What is this Thing?

[ParkerSmithPhoto]

I bought a huge pile of darkroom gear on Monday (almost couldn't fit it all into the Swagger Wagon ).

Included was this weird metal thing:



Any ideas? I thought maybe some sort of print washer (?)

[frobozz]

It's a rocking print tray! I think Nikor was one maker, maybe also Soligor. You put your paper in there and a little bit of chemicals and rock it back and forth, sloshing the chems over the print. Kind of a cross between tray processing and drum processing :-)

Duncan

[zsas]

Neat!!!

[Rick A]

Yep, rocker tray, also called a "canoe" tray because of the shape. There are other types of rocker trays, but yours is a true canoe tray. They are supposed to save on chems.

[bdial]

What I remember about them was that they were intended for color, you would put it in a water bath, and agitate by rocking it back and forth.

[Nicholas Lindan]

A remnant of the 70's: a Mitchell Color Canoe - sold by Heathkit. The bail goes under the paper and is used to lift the paper out of the canoe.

They don't work very well from what I understand.

[dehk]

It looks like a cradle for rocking a baby inside a darkroom.

[ParkerSmithPhoto]

Crazy! I can't imagine trying to get liquid out of this thing once you are done.

Thanks for mind sourcing this, guys.

[ParkerSmithPhoto]

A remnant of the 70's: a Mitchell Color Canoe - sold by Heathkit.

Well, the Mitchell Color Canoe is probably going in the trash with the bell bottoms and my old Heathkit timer, which magically died the day I bought my f-stop timer from you. Coincidence? I think not.

[eddie]

I believe they were for color, but they could be advantageous for the extended times, and higher temperatures, of lith printing.
Don't toss it. I think you'll find a lith printer willing to take it off your hands.