Tom A
RFF Sponsor
As I haven't figured how to caption the shots on site:
There are two enlargers in my darkroom, the Gray Focomat 1 C which is my workhorse and the black monster, which is a ELCAN 121 ultra high resolution (275 lpm). It is based on a Focomat IIc but in this configuration barely covers 24x36. At the moment it is "down" with a case of electronic flu. The control between the lamp and the shutter is dead and as it is one of maybe 1/2 dozen made in 1974, parts and schematics are unavailable. One of these days i will design and build a LED light source for it instead.
The red box above the sink is a continous water heater, running on 220/3phase power. You just turn it on and it will keep the water temperature at whatever setting you want for as long as the water is flowing.
The reel rack is not steel reels! It is Paterson System reels and the rack holds 80 of them, but there are another 20+ in the "ante-room".
The wide angle on the Ricoh GRD makes it deceptively large. The darkroom is about 9ft by 12ft and the office outside is about 8ft by 18ft. There is also a small "nook" of to the side that holds print boxes and kodak carousel trays (40+).
The bookshelf in the back holds neg files and books (photographic books), but it is mainly for neg files and the books are "overflow" from the den and downstairs.
It is not a perfect darkroom, but it is very comfortable to work in, the stainless sink is 8 ft long and 30" wide and the second sink is 3 ft by 30" and 18" deep. The second sink is mainly used for washing prints. There is a variable speed exhaust fan in the ceiling above the reel rack and at full blast it is loud, but it will change the air in the room in three minutes, The door has a filtered air inlet that is 24" square and i do run a aircleaner 24 hours in the darkroom. This cuts down on spotting prints.
Ok, now I have shown mine - let's see yours!
There are two enlargers in my darkroom, the Gray Focomat 1 C which is my workhorse and the black monster, which is a ELCAN 121 ultra high resolution (275 lpm). It is based on a Focomat IIc but in this configuration barely covers 24x36. At the moment it is "down" with a case of electronic flu. The control between the lamp and the shutter is dead and as it is one of maybe 1/2 dozen made in 1974, parts and schematics are unavailable. One of these days i will design and build a LED light source for it instead.
The red box above the sink is a continous water heater, running on 220/3phase power. You just turn it on and it will keep the water temperature at whatever setting you want for as long as the water is flowing.
The reel rack is not steel reels! It is Paterson System reels and the rack holds 80 of them, but there are another 20+ in the "ante-room".
The wide angle on the Ricoh GRD makes it deceptively large. The darkroom is about 9ft by 12ft and the office outside is about 8ft by 18ft. There is also a small "nook" of to the side that holds print boxes and kodak carousel trays (40+).
The bookshelf in the back holds neg files and books (photographic books), but it is mainly for neg files and the books are "overflow" from the den and downstairs.
It is not a perfect darkroom, but it is very comfortable to work in, the stainless sink is 8 ft long and 30" wide and the second sink is 3 ft by 30" and 18" deep. The second sink is mainly used for washing prints. There is a variable speed exhaust fan in the ceiling above the reel rack and at full blast it is loud, but it will change the air in the room in three minutes, The door has a filtered air inlet that is 24" square and i do run a aircleaner 24 hours in the darkroom. This cuts down on spotting prints.
Ok, now I have shown mine - let's see yours!
Tom A
RFF Sponsor
I forgot! The reason the walls are yellow is that this is a color that Multi Grade paper is not very sensitive to. If there are reflections or stray lights from the enlarger, it doesn't fog it as quick. I built this darkroom 18 years ago and Kodak gave me the paint number (Pantone) for the least risky light. All the walls are 3/4" marine plywood. This means that you never have to chase a stud to attach something. All the power outlets are 5-6 ft up above the floor and are on sep. circuits too and there are 7 4-plug outlets in all there.
Watch for reflections from the blue ceiling! Multi-grade aper is highly sensitive to blue light and will fog easily.
Watch for reflections from the blue ceiling! Multi-grade aper is highly sensitive to blue light and will fog easily.
Tom A
RFF Sponsor
I think this might have got deleted
sorry if duplicate/any confusion
Pls let me know. Thanks!
sorry if duplicate/any confusion
Pls let me know. Thanks!
Ash
Selflessly Self-involved
Tom those photo's are very impressive. My darkroom is about the size of the desk. I'm certain your shoe closet is larger!! 
I'm nearly out of paper now - I've used up over half the second box of 100 sheets, I got my portfolio done for the interview yesterday. Everything went fine
I'm nearly out of paper now - I've used up over half the second box of 100 sheets, I got my portfolio done for the interview yesterday. Everything went fine
Tom A
RFF Sponsor
I can guarantee you that my shoe closet is smaller than your darkroom. I hate buying shoes so I tend to have, at the most, 2 pairs and wear them until they fall apart. Then I buy another two etc. My fashion sense is non existent! I figured out that if I buy two or three of the same (shirts,jeans etc) I am not fazed with a difficult choice in the morning! Jackets and "photo" vests is a different subject and I wont go there,
sepiareverb
genius and moron
My method is to buy two packages of white T-shirts every year, by the end of the year they have turned to rags and I start over. Almost all the shirts I need for $10.
d_ross
Registered User
Tom your place looks great, I wish I had more room, and was tidy!
Thanks for sharing, I think it's interesting to see other peoples workplaces, and it inspired me to take a few pics of my darkroom and workplace and share. As you can see I go along with the Brett Weston philosohpy on darkrooms in that I feel better in a simple basic space.
Thanks for sharing, I think it's interesting to see other peoples workplaces, and it inspired me to take a few pics of my darkroom and workplace and share. As you can see I go along with the Brett Weston philosohpy on darkrooms in that I feel better in a simple basic space.
Attachments
R
RML
Guest
This is how my as yet incomplete (meaning: not yet light tight) dark room looks like.
http://bp0.blogger.com/_eHbXgXMLuyo/RrXpL7TezLI/AAAAAAAABKI/gRHtZabWQOw/s1600-h/Crw_8365b-sm-cr.jpg
http://bp0.blogger.com/_eHbXgXMLuyo/RrXpL7TezLI/AAAAAAAABKI/gRHtZabWQOw/s1600-h/Crw_8365b-sm-cr.jpg
Pherdinand
the snow must go on
if you wanna see my darkroom..just take a look into your bathroom, add a few spiders and that's it!
rtphotos
Established
The photos of everyone's darkroom are very helpful for guys like me planning on designing a new one from scratch! THANKS for sharing the darkroom ideas! Anyone have pics of their built-in "paper safe"?
I suggest you all put your darkroom pics on a new post with a "sticky", or something.
thanks,
rt
I suggest you all put your darkroom pics on a new post with a "sticky", or something.
thanks,
rt