Darkroom Renovation Phase 1

Sound System arrived, this one is from Sharper Image. Sounds great. Yesterday I set up two large yellow plastic tubs, put two Paterson 5x7 trays in each. Developed three J. Lane 6x9cm glass dry plates. It was a lot of fun and it feels great to be back in the darkroom.

I think I am going to build a darkroom sink like this one. Easy to build, furniture grade plywood, bar sink drain, and the whole sink covered with three coats of epoxy garage floor paint. It's also been recommended to me to use paint for finishing pickup truck liners. Sounds like that would work as well. Still looking into the possibility of using sheets of PVC to build the sink.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxzaCAZYJ0o

DSC05784 by Nokton48, on Flickr

DSC05924 by Nokton48, on Flickr

Basket Line by Nokton48, on Flickr

I also want to set up a Kodak 3 1/2 gallon hard rubber tank basket line for B&W development. I can develop fifty-four 4x5's, or eighteen 8x10's, in one go. Or two rolls of 70mm 15' film. Or eighteen rolls of 120/220 or 36 rolls of 35mm film.


I've made several trips to Lowes and am starting to gather materials out in the garage for all these upcoming construction projects.
 
He is going to find he will need a few cross supports for the belly of that sink.

Sanded Ply is not very stable. It has a relatively low ply count compared to thickness.

I would reccomend 3/4 MDF over the more expenisve Sanded Pine Ply he is using.

One thing to note, if you paint/seal any surface on a wood project, you need to seal the entire project! Leaving the underside bare wood will cause moisture to collect under your finish and cause it to fail. This applies to stain/paint/sealer.

My brother and I made our first "sink" when we were 16. It was a 150-160gal propagation tank we made from wood to grow salt water Coral. We sold the coral to a pet shop a few citys over. We used a product similar to the link below. I cant remember where we got ours, but we had it custom colored Sea Foam Green.

https://liquidrubberusa.com/collect...rproof-sealant-coating?variant=12132863475805


A local alternative can be found at Home Depot in either Gray or White. It is made by Henry and is called "Tropicool 100% Silicone". An important distinction is in the two products offered.

Product 887 will work fine for a project like this, but if you have any doubts spend the extra money on Product 885 which is "Ponding Resistant" basically that means it can have water sitting on it indefinitely. I re coated our Motorhome roof in the 885 and its some tough stuff! Dries SUPER QUICK (15min) and sticks like a Mother****er so do not wear your sunday clothes. lol

Cant wait to see your sink build!


Edit: Funny story about the motor home roof. I started it late in the afternoon after spending the better part of the day cleaning and prepping the roof. Not 10 minutes after getting off the roof it started to pour buckets of rain to my absolute dread! After about 2 hours of hard rain I had to go check on it. Spot light in hand dangling from the ladder it looked so fresh and clean! The stuff is amazing! A little water did not hurt the curing. Its nearly 2 years old now and holding up as good as day one. Cleans up nicely with a little soap water. I plan to put a fresh coat on this spring just for giggles.
 
Hi Devin/All,

Twisted my ankle cleaning in the garage, but I am recovering. I see the 885, and the 887 at Home Depot. A few complained they couldn't paint the 885 on, it's thick and more like a putty? Sounds great though, just trowel it on? Lots of choices available. Truck liner paint is available at local Auto Zone. Herculiner looks promising. I bought a deluxe SS bar sink drain on Ebay for $12. Very nice.....

When my ankle heals up, and it warms up, I will be ready to go.

More stuff to peruse:

http://www.eepjon.com/
I'm diggin' that huge fan they use (looks like a giant hair dryer), and their ventilation hoods. One guy bought his fan and built his own PVC hood. Suck the fumes out before you breathe them in. Needs to be low and right behind/above the trays, so it pulls away from your body. I have a bathroom fan currently installed and that will be coming out, that's not cutting it. He's platinum printing and that stuff is deadly to breathe, so he knows what he is talking about.

http://www.modernenlargerlamps.com/Modern_Enlarger_Lamps/Welcome.html
This Guy makes very cool LED heads for Omega enlargers.

Still considering PVC as opposed to plywood for sink and hood. Hmmmmmm
 
I actually do like the locking caster idea. I put some big Harbor Freight ones on my younger son's bass amp (it'a a big heavysucker) and I can take those and put 'em under the cabinets, should be rock solid once locked down. Be nice to move around for easy dusting and cleaning.
 
modern enlarging systems model 2 by Nokton48, on Flickr

Here is Modern Enlarging Systems Model 2 LED Head, For the Omega D 4x5 Enlargers.

This one works with graded papers only; My Omegalite does a similar job with graded FOMA, and my stock of fiber Ektalure salon paper. My freezer is stocked up to 16x20 sizes of Ektalure salon papers.

Model 3 offers green and Blue LEDs for split VC paper printing. Very very interesting. And beautifully built. You control it with an Iphone 4S

Times have changed! Cool upgrade!
 
Nokton, I'd go the Gordon Hutchins router and find out if there's a shop near by that can spray it with truck bed liner. Even the cheap DIY liner paint I got from Walmart is pretty tough. If you look on line, there are several places that have it in several colors. (a red darkroom sink would be kind of nifty..)

Oh...and spring for stainless steel wood screws off Ebay when you go to make it. And I found out that a combo drill/countersink speeds up things quite a bit. One step instead of two...
 
Nokton48 said:
I also want to set up a Kodak 3 1/2 gallon hard rubber tank basket line for B&W development. I can develop fifty-four 4x5's, or eighteen 8x10's, in one go. Or two rolls of 70mm 15' film. Or eighteen rolls of 120/220 or 36 rolls of 35mm film.
Click to expand...
Wow, that's amazing and a lot of chemicals! I hope you have good ventilation ... unless you like the buzz! 😉
 
Edwards PVC Vent Hoods by Nokton48, on Flickr


I've contacted Mr. Edwards and will determine what is required regarding proper ventilation. Basically the air intake needs to be 8 feet above floor, and the intake for the hood at four feet, behind the tanks and trays. I think his PVC intake hoods are really cool. He will custom make these to any size. He's printing Platinum, those fumes can be deadly, so he knows what he is doing.

One of my closest Photographer friends has a PHD in Chemistry, and is a retired Industrial Hygenist. He's coming over this Spring for BBQ and Beer, on my spacious newly expanded rear backyard deck. I will get his input on this too. And I want to talk to Tim Layton, about building stuff and darkroom design. I understand Tim is very willing to share knowledge and experience. And he has really got it goin' on.
 
Right now my "wet side" consists of my laundry washing machine top (which I use as a work surface) and plastic stationary tubs. I've developed film in this way for twenty years. I have stretched picture framing wire in this area, with thirty wooden clothespins. Works for me up to now.

Delta 1 Water Temp Unit by Nokton48, on Flickr

Just bought this unit from B&H. I will be hooking it up to my JOBO film washing unit I made.

Stearman 4x5 SP445 Dev Tank 4x5 holder by Nokton48, on Flickr

SP445 Developing Tank. Will do four 4x5 sheets in one go, or two J Lane glass Dry Plates. Also on it's way to me. Sixteen oz of chemistry to process four sheets.

Stearman 9x12 Dev Plate Holder SP445 by Nokton48, on Flickr

J Lane Dry plate inserts 9x12cm Also on their way. These are 3D printed.
 
I like the Raptor Flame Red. Two 13.2 oz cans $63.33 Wonder if that's enough for an eight foot sink?

Wouldn't want to order it until it warms up.
 
B-9, the cheapo stuff from Walmart (rustolem) has held up very well for over a year for me. It stains, but hell, it's darkroom sink-not a work of art!

If the stains get too bad, I'll let it dry out for a few days and use a spray can of the Rustolem liner paint to cover them up.

What I was saying was that Duraback and several other companies will sell you gallons of liner paint in several colors. You'd have to find a body shop that could spray it, but you can get red, yellow, orange, etc in texured or smooth finish.

I'd rather pay somebody with a paint booth and proper breathing gear to spray it with liner paint than deal with the stink of epoxy paint.

I painted mine in a shed with an open 8' by 10" door and a fan pulling in air and a fan pulling the fumes out-and the Rustolem isn't that stinky!




B-9 said:
I think the truck bed liner would work fine on a sink build.

Having it tinted would be cool! I’ve been looking at Raptor products for a while now. Check them out! They have a new aerosol product, so it’s as easy as a spray can and it’s pre tinted!

https://www.raptorcoatings.com/us/e...osols/raptor-2k-bedliner-aerosol#.XHa2YRZOmaM
Click to expand...
 
Eh, get yourself a decent reusable mask and do it outside or with the door open.

Workshop safety should be a pre requisite for any project. Right?

I think 2 cans would be plenty. I know our local NAPA will tint Bed liner. Not sure what brand. Worth a visit if you have one near by.

Having one sprayed by a pro may or may not be cost effective.. add to that having to transport the sink to and from. I am surely a advocate for DIY! Lol
 
B-9, I double checked and Durabak says their liner paint can be rolled on by DIY'ers. Frankly, I tried a roller with the Rustolem and quickly found out that a "pad" painter worked far better-I just bought 5 of the cheap 6" wide one for $1.79 each and used one for each coat and threw it out.
 
Good stuff to know. I'm moving forward just bought the stuff $168 to do the drop ceiling.
I want to have a heating duct run into the room, it's just outside the doorway. Also there will electrical in the ceiling, and carpentry up there too. I have a really good handyman who can come in a maybe do the whole thing cheaply. Got some calls to make.

My wife thinks we should have our furnace guys extend the ductwork.
 
Just talked to my father in law and he says we can do everything. Will wait until it is warmer, however. Stuff from Menards (the drop ceiling) goes into the garage for now. Got 11% rebate 🙂
 
OK One more possibility. Tim Layton made these giant 40x50 darkroom trays. Looks like a sink could be made in the same way as well. Obviously waterproof. You could even laminate the outsides.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUrp_8eifJg


From Tim Layton:

Hi Dan, I have a couple of really good ideas for you.

Build the darkroom sink out of 1/2" plywood and either a.) epoxy it which seals it or b.) cover it with a white PVC panel material and silicon the joints. I opted for (b) in my latest darkroom expansion and it works great. I also built my 48x68 darkroom development trays the same way. I got the white PVC sheets in 4' x 8' pieces from Home Depot. I used liquid nails to secure it to the plywood. I think I have a YouTube video showing part of this on my darkroom trays.

Hope that helps.

Tim
 
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