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Old 7th September 2014, 08:26 AM
RonanP RonanP is offline
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Default New Darkroom

I finally managed to set up my darkroom and have made my first few prints for a year or so. I am using a plastic shed from B&Q.

It has been quite a problem to make it lightproof. It is not until you start to try that you realise that the roof and walls are not light tight. There is a clear plastic section in the roof that I painted black and painted the roof and walls with a couple of coats of white emulsion. The window is covered with a sheet of red gel and a blind.

I have only used it in the evenings when the sun no longer shines on it; I still use a changing bag to load films for processing.

Brian
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Old 7th September 2014, 10:22 AM
Eriktheviking Eriktheviking is offline
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I have recently finished my darkroom in a shed, luckily for me I had it built for me with no windows but there is still the problem of the light leaks around the door. I have a drop down blackout blind which does the trick for now.
I did do a test with a sheet of photo paper and I left it exposed with all my lights off and just the leaks present and that didn't show any fogging or light exposure after a 10min period once it was developed so while total darkness is ideal its not totally essential.
I would say it you haven't done so put the enlarger in the darkest corner of the darkroom and I'd do an exposure test during daylight of about 10-15mins to see how it affects the photo paper
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Old 7th September 2014, 12:27 PM
alexmuir alexmuir is offline
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I also use a shed with no windows. Working at night further minimises the effect of light leaks.
Alex.
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Old 7th September 2014, 02:27 PM
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skellum skellum is offline
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Currently I work in the kitchen. Board on window, blinds down. I did have a curtain on the outside of the door, but the cat pulled it down using it as a climbing toy. Bad boy.
I get good but not complete black out- in summer some stray light gets around the door, so I confine my sheet film processing to the evening when it's darker. Paper is a bit slower and more forgiving- I can print most days without worry (but a little care).T

To test, cut a few small test squares and let them sit in a few different spots with a coin in the middle. Be patient, give them a few minutes and develop. Any hint that you can see the outline of a coin means you've got a leak big enough to worry about.
You might be pleasantly surprised though- after all, how long is each sheet out of the packet??
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