Contact Printing Frame and UV Light Box

[Wayne Collier]

I just finished building a Contact Printing Frame and UV Light Box for my daughter who is a professional photographer. She has had an interest in alternative photographic processes since college and asked me to build a frame and light box that would allow her to create 20" x 24" platinum or palladium prints. As I started researching I quickly discovered that commercially available frames and light boxes of this size cost over a $1500. So $300 worth of UV lights, ballasts, a fan, 1/4" glass, plywood, lumber, and a few weeks of tinkering later...

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We'll find out next month after I deliver it how the first print turns out.

[John K Jordan]

I just finished building a Contact Printing Frame and UV Light Box for my daughter who is a professional photographer. ...
We'll find out next month after I deliver it how the first print turns out.

Very nice! What a beautiful job. I know your daughter feels SO fortunate to have such an expert engineer and craftsman wrapped around..., er, willing to invest time in her life! I'd love to see some prints when it gets put into use.

Reminds me of the time in the '70s I went searching for a piece of glass to build a (white light) contact printer. I wasn't smart enough to go to a glass shop so I went to the photo store. The "contact" I got there was for a woman whose photographer husband had died years before and the basement full of photo and darkroom gear was starting to bother her. She was asking $200 for the entire thing so I ran to the bank and borrowed money - two cameras including Crown Graphic in mint condition, backdrops, lights, stands, an Omega 4x5 enlarger, timers, trays, safelights, bottles, thermometers, film reels and frames, and... a contact printer.

Hey, maybe ask your daughter if she would like the antique Gralab darkroom timer. When I sold the darkroom equipment years ago I kept that timer and sold the second one. I've been looking for a worthy person who would appreciate it and maybe even use it! (works perfectly) If she's interested I'd trade it for an interesting print of something, her choice, or a good story. It looks like you don't live far down the road from us. Also, I have a lens plate for some kind of view camera, complete with lens and a working leaf shutter. Been looking for a home for that too.

And perhaps tell her (if she doesn't know about it) about a photography museum in Staunton, VA. I spent a couple of hours there recently, mostly talking to the owner. Cameras from big view cameras to tiny spy cameras to more kinds of SLRs than I ever imagined. It's basically a bunch of display cabinets and shelves in a large room of a photo store/studio but for someone who loves cameras it might be worth a visit if in the area. (Yikes, I should apologize in advance for the embarrassingly horrible cell phone snapshots!)

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JKJ

[Wayne Collier]

John,

Thanks for the offer. I sent you a PM.

Wayne

[Robert Hazelwood]

Nicely done! My wife is into alternative processes as well, mainly cyanotypes. The palladium/platinum prints I've seen are amazing, but whoa are the raw ingredients pricey. I built her a similar unit for Christmas a couple of years ago. It used an array of 40W blacklight bulbs, and it has done a really good job on the cyanotypes.

[Wayne Collier]

Robert,

I used 12 - 20w 24" bulbs, so I hope they have enough power to keep the exposure times fairly short.