Safelight foil - wrap or tissue?

[Photonaut]

Hey.

I´m gonna make a new darkroom. This one has a window, and I want to block the sunlight with some safelight material.

Do anyone know where to get some safelight foil or wrap? (Is that the name for it?)

Thank you for you help

All the best

Erik

[Dan Henderson]

Are you sure that putting "safelight material" over the window is all that you want to do? How are you going to load and unload film holders...changing bag? My new darkroom space has a window also. I thought of making a hinged cover so that I could let daylight in when I didn't need dark, but in the end it seemed too difficult to make a truly light proof seal so I just permanently covered it over.

[Worker 11811]

Get a sheet of foam insulation board (AKA: "Insul-Board") and cut it just a bit smaller than the window frame opening. Use a putty knife to pack some strips of cloth or foam rubber into the gap between the Insul-Board and the jamb, all the way around.

Easy to do. Fairly cheap. Removeable and replaceable. Can be painted or coverd with black cloth to make it look nice. Done properly, it's 100% light proof.

You can get everything you need at Home Depot, etc. or, if you're like me, you can probably use some of the junk you already have lying around your garage.

[Mike Wilde]

Easy to do. If you're like me, you can probably use some of the junk you already have lying around your garage.

Sounds like me, except we have a single car garage which my wife parks her car in.
Once in a while, usually in the fall, when bigger coats start to become the norm, she will start to make suggestions that it is getting a bit of a tight squueze to get into the car.
I take the hint, and either landfill the accumulated stuff, or take the worst of the lumber, usually scrounged in the first place, and cut it down for burning in the fireplace over the winter.

Of course there is always the stuff tucked up into the open rafters and in bins on the overehahd shelves.
But that stuff gets me when I go to wrestle the canoe out of its' rafters storage spot in the springtime.


On the insulboard front, I found I needed two thicknesses of 2" thick, but this was only with the pink stuff. Blue rigid foam 1" no problems.

I have actually used foamcore board with the paper on one side painted matt black, facing out, and it worked fine.

It comes out easier if you put a loop of packing tape under the bottom edge to give you something to pull it off with.

Stapled extra lengths of 120 backing rolls around the edges to make the light seal.

Foam core is super compact to store when I actually want some natural light flooding into the laundry room adjacent to the darkroom.

[Worker 11811]

The foam board that I used has the aluminum foil laminated on one side.

Aluminum side facing out. Just for looks I used some "Spray-ment", aerosol contact adhesive to stick some black Duvetyne to the inside.

I used black, felt weather stripping to pack the edges. I had that left over from light proofing the door frame.

[NedL]

Stapled extra lengths of 120 backing rolls around the edges to make the light seal.

Good idea. I wondered if I'd regret throwing those away!

[Photonaut]

I am looking for some kind of safe red transparent material to block the window. To use the sunlight as a big safelight bulb.

Is it possible to get this material in big sheets you think?

Erik

[DWThomas]

In days gone by there was a red masking film for graphic arts use called Rubylith that might be suitable, but I don't know if it is still made. Another possibility might be sheet acrylic from a sign maker if it can be had in red. Not sure how reliably safe it might be. Also sunlight is pretty bright, you might need to further attenuate the light. I would tend to opt for an opaque shade and separate safelight.

[dpurdy]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...Plasa_Red.html
There are the rosco cine gels though I have never tried them as safe lights. you might need a few layers.
Rosco also makes black cine foil that I am guessing it pretty opaque.

[Worker 11811]

Rosco gel (color filters) comes in 20 x 24 in. sheets. Costs about $6 from B&H.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...er_Medium.html

BMI Theatrical supply sells it in rolls for about $97 per.
http://shop.bmisupply.com/ProductDet...27--Medium-Red

Use Rosco #27 (Med. Red.)

For safelight, I use a double layer of gel, just to be sure.