My new Darkroom in Phuket Thailand

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

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So I just called my brother in law as he is the one that is building the darkroom. The area that I have is going to be 12x15 feet with an 8ft ceiling.

 

My initial hand drawing is attached below:

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I am very open to ideas but basically I will have a large sink. The area for the wet trays will also have water below to catch spills in other words the trays will be sitting on a grating with 12 inches of water below.

 

The dark/dark room will be for unloading and loading film. I will have a 4x5 enlarger that I will be able to project onto the wall above the trays for large prints

 

Please feel free to comment if you think I have forgotten anything

[erl]

Neil, I would try to fit at least one more large tray for washing; ideally two, arranged in a cascade configuration. ie. one above the other where top tray spills into bottom tray, which is the first one for washing.

 

Have you allowed for storage of film(fridge) and paper sizes? Shelving for storing chemicals.

Maybe a print dryer. Also a film dryer.

I'll try and think of other features

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[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

Neil, I would try to fit at least one more large tray for washing; ideally two, arranged in a cascade configuration. ie. one above the other where top tray spills into bottom tray, which is the first one for washing.

 

Have you allowed for storage of film(fridge) and paper sizes? Shelving for storing chemicals.

Maybe a print dryer. Also a film dryer.

I'll try and think of other features

 

Erl

I will move the film loading room to the side where the enlarger will be that way I will have more room for trays making the counter top with the grating  36" x 12' (should be plenty of room for four 24x30 trays

See below

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I will have film and paper storage and shelfs over the sink for chems

 

Neil

[christoph_d]

So I just called my brother in law as he is the one that is building the darkroom. The area that I have is going to be 12x15 feet with an 8ft ceiling.

 

My initial hand drawing is attached below:

IMG_3954.JPG

 

I am very open to ideas but basically I will have a large sink. The area for the wet trays will also have water below to catch spills in other words the trays will be sitting on a grating with 12 inches of water below.

 

The dark/dark room will be for unloading and loading film. I will have a 4x5 enlarger that I will be able to project onto the wall above the trays for large prints

 

Please feel free to comment if you think I have forgotten anything

 

 

Exciting, I wish you lots of success with working in it! My only comment (and please keep in mind that I am not an expert in the layout of darkrooms) would be that if you have a darkroom, it should also be dark enough for loading/unloading film, so the extra dark/dark room is imho not necessary, and you probably will be glad to have some extra table-space instead. 

 

Kind regards 

 

Christoph

[Guest )-(]

I agree with Christoph that you already will have a darkroom. Maybe give additional consideration to ventilation/dust prevention rather than building a closet inside a darkroom purely for loading film.

I know I'd be grateful of any additional bench space in mine to put a light table/negatives I'm reviewing and spread out prints to look at etc.

Somewhere to put the dry mount press permanently...

 

As it is I have to use the washing machine and toilet for these purposes, or move everything away, then back again later.

 

Also why is your sink separate from your trays? Why not have a traditional long shallow sink in which your trays and, if desired, grating can sit.

That way you can make it a little longer and repurpose any additional space. As much bench space as practical.

You can make a right old mess in the sink any time you like, and use it for multiple purposes, including sitting a print washer in it if you had one, or a colour processor etc. 

 

You can use the space under the long shallow sink to put flyscreen frames to dry prints, or for storage of chemistry.

Then use the shelving above to store other, lighter accessories like developing tanks, reels, etc.

 

Film/paper storage sounds convenient, would love to have this. Is that really just a fridge in a cupboard?

I'd definitely consider ventilation in your plan. Also think about your foot traffic from enlarger to tray to tray to tray, since this is where you'll be putting the miles in.

 

Good luck. I'd love to have a house, let alone a purpose built darkroom. You should try APUG for advice.

If it were possible to make some things adjustable, you're bound to rethink things a little once you've been in there a while.

[christoph_d]

Oh, and don't forget some space for your music equipment ...

[Guest )-(]

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I will have film and paper storage and shelfs over the sink for chems

 

Neil

 

Maybe don't put your film and paper above your 'wet side'. This sounds like a bad idea to me. 

Keep those precious things well away from liquids.

 

Not sure you'd need dryers in Malaysia, but you would want somewhere to hang film and to let prints dry naturally (if that's your intention.)

What about the flooring also? Is that already in? And power locations - you'll want to make sure you have good access around enlarger/light table.

Plus will you also be scanning in here? Somewhere near the enlarger/light table maybe to store scanner/put laptop.

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

Exciting, I wish you lots of success with working in it! My only comment (and please keep in mind that I am not an expert in the layout of darkrooms) would be that if you have a darkroom, it should also be dark enough for loading/unloading film, so the extra dark/dark room is imho not necessary, and you probably will be glad to have some extra table-space instead.

 

Kind regards

 

Christoph

My concern is this. My current darkroom in KL is where I do all the loading and unloading film. What I noticed is that my Beseler enlarger timer has switches that store light so in the dark you can see the on off switch and also the numbers on the dials. When working under safe lights I guess that is okay but I'm worried about fogging film with the light coming off the timer. In KL I put a piece of dark cloth over the timer when I'm loading film

Neil

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

Maybe don't put your film and paper above your 'wet side'. This sounds like a bad idea to me.

Keep those precious things well away from liquids.

 

Not sure you'd need dryers in Malaysia, but you would want somewhere to hang film and to let prints dry naturally (if that's your intention.)

What about the flooring also? Is that already in? And power locations - you'll want to make sure you have good access around enlarger/light table.

Plus will you also be scanning in here? Somewhere near the enlarger/light table maybe to store scanner/put laptop.

All my scanning will be done in my office in my house. This is where I will be doing all my digital stuff including large prints up to 44 inches

[erl]

My concern is this. My current darkroom in KL is where I do all the loading and unloading film. What I noticed is that my Beseler enlarger timer has switches that store light so in the dark you can see the on off switch and also the numbers on the dials. When working under safe lights I guess that is okay but I'm worried about fogging film with the light coming off the timer. In KL I put a piece of dark cloth over the timer when I'm loading film

Neil

If you are loading film, you won't need the enlarger timer turned on. In actual fact, it really won't matter anyway. There have been times when I could read a newspaper by the light in the darkroom and still sensitized materials, including film, did not suffer. Of course that is over a reasonable time. Prolonged exposure is never good.

 

Consider having a dimmer in your safelight circuit. Very useful. There will be times when you want lots of safelight and times when you want less, to improve your 'dark vision'.

[Mark Pope]

For washing prints, get a Nova print washer. They are a brilliant piece of kit.

[djmay]

My suggestions

1. As other have said keep dry and wet materials strictly separated. Accidents happen.

2. Install an inlet fan with a filter material over the inlet. This serves to maintain positive pressure in the darkroom, which should minimize dust. I leave it on when printing and turn it off when drying film.

3. Install an exhaust fan. Mine is over the trays. I turn in on as needed. Be sure it is "weaker" than the supply fan so that you do not pull in dust through cracks, under doors, etc.

4. Install electrical outlets above the work surfaces, fairly high. It is very convenient.

5. Do not have too much space between dry and wet sides. Otherwise it is too much wasted motion.

6. Have space for four trays minimum on the wet side. It is more convenient.

 

Attached is a photo of my darkroom.

The fan inlet duct is on the far left.

An electrical outlet is on the right. I have two each on wet and dry side.

The sink is out of view on the right, similar to your setup.

I air dry prints back-to-back. You can see in the photo. They dry slowly, with very little curl. If necessary, I use a dry mount press to flatten, but that is rare.

 

Jesse

 

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[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

Thanks everyone for the tips and advice.............We will hopefully get started on this in October, I still need to find a 4x5 enlarger as the guy in KL has now decided he wants to keep his

I will update once we get started 

 

Neil

[Jeff S]

Put a light over your sink, at the end of the line, that matches the intensity of your print display lighting so that you can better judge print exposure and tonality. Put the light switch in a convenient place. A plexiglass viewing stand can assist in keeping wet test prints at a consistent viewing angle.

 

Make sure your counter heights and sink BOTTOM are appropriate to avoid back strain.

 

Pay careful attention to ventilation.

 

Consider buying or building some print drying screens that can be stacked and stored to avoid curling.

 

Workflow is key.

 

After designing and building 4 darkrooms, It's easy to have dozens of tips. Besides learning from experience, I started by reading books and articles on the subject and visiting others' darkrooms. There are some threads on the forum, too.

 

Jeff

Edited August 14, 2017 by Jeff S

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

Put a light over your sink, at the end of the line, that matches the intensity of your print display lighting so that you can better judge print exposure and tonality. Put the light switch in a convenient place. A plexiglass viewing stand can assist in keeping wet test prints at a consistent viewing angle.

 

Make sure your counter heights and sink BOTTOM are appropriate to avoid back strain.

 

Pay careful attention to ventilation.

 

Consider buying or building some print drying screens that can be stacked and stored to avoid curling.

 

Workflow is key.

 

After designing and building 4 darkrooms, It's easy to have dozens of tips. Besides learning from experience, I started by reading books and articles on the subject and visiting others' darkrooms. There are some threads on the forum, too.

 

Jeff

 

Cheers mate

What does a print drying screen look like? I am sure I would be able to get something like that made here in Thailand

 

Neil

[Jeff S]

Mine were sold by Zone Vi, now defunct, but easily made. They were about 2x3 foot wide frames, about a half inch thick, with mesh screen inserts (like on a screen door). Prints could be laid flat to drain, with another screen on top to prohibit curl. I created a wooden rack under my counter, with grooves, that allowed me to slide in screens to stack in pairs.

 

Jeff

[Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS]

Mine were sold by Zone Vi, now defunct, but easily made. They were about 2x3 foot wide frames, about a half inch thick, with mesh screen inserts (like on a screen door). Prints could be laid flat to drain, with another screen on top to prohibit curl. I created a wooden rack under my counter, with grooves, that allowed me to slide in screens to stack in pairs.

 

Jeff

Something like this http://m.ebay.com/itm/KAISER-4048-PRINT-DRYING-RACK-FOR-PE-RC-PHOTO-PAPER-K4048-/191828225372?epid=1761603235&hash=item2ca9da6d5c%3Ag%3AlwMAAOSwoudW6ZgU&_trkparms=pageci%253A16a5e354-80ac-11e7-8d1b-74dbd180425c%257Cparentrq%253Adf14267e15d0aa4876e1c452ffffee1c%257Ciid%253A13

I know it's to small but just trying to get my head around what it looks like

Neil

[djmay]

I never used drying screens. It did not look like a good use of space, a contamination risk and a risk to the surface of the print. Wet prints are very easy to mar, scratch, etc. That is why I adopted hanging. Nothing touches the print until it is dry.

 

Another note on my darkroom. I use five trays; developer, stop, fix 1, fix 2, and fresh water for holding.

 

Also two of the high electrical outlets are switched.

 

Jesse

 

Sent from my GT-I8190 using Tapatalk

[Jeff S]

Something like this http://m.ebay.com/itm/KAISER-4048-PRINT-DRYING-RACK-FOR-PE-RC-PHOTO-PAPER-K4048-/191828225372?epid=1761603235&hash=item2ca9da6d5c%3Ag%3AlwMAAOSwoudW6ZgU&_trkparms=pageci%253A16a5e354-80ac-11e7-8d1b-74dbd180425c%257Cparentrq%253Adf14267e15d0aa4876e1c452ffffee1c%257Ciid%253A13

I know it's to small but just trying to get my head around what it looks like

Neil

No, more like these...

 

http://www.richards.uk.com/dryframe.htm

 

I built grooves under counter to slide in screens... takes up otherwise wasted space. Wet prints can lay flat on individual screens before stacking, but a heavy duty plexi print washer will prevent any contamination. I always kept dry prints separate for later selenium toning. Much better for me than hanging to dry. Screens are easy to clean, if needed.... my sinks could always accommodate.... including a hose attachment.

 

Jeff

Edited August 14, 2017 by Jeff S

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