Darkroom experiences (Page 3): Paint your walls bright white to help lighting when the safe light it on. YOU MUST HAVE VENTILATION. All four people I worked with when we did a lot of...

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

repsychler wrote:

I am in the process of setting up a darkroom for developing and printing B&W film. I am writing to see if anyone has any words of wisdom or helpful experience that they would like to share.
I am currently concerned about the importance (or lack thereof) of adequate ventilation and/ or maintaining the temperature and/or humidity of the darkroom, especially when it is not in use.
I’m waiting on Amazon to send a concrete nailer, so my project is on pause.

Paint your walls bright white to help lighting when the safe light it on.
YOU MUST HAVE VENTILATION. All four people I worked with when we did a lot of work in an unventilated darkroom have all died of cancer. DO NOT BE ONE MORE.
If you do not have ventilation (a really good fan) DO NOT WORK IN THE DARKROOM.

A.J.R. Loc: Devon, UK

With regard the color of the walls/ceiling, paint them white, except around the area of the enlarger which should be painted matt black. This will give the best light possible in which to work. However make sure that your safelights have no light leaks.

ELNikkor

I worked 7 days a week for 15 years in a darkroom, and never touched the chemicals with my hands. I used tongs for every tray, never had a problem with fumes, 40 years later, no related health problems. My enlarger of choice is the Beseler 23 C, and El Nikkor lenses (of course!). It is helpful to keep the temperature around 68 degrees if possible, as that is consistent with developing temperatures. I had a fridge for my chemicals, which made them last longer. The Gralab timer with a large face was always helpful for timing. A digital timer for the enlarger was also very helpful for timing the exposures. Good safelights over the trays helped me know quickly how accurate the exposures were, and I made good use of test strips to save on paper.

LCD

Gosh, haven't been under the orange safe-light for many years, but I have fond memories that evokes the smell of the acetic acid stop-bath. It is chemistry, so work slowly. Be deliberate and don't rush while you control all your variables as precisely as you can to get the best results. Use distill water, agitate gently. Good luck.

srt101fan

ELNikkor wrote:

I worked 7 days a week for 15 years in a darkroom,... (show quote)

You say "never had a problem with fumes". Is that with or without an exhaust fan?

photoman43

repsychler wrote:

I am in the process of setting up a darkroom for developing and printing B&W film. I am writing to see if anyone has any words of wisdom or helpful experience that they would like to share.
I am currently concerned about the importance (or lack thereof) of adequate ventilation and/ or maintaining the temperature and/or humidity of the darkroom, especially when it is not in use.
I’m waiting on Amazon to send a concrete nailer, so my project is on pause.

It would help me to know if the location for the DR was in a basement or a more traditional room or closet in a house. My old DR was in a basement.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Ollieboy wrote:

Since Covid is over you may want to use your old masks.🤔

Masks do not stop gases like Acetic Acid Vapor. The acid fumes might actually destroy viruses in the room!

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

repsychler wrote:

I am in the process of setting up a darkroom for developing and printing B&W film. I am writing to see if anyone has any words of wisdom or helpful experience that they would like to share.
I am currently concerned about the importance (or lack thereof) of adequate ventilation and/ or maintaining the temperature and/or humidity of the darkroom, especially when it is not in use.
I’m waiting on Amazon to send a concrete nailer, so my project is on pause.

Temperature control by water bath is all you need for film. I used a 20x24x8” tray… I put my chemical bottles in it and brought them to temperature. A stainless steel tank and reels work best in that, for up to a one quart tank.

A sous vide cooking appliance can be helpful for some processing. But for B&W, it’s not necessary.

Unless you just want silver halide prints, modern pigment printers make the best of both B&W and color. But you will need to digitize negs and slides to use them. If you’re interested, read the attached PDF File.

Attached file:
(Download)

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

repsychler wrote:

I am in the process of setting up a darkroom for developing and printing B&W film. I am writing to see if anyone has any words of wisdom or helpful experience that they would like to share.
I am currently concerned about the importance (or lack thereof) of adequate ventilation and/ or maintaining the temperature and/or humidity of the darkroom, especially when it is not in use.
I’m waiting on Amazon to send a concrete nailer, so my project is on pause.

From many decades of photography Wet Chemistry Darkroom work good ventilation is a priority. As to temperature all I can say is you may need A/C to keep your darkroom around 67-72 degrees while using it. As for humidity, I can not address that. I was in Southern California while working in darkrooms where things are rather dry! Hawaii is tropical! Fungus, mold?

Richard West Loc: Finger Lakes Region in upstate NY

Need equipment? http://westphotoimaging.com/equipment.html
Plus 35mm & 120 Kinderman film reels, etc.

photoman43

In my basement DR I had wall studs available to me. I built my own table for my enlarger, etc by attaching it to the wall studs (no table legs to bump or level) with support pieces cut from 2 x 4s. I made sure it was perfectly level and at a height comfortable for me. And it was easy to attach brackets for shelving too. For water I just used the laundry tubs in the basement. Basement temp was OK as is most of the year.

Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

Many (very many) years ago when I worked in my darkroom I developed an allergy to acidic acid (stop bath), so I learned vinegar worked equally as well. I forget the ratio I used, but over the years I just poured 'some' into the water and got by fine with it as an effective stop bath.
A plumber friend set up the water supply pipes for me to that I could 'blend both hot & cold water ultimately through one faucet, achieving the proper temperature for mixing chemicals, etc.
Since you're starting from scratch, you might want to consider having many more electrical 'plug in's' than you 'think' you'll need. You can never have too many. Back when I had mine, the 'electrical strips' were still within code so I covered all the walls with them and the movable plugs, so I had a plug anywhere I needed one.
Just some things that came to mind when you asked for suggestions/help.
I might add... the smell of vinegar in the darkroom was pleasant and sometimes even made me hungry:o)
God Bless,
Papa Joe

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

Papa Joe wrote:

Many (very many) years ago when I worked in my dar... (show quote)

Actually, vinegar is about 4-6% acetic acid in water, with some trace elements. Stop bath is usually about 2% acetic acid. Maybe you were just ending up with a more dilute acetic acid stop bath by adding vinegar to water.

delder Loc: Maryland

Having done my last B & W Darkroom work at the end of the last Century, I am not familiar with any modern chemicals that may be in use. In my experience, the fumes from the Acid Solutions tend to be corrosive, and if not properly ventilated, will cause most metals to rust and or corrode.

As Memory serves me, this ENTIRE PROCESS is Temperature Sensitive, which means your solutions must be kept at temperature or be brought to temperature BEFORE processing or you run the risk of over/under developing your work.

Good Luck!

BartHx

Other than specific items of equipment (mentioned in other responses) I have had in setting up a darkroom in a space that was not originally designed to be a darkroom has been getting good light traps on all parts of the ventilation system (ones that do not restrict air flow but let none of the dark out).