Setting up a darkroom

[abbie_gardiner]

Ive been asked to provide a bid for a darkroom to cater to 10-15 students at a time. Does anybody have any ideas

about approx how much this would cost to set up or any contacts of companies that specialise in setting up

darkrooms for schools as a whole package. Im running out of time and (clearly) need help fast!

 

Any ideas would be much appreciated, thanks, Abbie.

[robert_gandy]

I would try and find an existing photography program or class and see what sort of darkroom they have set up. Possibly might have some sources or used equipment you could use.

[charles_stobbs3]

Maybe a little used, large, rest room would be a good starting point and have lots of plumbing connections. A labyrinth type entry rather than a door would let people come freely and go and aid good air flow. If ti were on an outside wall you should be able to install an inlet fan.

[john_shriver]

You also need to know local building and safety codes.

 

Plumbing work is expensive.

[leicaglow]

Abbie, it depends so much on the facility. Do you have revolving photo doors, or room to put in z-wall? Tell us what you have for square footage, etc., and we might be able to help. Do you want 10-15 students printing at a time? Do you want them to do their own development of films and paper? Give us more of an idea and we can probably get you 90% there.

 

I highly recommend you work with FreestylePhoto.biz through their educators program. They might have a lot of help for you. They're great people to deal with too.

[leicaglow]

Oh, and also what they have now.

[jpo3136b]

This is one of those situations where you could go from "bare bones" to "Trump Tower" when it comes to facility modification. If you

already have the room, I would imagine that the basics could begin with any place that has existing plumbing and electricity that could

be modified onsite. After that, a black coat of paint on the walls, sink installation, some vent checks, and then move on to

tabletop/bench construction to hold the enlarger stations.

 

Then, also, because this involves "students", at some point you are going to get into occupational safety, wiring and plumbing to code,

first aid wash stations, chem storage basics, no-slip flooring, etc.

 

The suggestion above that you visit an existing facility of this type would probably be really helpful to you. Used restaurant supply

equipment could help you cut down on some of the costs, maybe (sinks, tables, plumbing fixtures).

 

I don't know of anyone who does this for a living; usually, I think a school or agency would appoint a project officer to coordinate and run

the installation project. If that person's you, you're going to need a face-to-face advisor. Your local photography small business might

be a good place to start looking at just how involved modifying such a facility is. It's not impossible, but there are going to be a lot of

details and unusual areas of concern for running such a specialized project.

[abbie_gardiner]

Thank you all so much for your ideas, its really provided some food for thought. Think I will most likely be the one who is co-ordinating the project, but obviously I have very little experience - only started writing and leading the digital photography GCSE from this year! The site we have in mind is the conversion of existing 20 ft by 10 ft students toilets, so plumbing and electricity are already ok - we have an outside wall on one side for a fan. 10 -15 students at one time is a must as take up for the A Level course is already looking good. Obviously the ideal is that through me, the site staff and company who can provide the equipment will work together to plan out and resource the space. We are based in the SW of England, so if anyone has any ideas about online or more local companies who may be able to help that would be great. Ive visited other school sites, but all were set up some time ago so prices are not particularly relevant, however, I am getting back in touch with one for details of suppliers etc if possible. Once again, thank you all,keep the ideas coming if you can! Its really great to have discussion with others about this, there are no others at school who can help!

[jpo3136b]

I recommend at least one big sink (I mean, big; as in, table-size), a minimum of 3 enlargers. 5 might be better for a

time-sensitive workflow; but if you order their runs and lead them, you can improve efficiency. 5 might be a good choice

for leading a group of 10 to 15, because you can send them through the dark in waves.

 

Time and equipment use ratios will affect how your enlarger quantity will be perceived later. Buy too many, and you will

be taking away from your operating budget. Buy too few, and your students will be standing around, getting nothing

done, learning little. So, I would suggest five. Here's why:

 

Time it takes to develop one roll of 120mm or two rolls of 35mm in a small tank; typically 30 minutes, with hands-on time

being critical for the first fifteen. The last fifteen are spent waiting for NEG FIX and NEG RINSE. Another good

investment in this area would be in about 3 to 5 changing bags; this way your students could pre-load some reels in a

lecture-type classroom, listening to administrative matters of starting the class for the day while they load. This will get

you a jump on the day's runs.

 

Time at an enlarger, per roll, could run as long as several hours. But, you can cycle them, after each print from enlarger

to bath. Interestingly, many products are built to respond to 4 minute cycles. It takes about 4 minutes to setup and use

the enlarger. A good photographer can run through faster or do bulk-firings of papers and then run them in groups

through, or behind one another, but that will not be good for your students.

 

In America, for some reason the Beseler 23C series of enlargers has been the most common type of enlarger I

encountered in schools and community darkrooms. They're generally sturdy, with a good balance of features. Really,

any major enlarger-producing company will probably give you a quality product.

 

Some of the "big ticket" items, that will take up a good deal of the budget will include: enlarger purchasing (including

lenses and timers), sink and plumbing installation and cabinet construction. Light traps for vents to outside wall and

doors will also have to be made, but I think you will find they will not be as expensive as the others. Light trapping is

important, but not as costly.

 

Some of the long-term sustainment costs will include film, paper and chem. Watch your budget for fixer consumption.

 

The problem for pre-mixed chem purchases, in 1 gallon (3,8 to 4 liter units) usually goes like this: The ~4 liter DEV will

be diluted to make ~8L, but used in 500 mL increments per roll. The fix will be purchased in 3,8L increments, but get

used undiluted. So, already, just for negatives, the $5 US 3,8 pre-mix DEV pack will last twice as long, just for

negatives. Kodak D-76 premix 3,8L pack will let you run 16 negatives of 120 or 32 negatives of 35mm.

 

For paper pre-mixed chem DEV, again, 3,8L units, but usually diluted after stock to make 12L. Will take about 3L per

11X14 tray. So, that paper dev pre-mix purchase will make 3 baths. The baths will last long enough to run about 100

8X10 prints (20cmX25cm (?)). If you are teaching them 35mm film, that will be one 8X10 per frame, 24/25 or 35/36

frames per roll of 35mm film; your looking at each DEKTOL pre-mix pack equalling about one print (8X10) per frame for

three rolls of film. This means that if you use NEG DEV and PAPER DEV to exhaustion, you may use up to 10X as

much paper developer as NEG DEV. In practice, because of editing, I often actually have a usage ratio that is much

less: More like NEG DEV to PAPER DEV of 2:1. This is because of the way I choose to print what I have.

 

Now, for fixer. You will consume more fixer than any other type of chemical. This is because once it is mixed to stock,

you are supposed to use it as stock. Sometimes, for economy, you can get away with a 50% solution. Therefore, one

3,8L pre-mix pack of Kodak fix will yield a maximum of 8L of fix. But, this same fix will be consumed in both NEG and

PAPER FIX. In NEG FIX stage, it will be used in 500mL increments per roll of 120 or per 2 rolls of 35mm. The

remaining 3L will be needed to sustain a 3L paper bath in an 11X14 tray. At 50% dilution, this means that one pack of

pre-mix FIX will run 4 each 35mm negs and 2 PAPER FIX baths. Which, if used to exhaustion, will just barely cover

one print per frame.

 

Again, because of the way I choose to print, I consume more fix than anything else. I have a typical supply drop order

of pre-mix Kodak as: 2 units of 3,8L D-76; 1 unit of 3,8L DEKTOL; 5 units of FIX. Again, I do not print every frame. I

only print what I think others will demand. 1 contact sheet for each roll, and pick the best of what you find; regardless.

 

I say this because, as you can see, the consumption rates of the products vary considerably. Meanwhile, their price per

unit will be very similar. Here in the US, it's typical to see 1 3,8L pack of pre-mix to be priced around $5. However, if I

were to buy them equally, based solely on unit price, my operation would stall out because I would run out of FIX.

 

Note! Different brands of chem have their own dilution ratios and their own times! The ones I picked above are common

US products. England has Ilford/Harmon and easy access to European Mainland companies. So, what is locally

available to you is imported to me and vice-versa. Point is: your consumption and usage patterns for the darkroom are

actually very important to planning the structure of the darkroom against your budget.

 

I cannot emphasize this enough. I work in jobs that involve usage and consumption rates for my entire career. Because

these involve some math word problems, nobody wants to face them. They end up being ignored. They are the most

commonly overlooked important factor to the survival and sustainment of any group or commercial activity. They are

important for you. Learn and decide and pick a rough draft about what chemicals you want to consume and learn their

mix rates and consumption rates to determine if you in fact have enough of an operating budget to add more facility

equipment. If you have 10 students, getting 10 enlargers and 2 sinks might be a bad idea, because you could run out of

legal tender to keep that stuff operating. Run out of FIX, and you won't be able to do anything. Good news is, FIX is

usually a cheap salt.

 

I have written enough as it is. I hope I didn't overwhelm you. Get some good books on darkroom setups. Most

photography manuals and books on the general process have an obligatory chapter on setting up the facility; but,

because of the way the consumption problems work out, consumption rates are rarely discussed. They will be an

important factor in making your leadership in that darkroom possible. Think about it and consider it up front. Good luck.

 

Please write back so we can know how you are doing. Leading those students through education is a big deal. That is

an important job. Don't give up. Education is the number one way of preparing people for commerce; commerce is the

number one most widely effective form of peaceful, civilized survival used in the world. Keep up the good work! J.

[jpo3136b]

Please understand also that those chem consumption rates I outlined above are very rough; those are shoot-from-the-hip

figures; my actual usage varies, and yours will, too. But, if you don't plan for chem consumption your day-to-day leading of

those students through the darkroom will not work out. Good luck. J.

[jpo3136b]

Okay, so I wrote that the consumption rates would affect darkroom design. Here are some examples.

 

1. Negative reel loading. I once used a darkroom that had separate places for negative loading and the enlargers. An

inexperienced person could take a really long time to load that reel. That is why I suggested the changing bags. With

their arms in the changing bags, they could sit in a classroom together and get some advice. This way you could

manage the waves of students into the darkroom, and into the enlarger stations, and their prints into the baths that

require sink use, in waves based on task accomplishment.

 

2. Two sink would work out better than one, even with a rotation plan because of the time differences in the baths. You

will need more surface area to allow the prints to sit in baths without overlapping. If prints overlap or touch, it is easy for

an inexperienced person to track its progress. If the papers swim around and get mixed up, your students will lose time

figuring out what's what. This will lead to keeping the prints in the baths for the wrong amount of time. This will

encourage flubs; they'll be more likely to make mistakes. For the first few print runs, (like, the entire time a beginner is

in a class) you will want them to have as many clean, problem-free runs as possible. Later on, when they know what

they are doing, they will have the skills they need for basic problem solving in the darkroom.

 

No offense. Even though they're probably normally intelligent people, if you are leading a group, you have got to give

them time to learn and get organized in the short term and in the long term. I don't know what educators call this, but I

have had to lead groups before, and I am convinced that having time allotted for flexibility when learning or rehearsing is

very, very important.

 

So, here's why you want two sinks. It goes back to FIX consumption and usage rates. When prints and negs are in the

FIX, they will sit there for as long or longer than the previous stages of the process combined. Typically, we set up the

baths for one-print-at-a-time use. This is how I do it at home. However, you will be leading a group. As those waves of

students cycle through the print production line in your new darkroom, they will stall out at the fix bath. They will bunch

up. So, you will want to at least double the amount of surface area in the fix bath, or have two trays for fixing. This will

increase the space requirement for your sink operation by about 30% because you will need the extra 25% for the

overflow group's fixing, plus some wraparound space to keep that second fix bath in the sink.

 

Note! When I describe a "second fix bath" here, I am not talking about a two-stage fix process. I am talking about

increasing the volume of the fix bath's top surface area by 2X.

 

So, for common darkroom setups, you will see layouts that suggest something like, 1 tray for DEV, 1 tray for STOP, 1

tray for FIX and some kind of tray or vertical print washer for RINSE.

 

I am suggesting here that you adjust this layout for: 1 tray for DEV, 1 tray for STOP, 2 trays for FIX (tray one for "wave

A" and one tray for "wave B") and a generous space for print washing in the sink. Vertical print washers are a very good

idea. Even a crude one makes sense. You will want a horizontal layout for DEV and FIX because some observation of

the print paper, while not necessary, is extremely useful.

 

If space gets to be a premium, I remember that there was some UK company that sold print tanks, very much like a

vertical print washer, that kept the print papers vertical. Many of these might be useful to you, I don't know. They would

save space in the sink, but, and I cannot emphasize this enough, it is natural human behavior for the curious

photographer to want to see the process taking place. This will almost always require a horizontal bath.

 

Therefore, the number of baths you need to use (budget more for leading a group through the FIX stage) and the

orientation of the bath (usually horizontal) will affect sink size and quantity.

 

Therefore, you will want to propose and receive approval for two really big sinks in a darkroom that holds at least five

enlargers. Those big sinks will affect your plumbing choices. The number of enlarger stations will affect your electricity

planning. Also, note, that depending on how your enlarger will be electrically grounded, sometimes people have to run a

separate grounding wire to the cold water pipe. In the US many electrical outlets are already built with ground-plugs. If

your facility does not have this, you need one, or you will need to consider electrical grounding access when designing

the plumbing and conduit plan, which could also affect the cabinetry design.

 

You see? The specifics of what you are going to do in there, efficiently, can affect the facility construction plans. There

are some simple things you can do up front, like decide on number of enlargers and number of sinks and drains and

outlets.

 

Good luck. I'm really rooting for you over here. J.

[jpo3136b]

So, Sink One would be for 1 tray DEV and 1 tray for STOP. Sink Two would be for 2 trays for FIX and print rinse. If you

need an overflow space for rinse, you could put that also in Sink One. Line up the trays in the two sinks so that they could

walk around both sinks in a big circle. That way you could keep the production line flowing round and around.

 

This design would put the sinks in the middle, next to each other, long side by long side, and enlargers up against a wall.

This would be an easier layout to install because drains may be already built toward the center of the floor of the room and

electrical outlets already inclined to being along the walls. J.

[jpo3136b]

This would probably be the best design.

 

In the example above, we covered the justification for two sinks to support group print development. These were big,

table-like sinks, as you would see in a restaurant, one big sink holding several large trays, with a common drain and

some faucets with a hose that could reach all the way down the line for cleaning, without splashing or spraying.

 

Now, to support an efficient set of group negative development, and reduce crowding at the print baths, you will want a

sink set for the negative development workflow. An ideal design would be several small sink stations, they could be

very small each, like a sink used in a school bathroom for handwashing. These sink stations, each with their own hot

and cold faucets, would be used for managing the flow of chem in and out of the tanks during film development. Ideally,

they would each have their own generous shelf and table space nearby.

 

So, another table/sink setup, of about five workstations, in the darkroom, for use with changing bags and small tank

development reels, would be ideal. This would be a table with a space for bag use, a sink for tank use and a small shelf

to keep small chem bottles and tools like graduated cylinders and thermometer and scissors in order. A cabinet with

five such spaces would be ideal.<div></div>

[jpo3136b]

That print drying area would be either another big sink with a clothesline set over it for air drying (recommended) or a print

drying cabinet (not recommended, because people will be opening and closing it a lot; another time-critical area a student

might mess up with).

[jpo3136b]

Keep in mind, though, that negs and prints will need 24 hours before the objects can be moved on to the next phase. If

you cannot get your students return-later access to the darkroom, the drying cabinet might be a good idea.

 

I'll be quiet now. J.

[abbie_gardiner]

John,

 

Thanks so much for all your advice, I appreciate the time you have spent and its really helped. Im going to go away, think things over and organise things. Ill certainly let you know how it goes. The support youve shown is spurring me on, I think itll be well worth it and the kids will absolutely love it!

 

Abbie.

[charles_stobbs3]

IMHO, if your safe light(s) are truly safe then you want white painted walls and ceiling to even off the light as much as possible.

[charles_stobbs3]

And a filtered inlet fan.

[ric_johnson1]

Instead of black paint on the walls, use 18% grey. With numerous people in the darkroom, the lighter the room the better so they can see and not bumping into else other.

[jpo3136b]

Excellent idea, up there from Ric Johnson. It might also be a penny-saver. I bet that the "Battleship Gray" paints available

from many paint stores would be close; they are frequently also less expensive than some other hues.

[charles_stobbs3]

Also, I think you want several wet stations for several different chenical processes to be used at one time. Especially if students are allowed access at other than class times so each can be doing something different.