Print Washer - medium and super size

[Tin Can]

Duh!

https://www.calstainless.com/

If one is determined to inquire about stainless I’d still suggest asking California Stainless since they are at least familiar with darkroom fabrication, and as I mentioned earlier they are the distributor for Sebastian Darkroom - that outfit makes all kinds of sinks etc. out of various materials including PVC, and it’s all stuff built for heavy use.

[Drew Wiley]

Here they make Teslas and Space-X rockets etc etc, not Model T parts. Any decent sheet metal shop can cut, bend, weld, and finish a basic stainless tank project, and will have their own inventory of sheeting on hand. That itself ain't rocket science. But I wonder if they ever did launch the first 3d printed booster rocket yet? They scrubbed it last week due to some kind of leak.

[Tin Can]

topper

[faberryman]

You probably don't need rocket booster fabrication materials and technology to build a print washer.

[Drew Wiley]

Well, Michael implied one does need that. I was content with advising fiberglass clad plywood. But in Michael's defense, anything hydraulic pressed or 3d printed to withstand corrosive Starbucks coffee would handle darkroom chem easily. Common wash water is simple by comparison. Even my own stomach lining won't handle much Starbucks. I prefer something less acidic like Kona.

Had to dig past a bunch of big 316 stainless dev trays yesterday, trying to get to my spare bundles of asphalt roof shingles up on a loft.

[Michael R]

I implied no such thing. I’m just playing along. I think acrylic is fine. Like anything else it just needs to be built properly for the purpose.

[Drew Wiley]

Oh, never show your hand, Michael. You won't draw an audience that way. But if acrylic is "just fine" for something as big as a 30X40-plus inch slot washer, how thick do you think those outer acrylic walls at least have to be? Maybe 3/8 inch thick, maybe 1/2 inch. And realistically, you're talking about two sheet of that, about $600 to $800 worth prior to fabrication expense, plus the inner thinner sheet requirements, several hundred more for materials only, easily $1000 for sheet expense alone, plus labor, transport, blah, blah. Acrylic is getting awfully pricey. It's not like fabricating a washer for 16X20 prints, which are heavy enough when they're full.

[Michael R]

I guess that’s why the big acrylic Kienzle is something like $5,000 (!) yikes.

Oh, never show your hand, Michael. You won't draw an audience that way. But if acrylic is "just fine" for something as big as a 30X40-plus inch slot washer, how thick do you think those outer acrylic walls at least have to be? Maybe 3/8 inch thick, maybe 1/2 inch. And realistically, you're talking about two sheet of that, about $600 to $800 worth prior to fabrication expense, plus the inner thinner sheet requirements, several hundred more for materials only, easily $1000 for sheet expense alone, plus labor, transport, blah, blah. Acrylic is getting awfully pricey. It's not like fabricating a washer for 16X20 prints, which are heavy enough when they're full.

[bob carnie]

Oh, never show your hand, Michael. You won't draw an audience that way. But if acrylic is "just fine" for something as big as a 30X40-plus inch slot washer, how thick do you think those outer acrylic walls at least have to be? Maybe 3/8 inch thick, maybe 1/2 inch. And realistically, you're talking about two sheet of that, about $600 to $800 worth prior to fabrication expense, plus the inner thinner sheet requirements, several hundred more for materials only, easily $1000 for sheet expense alone, plus labor, transport, blah, blah. Acrylic is getting awfully pricey. It's not like fabricating a washer for 16X20 prints, which are heavy enough when they're full.

I had trays made about 8 of them 6 -30 x 40inch and 2 - 44 x 60 inch . I found a plastic company who would cut to exact size very thick hard grey plastic (not transparent) we then found a plastic welder to weld them all together and put handles on them. I use them every day and I have had them for about 10 years or more . They work perfectly.
I suspect Drew is correct , I. will need about $1000 worth of plexi , my problem is the guy that made the original is like a lot of us.. closer to heavens door than to conception... he has retired . But just plastic welding will not be enough I will need someone
to router out the five slots to hold the dividers , also build a bottom drainage system that takes the water away with fix evenly plus an over flow drainage area. As many of you point out I believe I will need to WRAP the outside keep the whole unit together. I do not need it too be transparent but I will need to have it on a Caster system that will allow me to move it into place near the floor drains as well attach tempered water too it. I suspect all in all this will cost me about $3-5 thousand dollars. As Michael points out I do work for others so one large mural job will pay for the unit. I hesitate to take these types of projects on now as I do not have the ability to wash economically and time sensitive. I have done mural jobs and in todays world the amount of running water I used in the past was outrageous as basically one can only wash one print at a time to meet archival standards, so if you are doing a 10 mural show basically your stuck to 2 days of full washing. I refer back to the Clyde Butcher video of his printer washing prints in a floor washer and it looks to be a 6 slot vertical floor model. I am going to move forward on this unit over the summer and I will post my design, my materials and where I get them, as well what is required to make one, I thank every one who has contributed to this thread in a positive way. Bob

[Drew Wiley]

Bob, routing or dadoing grooves in acrylic is hell. Because acrylic easily melts doing that, an active coolant flow is needed along with special expensive solid carbide tooling, plus an expensive machine totally water-resistant if it's going to be done safely and legally, something most acrylic fabricators just don't have, being more akin to synthetic countertop apparatus. It is vastly simpler to solvent-weld rib-like retainers consisting of square lengths of acrylic stock to the inside tank endwalls instead, with removable separating septums slid between those.