The Obscure Camera

2013 is a year of transition for me. I have spent very little time on photography, due to a full slate of higher priorities. My recent marriage (October 19) and the completion of the living space portion of our remodeling project allows me to turn my attention to creating my dream photography studio. The basement (960 square feet) is dedicated to my studio and office space, divided between my consulting business, soap making, and photography. The laundry facilities were moved to the main floor in the remodel project, and the furnace and water heater were moved out of the former laundry room and into a utility room next door. This leaves the former laundry room (approximately 12 feet x 15 feet) to be dedicated as a darkroom. I have been using this room for almost 10 years as a darkroom, but I have had to use the washing machine and the dryer as counter space, and my only sink was a big double laundry sink.

My first priority was the fabrication of a wet darkroom sink. I talked it over with my close friend and remodeling contractor Dave, and settled on a sink built from 2x10's and plywood, with dimensions of 36" wide by 10'6" long. I came up with these dimensions by placing 5 20"x24" trays on my scale drawing - this is the biggest I intend to print (for now). Dave put the sink together in a couple of hours.

I did quite a bit of internet searching on darkroom sinks, looking for the best way to make the sink waterproof. I ended up taking the beast of a sink to a Rhino Linings pickup truck bed spray shop. The sink was sprayed today, and Dave and I moved it onto the base in the darkroom, and I couldn't be happier with the result. The online records on darkroom sinks are replete with complicated fiberglass strategies - we delivered the sink this morning, and picked it up right after lunch. The polyurethane coating looks bullet proof, and the slope and drainage work well. I have attached a picture or two. The plumber is coming next week to help me set up the sink drain and to plumb the new, smaller utility sink that I bought to replace the gigantic 2'x4' concrete two tub sink formerly in the laundry room.

I will add to this blog next week, after my engineered quartz slab has been installed - this will be used for coating alt-process materials.

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