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  #11  
Old 1st June 2016, 06:55 AM
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Steve Smith Steve Smith is offline
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If it's just for printing, it doesn't nee to be 100% lightproof.


Steve.
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  #12  
Old 1st June 2016, 09:31 AM
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For many years I loaded film into tanks in a large cupboard in a room with the curtains closed - wasn't exactly pitch, but with my back to the cupboard door and my body dropping a shadow too I never had any fogging.
Current darkroom is a understair cupboard. Large heavy curtain covers door and for when I am tray processing, a rolled-up towel covers the bottom of the door! There is a (very) faint glow sometimes, but still no fogging.
When printing I just shut the door - again no fogging . . but maybe I've just been lucky
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  #13  
Old 1st June 2016, 10:05 AM
CarlH CarlH is offline
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I use my upstairs bathroom for a darkroom, just made some cardboard templates to fit the windows, covered with black plastic then held in place with black electrical tape. for the door thick draft excluder and a rolled up towel for the floor.
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  #14  
Old 1st June 2016, 03:02 PM
John King John King is offline
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Default Unexpected light source.

I have managed to get my darkroom about 99% lightproof but to handle film i.e. load it onto the spiral I always use a bag.
My method is to remove the central core from the cassette and let it hang loose in the bag and wind it onto the developing spool which ensures that there is no scratching from the felt in the lips of the cassette.

I started to get a few unexpected blurred marks/streaks at a few random places along the film and then I realised that my new Xmas watch had a brighter than usual luminous dial and this was causing the problems.

So if you use a changing bag take off your watch!
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  #15  
Old 2nd June 2016, 09:17 AM
EdmundH EdmundH is offline
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I'm in the last stages of getting my impending darkroom finished, it also serves as a very small cloakroom/toilet - 3' x 5' . The door is within a clear-roofed porch, so receives direct sunlight. Getting the place lightproof has been a Herculean task, starting with replacing the rotten pantiled roof.

The small window was easy, a piece of stout plywood with E section draftstrip which can be held in place with turnbuckles when needed.

The door is now 99.9% lightproof even in bright sunlight, but it involved finding a new door, stormguard sill with rubber seals, and aluminium/rubber draftstrip round the outside, and painting the jambs black.

At this point I realised that it was also 99.9% airtight! - Then had to fit an extractor fan in the ceiling, and create a lightproof vent through the door.
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  #16  
Old 7th June 2016, 01:03 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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I use ready made plastic darkroom sheeting (which came with Velcro to hold it up - I leave it up permantely) which I bought from some photo shop by mail-order years ago now. Expensive but does the job

In my previous house, I blacked out my bedroom with lengths of about 3cm x 0.5cm lengths of wood made into a frame which was then covered with B and Q rubble bags. TOTALLY light proof and I could put them into the frame of the window and take them down with in minutes. My new darkroom being in a south-facing wooden cabin at the end of the garden required a different approach as mentioned at the top.

Terry S
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  #17  
Old 10th June 2016, 05:09 PM
big paul big paul is offline
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mike thanks for the blackout material its a 100pc better than the one I had its as black as your hat in my darkroom now ,even in the daytime .so it all boils down to the quality of the material the stuff I had didn't work very well in the day, and the daylight started making it fall apart. but now I can use my darkroom anytime day or night
. thanks mike


www.essexcockney.com
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