11/6/2023 0 Comments Darkroom easelsI twisted mine to a '3' shape and placed it on the floor on the opposite side of the doorway from the out duct. Use the Semi-Rigid Aluminum Duct (6) to let air into the darkroom.The flange at the end of the hood will make it easy to hang out a window. At the other end of the flexible aluminum foil duct (2), attach the hood (3) with the other clamp (4).Make sure the fan is blowing air into the duct, not the opposite. Attach the flexible aluminum foil duct (2) onto the duct fan (1) with a clamp (4).Because chemical fumes rise, install it as high as it seems appropriate. A good spot for the bracket would be right above the wet side. Take the duct fan (1) out of its box and splice the wires (8) together along with the switch (7).From what I remember off the top of my head, an ideal darkroom needs six air changes per hour. One important thing is to make sure the duct fan you're buying is rated at the appropriate CFM (cubic feet per minute) for your space. Metal Worm Drive Clamps (you will need a quantity of two) So far it hasn't failed me, and air is always fresh in my darkroom. But it's a very quick and easy way to hack everything together and make it work. I want to mention that this method isn't the best way to implement ventilation. These two ducts snake out the darkroom under my light tight curtain when the room is in operation. I let the negative pressure naturally bring outside air into my darkroom. For incoming air I have another flexible duct shaped like a "U" (to cut out light) without a fan attached. This step is to build a duct with fan to suck all that poisonous air out of your darkroom. Because without clean fresh air, darkrooming is no fun. For fiber I have screens from Home Depot that I place prints on to dry overnight. For RC prints I hang them to dry in the living room. I have a water holding tray for prints that are fixed, and transfer them to the kitchen to wash after a printing session. However, gloves are really useful when you're pouring chemicals and cleaning them up. I personally prefer tongs because I don't like leaving gloves on all the time in the darkroom, or taking them on and off. The air blower is there to get rid of dust before loading negatives into the enlarger. I use the masking tape to keep test strips stationary when they're being exposed. Most of these equipment can be had for super cheap on Craigslist, or if you are the patient type and are willing to drive far enough you can even get them for free! Next, we need to gather equipment for the dry and wet sides of the darkroom. If you are interested to install plumbing for your darkroom, look no further than The New Darkroom Handbook. I will be covering the first three in the following steps. Please make ventilation your number one priority for your health and also for the enjoyment of using your darkroom. Within five minutes, the closet was a death zone. I made the mistake early on to do a 'test run' without ventilation installed. Italicized items are nice, but not necessary.įirst, we need to prep the room. Okay, let’s get started building your darkroom. At the very least, I hope this guide can be an inspiration to those of you who are thinking about building a darkroom. Please feel free to play around with them. I uploaded my Solidworks file along with an STL file at the end of this instructable. All the parts are then put together with the help of a few screws. I built my cabinets by CADing it up in Solidworks, then cutting the parts on a Shopbot CNC. They can be pulled out individually to drop prints into the tray, and hidden away when I don’t need them. In the end, I designed a set of drawers stacked on top of each other, each accommodating trays up to 16" x 20". The thought of maneuvering large prints into the ladder for hours on end in my small claustrophobic space doesn't seem so ideal. But once you go big the print tends to flop around. I have never used tray ladders personally, but the general consensus on the internet is that they are great for RC and small fiber prints. I searched far and wide for space saving ideas, and the recurring theme seems to be a tray ladder, like this. My closet is only 3.5 feet by 7 feet, but I wanted to print as large as 16" x 20". The only problem was that I had big dreams. It is filled with information about everything you will need to build a darkroom from the ground up. When I started on this project, my greatest resource has been The New Darkroom Handbook. Mine was a dear and she cooperatively surrendered the biggest closet in the apartment to me. Your girlfriend might threaten to break up with you if you even hint at taking over her precious closet. Your closet might be bigger, smaller, or you might be utilizing a bathroom space. I would like to start off by saying that this darkroom design will not be applicable to everybody. 360 view of my converted closet - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |