I've put together a couple of darkrooms in the past, both using not much more
space than you describe. One was for a university's student newspaper (a
converted bathroom on the upstairs floor of an old house the university owned)
and one was for a small management company which handled bands and models...
that one was constructed in the rafters (the 'loft' area) of a small (strip
mall-type) warehouse space.
The second example was by far the more constricted of the two, but also the
most innovative. Central to this design - and I think that this concept might
really help you with your project - was a custom sink: constructed out of
particle board, it was sized (and sloped) to fit the space and to hold all of
the development trays... then painted (a marine paint, I believe), and sealed
with several heavy coats of varathane. The end result was a waterproof
development area sized to the available space that easily doubled for mixing
chemicals - and washing and drying equipment.
Many years later, a friend in British Columbia became the Canadian
distributor for a German company's (Kemper) product that was used for
industrial-strength sealing (major installations, parking surfaces, etc.). This
product was essentially a mat of polypropylene fiber - a 'felt of plastic
fiber' - which was cut to size and shape, installed... and then completely
soaked with an plastic-like epoxy kind of liquid which, once it hardened, was
impervious to anything short of a meteorite strike.
If I were to construct a custom darkroom for my own use, I would definitely
go with that kind of custom sink, but would line it with some kind of textile
fiber/felt that was soaked with a plastic resin. I think that would be perfect.
John Morton
>>>><<<<
Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2007 18:48:35 -0800 (PST)
From: AG Schnozz <agschnozz@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [OM] Re: Darkroom V2
Moose von Digital wrote:
> A folding design that allows garage use or darkroom use, but not
> both at once? Pretty slick if that's it and you get it to work!
Not quite. Here is a bit of my thinking:
...This raised area would actually be the
countertop. This would give me an effective six feet of room width by
however long that section of garage wall is. Figure 10 feet. So my
darkroom will end up 6x10. Not huge, but doable. I'll install
cabinetry above the countertop except for where the enlarger lives.
By making the countertop 3-feet deep, I can actually place my trays
two-deep. Not necessarily for the DSF steps, but for my various
water-soak steps. I use a four-tray rinse. Wherever I can place it,
I'm going to have a utility sink built into the room too.
John Morton
http://OriginOfWriting.com
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