substitue trays

"Nicholas O. Lindan" wrote:

... substitute trays
Rubbermaid etc.

Rubbermaid, another company that moved out of NE Ohio...

There is also another old solution:

o Make a frame from four pieces of 1x3, 2x4, AOS*...;

o Lay Visqueen or some other heavy duty plastic wrap
in the frame, draping it over and then tucking it
Don't forget kitty litter boxes.
under;

o Fill.

Caveat: emptying is a bitch if the trays were built on
the floor - as I did when developing some 30x40's.

Emergency trays can be built this way from a cut-down
cardboard box and a garbage bag.

Edward Weston is reputed to have used this method,
using his rain-coat for the plastic sheeting. Urban
legend, I am sure, but one never knows ...

-----
*AOS: technical engineering acronym for "Any Old Sh*t"

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.

On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 12:46:40 -0500, Patrick Gainer
wrote:


Don't forget kitty litter boxes.


.... ahhh ... now we see the significance of AOS...

regards,
--le



_______________________________________
Lloyd Erlick Portraits,
2219 Gerrard Street East, unit #1,
Toronto M4E 2C8 Canada.
---
voice 416-686-0326

http://www.heylloyd.com
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Patrick Gainer wrote:

Don't forget kitty litter boxes.

To my knowledge 20x24 litter boxes are not made. My kitty litter
box is 14x18 outside and very nearly as large as I've ever seen.
I've noticed that kitty could use a little more room to maneuver.
I may order a 16x20 print tray to use as a kitty litter box.
As for 20x24 prints, I'd think one sturdy print tray would do.
Dan

Dan Quinn wrote:



Patrick Gainer wrote:

Don't forget kitty litter boxes.

To my knowledge 20x24 litter boxes are not made. My kitty litter
box is 14x18 outside and very nearly as large as I've ever seen.
I've noticed that kitty could use a little more room to maneuver.
I may order a 16x20 print tray to use as a kitty litter box.
As for 20x24 prints, I'd think one sturdy print tray would do.
Dan
Some have used a trough which can be made of plastic drain pipe and end
caps. Use your imagination. See-saw the print through the liquid.

"Patrick Gainer" wrote in message
...


Dan Quinn wrote:



Patrick Gainer wrote:

Don't forget kitty litter boxes.

To my knowledge 20x24 litter boxes are not made. My kitty litter
box is 14x18 outside and very nearly as large as I've ever seen.
I've noticed that kitty could use a little more room to maneuver.
I may order a 16x20 print tray to use as a kitty litter box.
As for 20x24 prints, I'd think one sturdy print tray would do.
Dan
Some have used a trough which can be made of plastic drain pipe and end
caps. Use your imagination. See-saw the print through the liquid.

On the telly last night I saw a doco on war photographers, missed his name
but as part of the story, vis 2000, there was a section on setting up an
exhibition. The darkroom worker was shown sinking a rolled up print and re
rolling it back and forth. I know not the result only that the story waffled
on about density, sky and redoing the print (24x30) to the photographers
satisfaction to the tune of four goes for the exhibition.

Erroneous tab press!!

To continue, -- if the described method works OK one doesn't need such large
trays. Has any one an opinion on this method of paper control?

I've seen a posting in photo.net from a pro lab man in which he
recommended such a method for huge prints.

And I've used in the past paint rollers in the shower box floor, with
shower water as stop and final wash - but then I don't advise using it in
winter...

Jorge

"otzi" wrote in
u:

Erroneous tab press!!

To continue, -- if the described method works OK one doesn't need such
large trays. Has any one an opinion on this method of paper control?

"Mike King" wrote in
:

I have seen great trays at the home building center about 40x40 looks
like heavy duty PVC made to fit under a washing machine for above
grade installs to protect what's below from leaks. In that
application it think you add a drain but for photo they look about
perfect. About $10 US. --
darkroommike

If they are PVC, and not ABS, they might make good sink material, too,
since they already have sides.

Bob

Patrick Gainer wrote in :

Some have used a trough which can be made of plastic drain pipe and end
caps. Use your imagination. See-saw the print through the liquid.


I picked up some stainless steel drywall mud tray at the home center on
clearance. I think they were under $5 each. Have not used them yet, but if
I do, I will need to cover the edges.

As to the original question, I think the one advantage "official" photo
trays have are the depressions in the bottom that keep the prints from
sticking, so while shopping for alternatives, you might want to try to find
something like that.

Bob

"bob" 1xwj.ReverseThePartBeforeTheDot@bellsouthnet wrote.

As to the original question, I think the one advantage "official" photo
trays have are the depressions in the bottom that keep the prints from
sticking, so while shopping for alternatives, you might want to try to find
something like that.

Good point. They serve several purposes:

o Letting chemicals circulate behind the print

o Keeping the print from sticking to the bottom so that
it can slide around the tray when agitated: not so
critical when the emulsion is face up, but needed
when the emulsion is face down.

o Forming a channel for water to get under the print
when the print is lifted from the tray - especially
critical with large prints: I once found myself holding
two jagged corners as the remainder of the print slid
gracefully back into the tray.

I have (had) trays with:

o Flat bottomed stamped steel with black paint. Prints
didn't stick, as the trays were 3x4" (?). Came from
a Kodak ABC photo lab kit: everything needed to make
B&W prints in one small box. Rusted, didn't last
more than a few weeks. 40's vintage.

o Hard rubber, shattered when dropped, don't remember
the pattern. 50's vintage.

o Sharp ridges: Ok, but the ridges can image on the
paper or film if the emulsion lays against them too
long. Hard to clean, the ridges interfere with a
cleaning sponge and accumulate gunk at the ridge
root. The trays I have are injection molded and
made by FR and Yankee (I prefer the FRs) - 60's
vintage.

o An embossed X, a nice smooth surfaced and rounded X:
OK, but large prints stick to the tray at the corners,
are hard to pull and don't let the chems circulate as
well as they should. Additionally, if the print sticks
to the bottom it is hard to get a print-tong/fingernail
under the print to lift it. Made with vacuum forming?
70's vintage.

o Array of bumps: The best of the lot - the bumps are
smooth so they don't image on a face down sheet;
they let chemicals at the back of the sheet; the
sheet is kept off the bottom of the tray across
the whole surface. Again, looks like vacuum forming.
80's vintage. Made by 'Cesco/Photoquip'.

Another example of the evolution of everyday items, for the
Petroski fans out there.

If I were embossing my own trays I am not sure what I would
do to dimple them: blobs of RTV; glue strips of 12 ga round
plastic to the bottom; duckboard/lath; glue buttons; a few layers
of nylon screening?

I know: glue the bamboo from old print tongs to the bottom
in a sort of random grid.

* * * *

Isn't it amazing what one can write about to postpone an
unpleasant task?

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.