setting up a dark room in unfinished basement

On Thu, 19 Feb 2004 14:35:27 GMT, "M&M"
wrote:

....
limit my exposure to about 2 hours a week.
Covering the
trays really helps...
....


feb1904 from Lloyd Erlick,

Why limit your exposure? Why not remove any and
all things to which exposure might be unpleasant?

I've spent the last decade working out how to
'expose' myself to the smallest degree possible.
I've got it down pretty close to nil, in any
regard, for processing black and white film and FB
prints. I still get my hands wet sometimes, but
only with plain tap water (never with chemicals -
and never means never, unless I fumble, of
course), and I think I could get down to perfectly
dry and clean hands throughout if I had the right
motivation (like getting paid for it!).

You're probably referring to the stench of rapid
fixer, which could really be choking in a small
space. I've given rapid fixer up completely. In
fact, any kind of acid, in stop or in fix, and any
kind of substance that dries to rocks in my sink
(like rapid fixer does) or attacks stainless steel
(like rapid fixer does), no longer figures in my
darkroom. Neither does PhotoFlo, or a squeegee,
gloves, drying screens, ... but I digress.

If you want to see my full ramblings on
elimination (meaning reduction to zero) of
darkroom odors and 'exposures' (other than
exposure of photosensitive materials!), take a
look at my website. Look under the 'technical'
heading in the table of contents.

regards,
--le
_______________________________________
Lloyd Erlick Portraits,
2219 Gerrard Street East, unit #1,
Toronto M4E 2C8 Canada.
---
voice 416-686-0326
lloyd AT the-wire DOT com
http://www.heylloyd.com
_______________________________________

I did consider putting up walls but that seemed like a costly job.
Someone suggusted why not buy black curtains, and have 2 layers of it
so to make a 'dar kroom within a darkroom'. This way they said the
light exposure would be minimized. One thing I never considered is the
moisture and dust, thanks for pointing that out. Candian winters are
very cold and usually no one in my family likes to go down to the bsmt
than me because it's so cold!

I was thinking of using the laundry sink in the bast but that is right
above the window. I dont want to spend $$ money on putting up an
aditional sink either. I just have to think creatively to come up with
a better solution to this!

"Jim Phelps" wrote in message ...
"Apkesh" wrote in message
om...
Hello,
I am looking at setting up a dark room in my bsmt. The only problem is
my bsmt is unfinished, which means it's all empty and to put up dry
walls to build a room it'll cost me lots of $$$. Has any one ever
setup a room for printing and processing in an environment like this
successfuly? Please help.
apkesh

I may get some 'feedback' on this one, but I recall reading in Ctein's book
_Post Exposure_ he put up a simple frame of wood and covered it with black
garden plastic as well as the exposed walls. Ctein is an expert printer and
well recognized for his work, so if this 'makeshift' darkroom works for him,
no reason it won't for you either.

Now, the plastic will minimize the dust, but temperature and humidity are
other things altogether. Water and drainage will also need to be available.

Putting up your own drywall and framing is not as expensive as one may think
if they can do the work themselves. If you have someone who shares your
interest in the darkroom and can lend a hand, that will make it much easier
(trying to hold a 4' X 8' piece of sheetrock with one hand while trying to
get the screw to go in with the other usually generates a new vocabulary).

Jim



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(Apkesh) wrote in
om:

I was thinking of using the laundry sink in the bast but that is right
above the window. I dont want to spend $$ money on putting up an
aditional sink either. I just have to think creatively to come up with
a better solution to this!


You can plug the window easy enough. Just nail (with concrete nails) some
1x2's (flat) around the perimiter of the window. It might help to pre
drill holes in the 1/2 Apply black felt to the inside edge, and caulk the
perimiter. Cut a piece of plywood the same size and put black felt around
the edges of that (on the face, not the edge). If you don't need the
window, just screw the plywood to the frame. If you do need the window,
you can use hinges.

You can extend the useful area of the sink by making a plywood shelf that
hooks over the edge and has legs. Restrict your actuall flowing water to
the basin of the sink and you don't need to waterproof your shelf, but I
would paint it and put a rim, just in case you spill a tray by accident
or something.

Bob

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On 18 Feb 2004 20:24:11 -0800, (Apkesh) wrote:

Hello,
I am looking at setting up a dark room in my bsmt. The only problem is
my bsmt is unfinished, which means it's all empty and to put up dry
walls to build a room it'll cost me lots of $$$. Has any one ever
setup a room for printing and processing in an environment like this
successfuly? Please help.

For over 20 years I used the whole basement as a darkroom. I built a
solid stand for the enlarger & placed it to one side of the laundry
tub. The washer & dryer on the other side of the tub was my sink.
I'd cover them with old towels & put my trays on them. I developed
film the same way, on the washer & dryer. The laundry tub was my
"sink" for washing film & prints. Blank out the windows & you've got
a darkroom.

Last summer I partitioned off a 12X14 space & finally built a
dedicated darkroom. Built a sink 8' long by 30" deep, nice cabinets,
the whole 9 yards. I love it, but my prints didn't get any better for
having it.


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Professional Shop Rat: 14,267 days in a GM plant.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Mike wrote:


For over 20 years I used the whole basement as a darkroom. I built a
solid stand for the enlarger & placed it to one side of the laundry
tub. The washer & dryer on the other side of the tub was my sink.
I'd cover them with old towels & put my trays on them. I developed
film the same way, on the washer & dryer. The laundry tub was my
"sink" for washing film & prints. Blank out the windows & you've got
a darkroom.

Did you ventilate with fans? This is my issue...basement is so big that a
tiny fan won't do a thing.


Let me answer your question with a question. If you set up outdoors would
you get a REALLY big fan?

Nick

The best solution is the easiest and cheapest.
Clean the floor to within an inch of its life.
Scrub it and rinse it and sweep it and vacuum it
and in general eliminate all dirt as well as you
can. ---------Then seal it with a water based glue; -

My studio is a conc. floored basement garage previously occupied by a
flooring person who generously left dollops of ?flooring? glue here and
there. It can't be removed, by chissel, spade or hammer with out removing a
lump of base. Consequently I've got built in speed humps. So,.. glue may
well work as a sealing medium.

On Thu, 19 Feb 2004 11:16:37 -0600, Mike
wrote:


If you want to see my full ramblings on
elimination (meaning reduction to zero) of
darkroom odors and 'exposures' (other than
exposure of photosensitive materials!), take a
look at my website. Look under the 'technical'
heading in the table of contents.


I've looked before and am quite intrigued by your methods.

Where can I buy plain fixer? I'm interested-- but I'm a student and
can't spend money on a balance/measuring scale and I don't print a whole
lot thus I'm not going to buy bulk chemicals.





feb2004 from Lloyd Erlick,

Well, I've been in that boat too!

You have to mix up your own plain fix. It's too
simple to sell prepackaged.

I suppose you could buy small amounts of sodium
thiosulfate and sulfite. That's all you'd need for
fixer. Five pounds of each would go a long way,
and probably not be too expenisve.

But I know what it's like as a poor itinerant
student, so maybe using liquid concentrates and
whatever is easy to get is the best solution until
you can get a settled darkroom of your own.

To get a pretty low price of C$1.30 a pound, I buy
sodium thiosulfate two hundred pounds at a time
(every four or five years), so there's got to be a
place to keep it...

regards,
--le
________________________________
Lloyd Erlick Portraits,
2219 Gerrard Street East, unit #1,
Toronto M4E 2C8 Canada.
---
voice 416-686-0326
lloyd AT the-wire DOT com
http://www.heylloyd.com
________________________________

On Thu, 19 Feb 2004 15:41:51 -0600, Mike
wrote:



For over 20 years I used the whole basement as a darkroom. I built a
solid stand for the enlarger & placed it to one side of the laundry
tub. The washer & dryer on the other side of the tub was my sink.
I'd cover them with old towels & put my trays on them. I developed
film the same way, on the washer & dryer. The laundry tub was my
"sink" for washing film & prints. Blank out the windows & you've got
a darkroom.

Did you ventilate with fans? This is my issue...basement is so big that a
tiny fan won't do a thing.





feb2004 from Lloyd Erlick,

Maybe your basement is so big you don't need
ventilation. Eliminate sources of odor and
'fumes', such as acetic acid and sulfur dioxide
from rapid fixer, and you might not be creating
enough smell to bother venting. I've stopped using
acid of any sort in my darkroom, and I use an old
fashioned plain fixer I make according to a
formula of Ansel Adams'. My darkroom doesn't smell
at all any more. (I used to put a cardboard cover
on my tray when selenium toner was in it, but I
only have it out for ten minutes at a time and
it's not enough to bother me.)

regards,
--le
________________________________
Lloyd Erlick Portraits,
2219 Gerrard Street East, unit #1,
Toronto M4E 2C8 Canada.
---
voice 416-686-0326
lloyd AT the-wire DOT com
http://www.heylloyd.com
________________________________

Otzi, if the lumps are more than very tiny, you will still have speed bumps
after coating with glue... Chisel em off, and then spackle (fill) the holes
with floor patch, then glue, paint, covering, or whatever...
denny
"otzi" wrote in message
...
The best solution is the easiest and cheapest.
Clean the floor to within an inch of its life.
Scrub it and rinse it and sweep it and vacuum it
and in general eliminate all dirt as well as you
can. ---------Then seal it with a water based glue; -

My studio is a conc. floored basement garage previously occupied by a
flooring person who generously left dollops of ?flooring? glue here and
there. It can't be removed, by chissel, spade or hammer with out removing
a
lump of base. Consequently I've got built in speed humps. So,.. glue may
well work as a sealing medium.

Mike wrote in
news
you are right...I just checked photoformulary.com and the prices are
cheap. I just need a way to roughly measure.

Anybody know of a way to convert grams to tablespoons? Of course there
would be variations depending on how tight the crystals pack
together...but I imagine this is minor.


Just find someone with a postal scale (they are common at colleges
because the professors send out so much mail), and get on their good
side. Weigh out one ounce of each component as a reference.

You can build a balance scale from a few scraps of sheet metal (I bet
even beer can would work.) Just a triangle with a fulcrum. They sell gram
balance scales pretty cheap at "head shops" that are made with this
method. Can't cost more than $5 or so.

Bob

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