Mark
My advice (worth what you paid for it) in the format
of random thoughts.
I have two darkrooms - one has a commercial purchased
sink, the other is one that I made out of plywood and
fiberglass. Both work fine, but I prefer the plywood
one because it is more stable.
The edge on the plywood sink is about 4"high, which I
find high enough to keep from having had any messes.
The commercial sink is a lot deeper, which puts the
trays at a level a bit lower than would be optimal for
comfort. If I had to do the main sink over, I would
make it shallow and put it up high enough so that the
bottom is about the height of a kitchen counter 36",
or possibly even a bit higher.
I have a friend who built a plywood sink for a local
community college. It is plywood, with a frame made
of 2x4s. It was painted with an epoxy paint, and then
he took it down to a place that does spray on bed
linings for pickups. The result is a durable non-slip
covering that has held up to 8 years of students so
far.
My main darkroom has two sinks - the main sink is
where I keep all of my trays, the secondary sink is
for washing only - it usually has two things in it - a
Zone VI wash thing which I use as a holding tray with
gently cycling water, and a vertical slot archival
wash. These will handle up to 11x14, when I am
printing larger I use the entire second sink with a
Kodak Siphon thingy as my rinse. This accomodates up
to 20 x 30, which is as large as I print.
My water supply has evolved over the years, with
different things being added little by little. When I
built the darkroom I plumbed for hot and cold water
lines coming out of the wall above and below the sink.
I have a normal sink faucet in the sink which I
mostly used for cleaning up, the supplys above the
sink go through filters, then a temp mixing valve, a
flow meter, and then a manifold where I have 4 valves
to give me tempered water in any of various different
places. This whole thing is mounted on a board which
is bolted to the wall above the sink. I am pretty
happy with the current arrangement, although there is
one pipe that has a kind of goofy routing (which makes
it a good place to hang towels :)
Mark
--- Mark Blackwell <mblackwell1958@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Well finally construction of my darkroom sink is
about to begin. I think I have a handle on all the
plumbing and drain issues with flexible hose being
used to get the drain around a washer with a couple
of plan B's if there is trouble.
One thing I haven't figured out just yet is how deep
is really best?? Too deep and it might be akward to
work in, but too shallow is just a big mess waiting
to happen and like history it would just be repeated
every time you use the darkroom.
Also I plan on painting it. Natural finish in the
room would be out of place. Now sealing the plywood
now likely is a fiberglass project on top of the
regular plywood to keep it sealed against the water
both for long life and no leaks. Maybe there are
better ways to seal it using paint and Id welcome
those ideas.
It should be big enough for at least 3 16x20 trays
and I am hoping to be able to build a print washer
in the space that's left that can be place in when
needed and removed and stored when not needed that
would fit over the drain at one end. Any ideas on
how to do that would also be welcome.
One other thought hit me. Though there will be a
slight slope toward one end for the drain, anyone
ever put more than one drain in it and would that be
of an advantage or just wasted time and effort. My
gut tells me one would be plenty.
Also plan on taking the suggestion of covering the
top of the plywood with another piece of wood that I
will use a round over bit on for comfort and it
would provide extra protection from water getting to
the weakest spot of the plywood.
Also I am looking for some kind of in line
themometer that I can plumb into the system. I am
guessing that if I don't I will regret it later,
though I have worked without it for years.
Thanks in advance for all the help past and present.
Id welcome any and all suggestions and things you
would have done differently if you had to do it over
again with what you know now.
Mark
---------------------------------
Get your own web address.
Have a HUGE year through Yahoo! Small Business.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debate
in the Yahoo! Answers Food & Drink Q&A.
http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/?link=list&sid=396545367
=============================================================================================================
To unsubscribe from this list, go to www.freelists.org and logon to your
account (the same e-mail address and password you set-up when you subscribed,)
and unsubscribe from there.
