to the work table, ensuring that the “enlarger” part of this setup, which itself has been fastened to the moving part of the carrier in a way that allows no lateral movement as it rolls closer or further from the easel (on wheels) using the motor, remains absolutely square with the easel. The enlarger features a glass negative carrier, held in place in contact with the lower flange of my Heiland LED VC head which I’ve removed from my Zone VI enlarger. This head is wonderful in that the wavelengths it emits are very precise and therefore very efficient, keeping expose times very reasonable. Oh…and the fine focus mechanism is cobbled from the focus bed of an ancient 5x7 Linhof:
Here is another camera to enlarger conversion. This one was offered by Linhof:
John Layton,
On your home made developing tray, if i saw the photos correctly, you did not put any grooving, etc in it to create chemical flow beneath the paper in the tray?
Does not need any grooving. The fact that each of the (30x40 and 40x60) trays are each slightly oversized and the tray rocking, plus the epoxy is ultra smooth and slick...allows the prints to move around and stay elevated enough to ensure sufficient circulation underneath. I will also occasionally swirl my gloved hands very gently over the top of the print during development...but this is almost unnecessary.
I think also the fact that these prints are so large gives them enough mass to respond well to tray rocking and not stick to the bottom of the tray. Another factor may have to do with the specific "hydrodynamics" present in such large trays...and the fact that they have straight sides which seems to help wave propagation be more abrupt and directional - also a good thing because otherwise I'd be losing solution over the edge!
The other good thing about these trays having a smooth bottom is that it facilitates effective removal liquids between steps (as I'd outlined above) without needing to flip the print...by gentle yet "firm enough" squeegeeing of the emulsion, using a squeegee with a soft edge...one that I reserve just for this purpose so that edge stays fresh!
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