Darkroom and Darkroom sink design

[ronocnikral]

Well, we've finally landed in a house here in the motherland, and the wife has given the green light for a incorporating a darkroom into a roughly 12'x12' space in the house.

I have attached a conceptual image of how I have thought through the room so far. The sink cannot move and has to go in that corner b/c of drainage pipes. Any suggestions for setting up differently?



Also, I will most likely build a sink out of OSB and fiberglass. I am thinking just an 18" deep huge sink with a large backsplash. It is shown in tile for differentiating, I have no plans to make a tile sink. I don't want to get too specialized with the sink. Any suggestions? maybe split a smaller sink off to the side so if I need to fill for rinsing or something, I don't have to fill the entire thing?





Thanks!

[smalltrees]

several questions...
I see an enlarger is noted... printing? size of prints/trays? or for just processing films...
for trays, 18" seems too deep, as it would be awkward to move the trays...

with the sink going into the corner, behind the enlarger, you will be unable to reach the corner, easily... ( printing requires you to be comfortable... wink/smile...)

the sink can be located anywhere, then just slope the pipe to the drain...

[picman]

We've got a stainless steel darkroom sinks that are 20" wide x 72" and are 10" deep - and that is plenty. I would add a couple shelf areas on the sink that drain into it for equip drying. More than one facet is useful.

Remove the current enlarger area - too small and blocks sink access. You don't want to be knocking stuff into the sink. I would make the counters a little wider and put the enlarger there.

White walls a best "safe" lighting and no fluorescent - I had an at home color darkroom at one time and I was chasing color balance all over the place until I found out fluorescent lights put out an after glow for a bit after they are shut off.

[ronocnikral]

thanks guys, 18" is definitely too deep. I measured our kitchen sink, and it's about 9". So...I don't think I will go deeper than that. I may try to move the sink out of the corner a bit and put a corner cabinet in there. Not sure if I can get the cabinets deeper than 24". I'm sure if I ordered custom, but I would like to avoid if at all possible. and the sink will definitely have pegs and shelves for drying, that's why that backsplash is huge....

i make some changes to the drawings and post tonight when I get home...

[Photogdude]

i wouldn't have the enlarger so close to the sink, its an accident waiting to happen, and not so much the enlarger falling in, but dry stuff like negatives, paper... begin so close to wet stuff would be my concern

[Valerie]

Do not underestimate how much room you will need for the enlarger.

I painted the walls around my enlargers black (I find its easier to focus that way) and all other walls white.

Consider dedicating one side to being "wet side" and the other to "dry"(enlarger, storage, etc). You could keep the sink where it is now, and move the enlarger to the opposite wall.

Try this thread for some ideas:
Darkroom portraits

[ronocnikral]

this is good. I'm used to doing the bathroom darkroom thing.

What I originally wanted was a huge island (48" wide by about 72") to use for the enlarger. It's a tight fit, but maybe I can loose some of the storage (gaining some in the island). I don't want it to be too crowded. But having a huge island in the room we could also have some space for my wife's "hot glue gun," a little room for "gift wrapping," maybe a "sewing machine" and space for the screen printing i've been wanting to get into (all truth be told, we know the enlarger will take up the whole space). And maybe we can hang the countertop off one side so we can have stools to sit and work at. My one concern about the island is our cold storage is through one of those doors, so I don't want the path through the middle too obstructed.

I had my hippie birthing class last night, so I didn't get to the mock-ups, but hopefully tonight.

thanks for all the suggestions....

[venchka]

I would suggest plywood instead of OSB. Maybe because I own a boat built almost entirly of plywood. Good stuff around water if you encapsulate it properly. Read some books on plywood-epoxy boatbuilding. The WoodenBoat Forum is a treasure trove of good information and knowledgeable folks. Most darkroom sinks I have been around had slats on the bottom to hold the trays off the bottom of the sink and allow drainage below the trays & a water bath if needed for temp. control.
Good luck.

Wayne

[ronocnikral]

Thanks Everyone.

Wayne, i'll make sure to check out the wooden boat stuff. You going to make it up here for a photo tour anytime soon?

Some new mockups. Totally re-did the right wall (in two versions). Left wall was changed so sink could still be kept in the corner, yet have access. I like that we can sit at this island on a stool to rest our legs...any more comments are welcome. thanks!

Option 1 - Top view



Option 1 - Right Wall



Option 2 - Top View



Option 2 - Right Wall



Option 1 & 2 - Left Wall

[smalltrees]

cannot place sink against the wall/corner... when standing in front of the sink, leave at least a shoulder width... that end should also have a back-splash... it then makes a perfect shelf for wet things...

[Big Dog]

The usual suspects:

Kodak: Darkroom Design for Amateur Photographers
http://wwwcaen.kodak.com/global/en/p...bs/ak3/ak3.pdf

A Beginner's Guide to Darkroom Equipment:
Beginner's Darkroom Guide

The Black and White Darkroom
Black and White Darkroom: techniques, free instruction.

Darkroom 101
Darkroom 101

Also, any (or all) of these books:

Amazon.com: Build Your Own Home Darkroom (0054685000046): Lista Duren, Will McDonald: Books

Amazon.com: Build Your Own Home Darkroom (0054685000046): Lista Duren, Will McDonald: Books

Amazon.com: Building a Home Darkroom (The Kodak Workshop Series) (9780879857462): Ray Miller: Books

Amazon.com: Building a Home Darkroom (The Kodak Workshop Series) (9780879857462): Ray Miller: Books

Amazon.com: The Darkroom Handbook : A Complete Guide to the Best Design, Construction and Equipment (9780930764081): Dennis P. Curtin, Joe DeMaio: Books

Amazon.com: The Darkroom Handbook : A Complete Guide to the Best Design, Construction and Equipment (9780930764081): Dennis P. Curtin, Joe DeMaio: Books

The used ones are really cheap!

[tropicpine]

I have a 6' plastic darkroom sink for sale.
The sink is comprised of 2 pans.
17" wide pan that is about 9" deep.
50" wide pan that is 6" deep.

Yours for $75. PM me for Pics

[protocoder]

Hi Experts.

I am just trying to learn ABC of photography with my Canon EOS Rebel Film SLR. I have tight budget and developing each film and getting the digital prints are proving very expensive, which inhibits me from experimenting. Please can you suggest 1. Cheapest ways to setup my own small film processing dark room equipment not a commercial one though and 2. Best possible and cheapest ways develop them to pics.
3. Suggest a good scanner to convert to digital. Your suggestions are valuable. It is proving very costly for me to process each film.

[ronocnikral]

well, we went with the last design. cabinets have been ordered. we're doing a hickory wood in natural finish. All in (taxes included), $1823.23, so not too shabby of a deal.

I plan to build the sink on top of the cabinet bases and we can leave off some or all of the wall cabinets if we need to slide sink and/or make it bigger. We still haven't decided if we will do tile or laminate/engineered wood for the floor. If we go the tile route, I may cut a floor drain as well. We are also pondering heated floors, as this is in our basement and we will spend most of the time down there in the winter, when the days are short.

Anyway, I thought I would update. I'm working with the city to get a permit going (grr..) and I am going to get it all framed out, plumbed, wired, sheetrocked, painted and floor down. I also have some HVAC work, as our overly sized home only has one system and the current vents cross over to the other side of the house over this room. So, I need to figure out if we do to with HVAC wise.

[Tom]

You need a couch in there!