THE DARK-ROOM AND ITS FITTINGS.
apartment in which the photographer carries out his operations is usually, but erroneously, termed " the dark room," for it is not in reality, or should not be, " dark," in the ordinary acceptation of the term, at all. It is not, of course, illuminated in the ordinary manner with daylight, the light with which it is provided being of an orange or ruby colour, which has no prejudicial effect upon the pre pared sensitive dry-plates. My readers will, of course, understand that the packets of sensitive dry plates must only be opened in such a light as that to which I have just referred, and that the exposure of them for even a frac tional part of a second to ordinary white light will render them absolutely worthless for photographic purposes.
It is highly desirable that the photographer should secure, for his own exclusive use, an apartment which he can con vert into a dark-room ; but as this is not always possible, I shall, in the present chapter, describe the fitting up of an ordinary apartment as a dark-room, and in the succeeding chapter I shall also describe a method of constructing, from ordinary materials, a contrivance which will serve as an efficient substitute. Any small room, or even a large cup board, may be converted into a dark-room, although in the latter case adequate provision must be made for proper ventilation.
Let it be assumed that a room of the dimensions given in the drawing, namely, 12 ft. by 10 ft., has been secured, the first thing to do will be to devise some means of blocking out the white light and providing an abundant supply of orange, or non-actinic light, as it is called, in its place. We will further assume that there is only one window in the room to deal with. Wo therefore, with stout brown paper and some strong paste, proceed to block out all the upper panes, by pasting two thicknesses of brown paper over them. We then make a wooden frame large enough to just cover the lower sash frame, and upon this wo stretch, with the assistance of some tin tacks and strong glue, two thicknesses of yellow fabric which is obtainable at any photographic warehouse. When this is quite dry, one thickness of deep orange paper must be pasted over it. This screen, when placed in position, will allow an abundance of soft orange light to pass through, which will have no injurious effect upon the plates. In order to prevent any stray rays of white light peeping through between the screen and the sash, the back portion of the screen frame should have a broad strip of felt nailed all round it. Two turn-buttons, screwed to the window frame, will keep the frame in position. If direct sunlight falls upon the window, this light will not be safe, and to make it so a piece of ruby cloth, the full size of the screen frame, should be hung inside by means of small hooks; it can then be easily removed when the sun ceases to shine upon the window. Having put the screen in position, and allowed the eyes to become accustomed to the subdued light, it will be necessary to look round the room with a view to the detection of stray beams of light coming from chinks and cracks in the door ; the brown paper and the paste will be of assistance in stopping up these.
The developing table and sink must now be considered.
Those of my readers to whom expense is not a matter of consideration may prefer to buy one of the very complete and handy developing stands shown in fig. 12, which may be obtained from any of the dealers; but to others who may wish to construct their own apparatus, when possible, the following suggestions may be useful : Obtain some ordinary floor-boards, which are usually about 6 in. broad and 4 in. thick. Cut two pieces 3 ft. long, and two pieces 18 in. long ; nail these together so as to form a kind of bottomless tray. Nail this with long " cut nails " to the wall about 3 ft. from the ground just under the window, screwing to the front two additional pieces 3 ft. 6 in. long to form legs and give support. A thin nail driven slanting through the support, and into the floor, will make the framework quite firm. Now call in a plumber, and tell him to make you a stout zinc tray just large enough to fit in your wooden tray, to which it may be attached by turning over about an inch of the metal all round the top, and securing it with nails to the top of the frame. A hole should be cut in the centre of the zinc tray, and a piece of lead pipe attached to carry off the waste developer and washing water. This directs our attention to an important matter, and one in which the assistance of the plumber may be invaluable. A plentiful supply of water is almost a sine qua non in photographic operations, and, if it is within the bounds of possibility, water should be laid on to the dark-room from the house cistern, or, preferably, from the main. The tap should be fixed about 8 in. above the sink, and should not be too large, as a heavy stream of water is not needed. Fig. 13 gives a rough sketch of the details of construction. In order to avoid the necessity of standing dishes, etc., in the bottom of the sink, which soon will become dirty and contaminated with the constant stream of refuse chemicals, a grid will be necessary. To make it, cut some thin strips of wood about 4 in. less in width than the width of the sink, and nail these about i in. apart to two pieces of wood 12 in. long by 5 in. deep ; the grid will then present the appearance shown in fig. 14. A large common deal dressing-table, which can be obtained second-hand for about 3s., should be placed against the wall level with the developing sink, and on the wall at the back a tier of shelves should be put up upon which to place the various chemicals which have already been purchased. The shelving may with advantage be continued right round the room, for although the necessity for it may not be apparent at first, the amateur photographer will be surprised to find how, after ho has practised the art for a short period, the various paraphernalia incidental to its pursuit accumulate, and he will then be glad to find that he has made some provision for its reception. A tidy and well-appointed dark-room is a great comfort to its owner, an untidy one an everlasting source of discomfort and ill-success. To the right of the window a broad, low shelf should be fixed, within easy reach of the hand when seated at the developing sink, upon which a measure, and the bottles containing the various developing solutions, can be placed.