Bathroom Darkroom

aggiezach · Feb 25, 2004

Howdy,

As I'm sure you all are, I am tired of paying the ridiculous processing cost for my B&W film. I would love to set up a darkroom now that the one at school has been shut down

The only problem is that I am a student and I do rent a house so I can't just build a darkroom. I've read about people using their bathrooms as makeshift darkrooms and I would love to hear some feedback from anyone who has done this and the success/failure you had. Also any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks & Gig'Em
Zach
Hope to be developing soon!

voodoocat · Feb 25, 2004

I use my bathroom. I setup and teardown for each session. There's no window so all I have to worry about is my door. I pin up a dark green flannel sheet outside the door if I'm printing during sunlight.

ksmattfish · Feb 25, 2004

I used my bedroom because it had more room than my bathroom. One thing to remember, although it is convenient, you don't need running water in the dark. You can load film into the dev tank in any dark area (closet, etc...), and then sit in front of the TV to dev it if you want.

Printing must be done in the dark (safelights), but once the paper has been fixed it's no longer light sensitive, and you can leave the dark to wash prints in the kitchen or bathroom.

TheProf · Feb 25, 2004

Bathrooms are good I saw a rig that had a kind of cage around the tolette and flat top for the enlarger, it was removable, pretty slick, ill see if I can find it for you. Do you have a tub in your bath room thats always good for washing and you can put small trays in it. One thing that always was a problem for me was ventallation its easy to get fumed outespecially in a small space.
I used my kitchen in college, and I do not recomend it uless you like all your food Fix flavored.

Good luck

aggiezach · Feb 25, 2004

I found my darkroom book that I bought some years ago and it actually has a few suggestions for setting up a DR in your bathroom. And yes I do have a tub in the bathroom, I think I might head over to the local Home Depot and buy some plywood and some 2x4's! I just need to get all of the darkroom equipment now. Would yall recomend plastic or metal devolping tanks? I like the plastic ratchet type reels just b/c I can't seem to get the hang of the metal ones. Again any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks & Gig'Em
Zach

voodoocat · Feb 25, 2004

I would recommend what you are comfortable using. The plastic ones are certainly easier to use.

havoc · Feb 25, 2004

I think the metal ones are better because they are easier to wash. There is a little learning curve to it, but wasting one roll of film to play with it isn't too expensive. It could me about 15 minutes to get the hang of it. Its really not that hard, just slightly bend the film inbetween your thumb and index finger when you wind it. Oh and make sure the metal spirals are pointing out towards your right side, or you will be trying to wind the film on backwards, that was my biggest problem when i started with them.

motcon · Feb 25, 2004

bathroom as a dr? heck yeah. i have stains in my tub that will NEVER come off. my guests amuse me. after using the bathroom, one asked me, 'what is that print of that girl that is all pink doing stuck to the wall of the shower?' see, if i suspect that, during development, my exposure was 'off', i'll pull it, turn on the light to get a quick glance. i usually then just plaster them to the shower wall as a test print. clearly i had forgotten to remove this one. i have a comfortable darkroom, but for some odd reason i choose to use the bathroom. dunno y.

motcon · Feb 25, 2004

oh yeah, i prefer the plastic tanks. plastic, contrary to popular belief, won't absorb chemicals unless you do something odd like....stand development for 2 days. normal cleaning is all that is needed.

aggiezach · Feb 25, 2004

Thanks for all the info so far. I've got one question; what do you all think about the Vivtar Enlarger Model E34. is that a good one to start off with. I've read in the forums about Omega and Beseller (which we used to have here at school) but I've never worked with or even hear of vivtar making and enlarger. Theres a pretty nice looking setup on E-bay and I figured I'd get some info before I bid on it.

Thanks

Zach

ksmattfish · Feb 25, 2004

I find that folks tend to prefer the same kind of dev tanks that they learned on. I learned on SS, and that's what is in my darkroom.

The SS tanks are notorious for leaking around the lid during agitation.

The plastic tanks are notorious for newbies not getting the center post in right, and fogging their film.

tr0gd0o0r · Feb 25, 2004

The plastic tanks are notorious for newbies not getting the center post in right, and fogging their film

or just putting in the agitating rod by mistake

TheProf · Feb 28, 2004

Plastic are usually easier to use but SS break less often, Also I read that SS retain your temp better during development, But Ive never really noticed a diffrence.