The current enlarger inventory includes a Beseler 4x5, and an Omega 4x5. Both acquired inexpensively. All kinds of carriers and do-dads for both.
I went out today and picked up another Beseler 4x5 chassis! I already have two heads (dicro and condenser), and had planned on switching them out (fairly easy with a Beseler). A young film photographer had put one on Craigslist because he was cleaning out his stash. Once I got there, I also picked up two Kodak "D" safelights!
Now, I may have the Omega D5 with a Chromega head for sale. Two enlargers is one thing, but three 4x5s is too much even for me. With the Omega and some accessories I could sell separately, I should more than get my money back.
Life is good - but back to work.
May 8, 2010
May 2, 2010
Another darkroom construction blogger
Another local photographer that I know is also building a new darkroom (his 4th) and has decided to blog the effort. It is an interesting project (beyond just being a darkroom) because he is building "portable". Having had to move residence several times, he tired of starting over each time with a darkroom, and so is converting an old travel trailer that he can take with him - not to mention "on location" one would suppose.
Anyway, here's the link: http://notamethlab.wordpress.com/
I've also added a link on the Other Links page to another photographer whom I "know" only on the internet. She, too has been blogging construction of a darkroom, and is finished!
Anyway, here's the link: http://notamethlab.wordpress.com/
I've also added a link on the Other Links page to another photographer whom I "know" only on the internet. She, too has been blogging construction of a darkroom, and is finished!
Work continues
I want to update the blog at least weekly, whether there is much to illustrate or not. There is some more drywall finishing and paint prep, and then paint will go up. More wiring is in and all that's left is the overhead lighting. Much work has been done in the stairwell leading up to the darkroom: drywall, lighting, etc.
I have chosen to paint the ceiling before I complete this wiring since I am doing it with exposed boxes and conduit that will go over the painted surface. I'm concentrating on this so that I can get lights up - at least temporary ones - in order to make the remainder of the work easier. Right now, there are no lights in the room and I am using temporary work lights mounted on a stand. Serviceable, but not ideal, and I keep waiting to trip over the stand or the cord.
Here is the completed wall vs. the plan:
It is in this wall that I have made a mistake, although one I hope shall have little consequence. The plan is to scale for the most part, if not absolutely precise. (The stud placement and the dimensions are right enough, but you can see that the doorknob and the electrical boxes are more freely represented in their placement.) If you look very closely, you may perceive that the door on the plan is wider, and it is. I had planned for a 36" door. I ended up with room for only a 32" door. Also notice the added strip of drywall between the old sheet rock of the existing wall and the door. Here's what happened:
As reported in the post on March 26, I had to replace the stud at the end of the existing half wall since it was so warped. Instead of actually replacing the stud (as depicted in the plan), I simply cut it off and attached the new one to the side of the old. This added an inch and a half. Then, in framing for the door, the new stud became the "king" stud, and an additional 2x4 was placed as the "jack" stud. The jack studs are required to support the header above the door. Anyway, I had now added 3 inches and a 36" door would no longer fit. My mistake was not thinking far enough ahead to shorten the existing half wall in order to leave enough room to frame for a larger door. Oh, well.
The wire coming out near the top of the wall is for the overhead lights and a ceiling fan. It will enter a yet to be installed junction box and go on up to the conduit for the lights on the ceiling. This all happens, of course, after the ceiling is painted.
I have chosen to paint the ceiling before I complete this wiring since I am doing it with exposed boxes and conduit that will go over the painted surface. I'm concentrating on this so that I can get lights up - at least temporary ones - in order to make the remainder of the work easier. Right now, there are no lights in the room and I am using temporary work lights mounted on a stand. Serviceable, but not ideal, and I keep waiting to trip over the stand or the cord.
Here is the completed wall vs. the plan:
It is in this wall that I have made a mistake, although one I hope shall have little consequence. The plan is to scale for the most part, if not absolutely precise. (The stud placement and the dimensions are right enough, but you can see that the doorknob and the electrical boxes are more freely represented in their placement.) If you look very closely, you may perceive that the door on the plan is wider, and it is. I had planned for a 36" door. I ended up with room for only a 32" door. Also notice the added strip of drywall between the old sheet rock of the existing wall and the door. Here's what happened:
As reported in the post on March 26, I had to replace the stud at the end of the existing half wall since it was so warped. Instead of actually replacing the stud (as depicted in the plan), I simply cut it off and attached the new one to the side of the old. This added an inch and a half. Then, in framing for the door, the new stud became the "king" stud, and an additional 2x4 was placed as the "jack" stud. The jack studs are required to support the header above the door. Anyway, I had now added 3 inches and a 36" door would no longer fit. My mistake was not thinking far enough ahead to shorten the existing half wall in order to leave enough room to frame for a larger door. Oh, well.
The wire coming out near the top of the wall is for the overhead lights and a ceiling fan. It will enter a yet to be installed junction box and go on up to the conduit for the lights on the ceiling. This all happens, of course, after the ceiling is painted.
April 25, 2010
It’s a room!
If not yet dark.
Visible progress is slow but I feel I’ve reached a milestone with this: the new wall and door are in and the room is sealed up and insulated. It’s amazing how much better the air conditioner works! At the other end of the room, the window needs to be covered up, but that shouldn’t take long.
Finishing the tape and float on the sheetrock and painting is the next major phase. This takes a certain amount of time no matter hard one works at it because things have to dry. I’m going to go with your basic white on the paint color. There is much debate on various boards about what color to paint a darkroom, but it really comes down to what an individual wants. There is a school of thought about black walls, especially around the enlarger. I intend to address this later, but the room will be painted white.
After paint: overhead lighting and plumbing. Then I begin to install actual fixtures and equipment. The 8 foot sink is already in the room, since I had to get it inside before I framed and installed the door. Otherwise, it would have never turned the corner at the top of the stairs.
I also had a 9 foot countertop from the old darkroom. Nothing special about it except I had it and it was drilled and tapped for mounting an Omega 4x5 enlarger. It is not an actual “countertop”, but a heavy exterior door that I rescued from a trip to a landfill. Veneer over one and a half inch thick particle board! Weighs a ton. Flat. Stable. I also wrestled this thing up the stairs prior to framing and installing the door. I got all the way to the top landing and was negotiating the turn to take it into the darkroom when it slipped out of my grip and fell flat back onto the stairs. It hit nothing and damaged nothing in the seemingly slow-motion fall, but broke into two almost equal pieces when it hit. The two pieces were much easier to take back down then the intact thing was to haul up!
Visible progress is slow but I feel I’ve reached a milestone with this: the new wall and door are in and the room is sealed up and insulated. It’s amazing how much better the air conditioner works! At the other end of the room, the window needs to be covered up, but that shouldn’t take long.
Finishing the tape and float on the sheetrock and painting is the next major phase. This takes a certain amount of time no matter hard one works at it because things have to dry. I’m going to go with your basic white on the paint color. There is much debate on various boards about what color to paint a darkroom, but it really comes down to what an individual wants. There is a school of thought about black walls, especially around the enlarger. I intend to address this later, but the room will be painted white.
After paint: overhead lighting and plumbing. Then I begin to install actual fixtures and equipment. The 8 foot sink is already in the room, since I had to get it inside before I framed and installed the door. Otherwise, it would have never turned the corner at the top of the stairs.
I also had a 9 foot countertop from the old darkroom. Nothing special about it except I had it and it was drilled and tapped for mounting an Omega 4x5 enlarger. It is not an actual “countertop”, but a heavy exterior door that I rescued from a trip to a landfill. Veneer over one and a half inch thick particle board! Weighs a ton. Flat. Stable. I also wrestled this thing up the stairs prior to framing and installing the door. I got all the way to the top landing and was negotiating the turn to take it into the darkroom when it slipped out of my grip and fell flat back onto the stairs. It hit nothing and damaged nothing in the seemingly slow-motion fall, but broke into two almost equal pieces when it hit. The two pieces were much easier to take back down then the intact thing was to haul up!
April 19, 2010
Update
Back from working out of town. Rain all weekend and tired from the trip, but I still managed to get some work done. Got the remaining sheetrock up on the wet side and started taping and bedding. Also took down the fluorescent fixtures. (Some of you were concerned).
This evening I am going to go purchase the door, so that I will have it for precise measurements. Next step is to frame the door in the added partition, then put the wiring in the new partition before closing up the wall and actually installing the door. Then, all the sheetrock can be finished and painting started. This is all a lot of physical work, but nothing too complicated.
Wiring for the ceiling lights - and a ceiling fan - will be surface mounted. What little attic space there is above the ceiling is not accessible and so trying to fish wires is just too much effort. I can live with conduit and boxes. It is a darkroom after all. Plus, if I ever want to change anything, it makes the wiring "modular", or at least accessible and changeable. The plumbing will be the same way.
We have two light fixtures in the house that are coming down (eventually). One is in the wife's studio and is a small pool table sort of light. Since, of course, she doesn't have a pool table in her studio, I think it might work as a work light over the area where I will have a desk/worktable space.
The other is a bit more whimsical. There is a chandelier in the dining room. We are not using the "dining room" as a dining room and so have always planned to replace the light with a ceiling fan. I could put the chandelier in the darkroom. As opposed to throwing it out, why not? We'll see.
I'm really motivated to move this along now, as I am anxious to get back to developing and printing. I spend way too much time thinking about buying a DSLR, and I have to get back into the chemicals or I am going to give in!
This evening I am going to go purchase the door, so that I will have it for precise measurements. Next step is to frame the door in the added partition, then put the wiring in the new partition before closing up the wall and actually installing the door. Then, all the sheetrock can be finished and painting started. This is all a lot of physical work, but nothing too complicated.
Wiring for the ceiling lights - and a ceiling fan - will be surface mounted. What little attic space there is above the ceiling is not accessible and so trying to fish wires is just too much effort. I can live with conduit and boxes. It is a darkroom after all. Plus, if I ever want to change anything, it makes the wiring "modular", or at least accessible and changeable. The plumbing will be the same way.
We have two light fixtures in the house that are coming down (eventually). One is in the wife's studio and is a small pool table sort of light. Since, of course, she doesn't have a pool table in her studio, I think it might work as a work light over the area where I will have a desk/worktable space.
The other is a bit more whimsical. There is a chandelier in the dining room. We are not using the "dining room" as a dining room and so have always planned to replace the light with a ceiling fan. I could put the chandelier in the darkroom. As opposed to throwing it out, why not? We'll see.
I'm really motivated to move this along now, as I am anxious to get back to developing and printing. I spend way too much time thinking about buying a DSLR, and I have to get back into the chemicals or I am going to give in!
April 5, 2010
Floor is done
April 1, 2010
Travel
I was afraid of this. My employer insists that I go out of town for two weeks and do some work. It's not that this isn't a great time of year to go where I'm going (Washington DC), but it would also be a great time of year to be home and get some work done at the house (and the darkroom). Sigh ...
The tile man is laying backer board as I write and should have the floor finished by Monday. This means I can't work on the darkroom over the weekend, but I hadn't planned to anyway, what with Easter and all. But then, it will be two more weeks before there's any progress. Sigh ...
The tile man is laying backer board as I write and should have the floor finished by Monday. This means I can't work on the darkroom over the weekend, but I hadn't planned to anyway, what with Easter and all. But then, it will be two more weeks before there's any progress. Sigh ...
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