Platinum Printing Buy: A Good Quality Used UV Exposure Unit

I managed to pick up a UV exposure unit locally at an extremely good price of $25. It measures in at about 24"x 36", is second-third hand but in good shape. The one drawback is that it does not have a vacuum unit and I will be forced to use contact printing frames to make my Platinum/Paladium, Platinum or Paladium prints.

I feel quite lucky to have a professionally manufactured unit and not some small, crude, hand made, half assed type thing that kinda works and mostly of does not work. I have photo friends who went all cheapo when it came to UV exposure units, they usually have nothing but problems with their contraptions. When your spending all that money on platinum chemistry, why use crap UV Units to expose the prints? It makes no sense.

I will keep an eye out for a high end Nuarc 26-1K or Nuarc 26-1Ks vacuum exposure unit and purchase one when it eventually becomes available. For now I will use my $25 beauty. Maybe this is all I will need.

Update* As a bonus the seller threw in a nice little IKEA table, thank you Graham!

My new-used UV exposure unit, 24x36 inches

Max Black And First Coatings Of Hahnemuhle Platinum Art Paper

Over the last few days have done a series of test strips to find maximum black on the Hahnemuhle Platinum Paper combined to my metal box UV unit. Coated 3 sheets of 5x8 paper using a brush and the Bostick & Sullivan Palladium chemistry. 

I played around with the drop count of the 4 chemicals involved and used the UV exposure unit I bought a few years back for the first time. A few hiccups but I got an exposure of 9-10 minutes as expected to give me a max black for my chemical/paper/exposure unit combo.

Am happy with first results.

 The 2018 story about buying this UV unit for $25

My cheaper UV exposure Unit.

Bought Me A Nuarc 40-1K UV Exposure Unit, With Vacuum Frame

From Facebook....

Gosh Another buy yesterday. The final shipping details are working themselves out but things have come together and the deal is done. I bought a NUARC 40-1K in good shape with 2 extra bulbs (which run about $100 a piece), with shipping ($350 CAD to Edmonton) for a total cost of l$1000 CAD. So that works out to $650 for the Nuarc, $350 CAD for shipping with the bulbs thrown in. I will be receiving the unit sometime before Christmas. The plan is to keep it in storage over the winter and then set it up in the spring. The unit is big with a huge vacuum table (40 inch?). I will need a larger room to set it up in. My mom and dads old home has a room off a triple garage that might work for this purpose. This semi large space has no heating but for the most part it should be an OK working UV exposure work area, if cleaned up properly. I could set up the Nuarc with tables, shelved cabinets etc and see how it goes. All the other platinum, alternative process wet work can be done in the nearby darkroom (75 meters away?).Am a bit worried about the weight of the machines, I might need some help later on moving and setting it up but thats a problem for the spring. My dad used to move mountains by himself (moved fridges up flights of stairs into his mid 70s), so I am I sure I can manage somehow. Dad is always a teaching example to me. Hard work does lead to positive results! We will figure it all out. Am happy I have the unit, have heard good things from many platinum printing folk about the Nuarc 26-1K and the 40-1K.

Here is my new-used Nuarc 40-1K
Note* From one of the Facebook posts:

Gosh am using up all my savings. But that is the way it has always been with me, everything thrown into the photography. Do without a lot of other things but always pay for the photo gear, the photo trips, film, etc....here is the latest buy and the last for a while. I will need to finish paying for my HF3535 in the coming months, plus house taxes, insurance etc...Here is a post I put on the Platinum Printing Group page, thought I would share it here also...

The plan is to use this unit to make high end platinum print of my lifetime of photographs. As I get older, getting out in the field will be more more and difficult. With some health luck thou I should be able to print another 10 years or so after my shooting days are over or near over. Printing a lifetime of images in Platinum, what is a better retirement than that!! The joy of creating, so many memories will flood back, got to love it.

My new-used Nuarc 40-1K

Facebook: Platinum Printing Hopes

from Facebook.

Gerry Yaum

After 40 years in photography am finally learning to do Platinum-Palladium printing. Been looking for a UV exposure unit of some kind for a few months now. Many suggestions from you folks in the group, thanks for that.

Got a bit lucky today. Last night during my security night shift I bumped into a kijiji advert for a large silkscreen UV unit. Contacted the seller and this morning after work raced down to get it. Cost was only $25 CAD ($19 USD). It measures approximately 24 inches x 36 inches, have not had time to get the measuring tape out yet. I am still in the market for a Nuarc 26-1K or 1Ks but those are difficult to find and even more difficult to ship to my lonely outpost in Edmonton.

The plan with this platinum work is to make prints from the Thai-Burmese....FAMILIES OF THE DUMP series and hopefully sell a few prints. Then I will use the money to buy goods for the families (medicines, boots, headlamps etc) on my next trip to Thailand.

Lots yet to learn on the platinum curve yet, will start working on digital negs next week. I will be asking lots of questions of the folks here, hope thats OK. Thanks in advance for any help you can give. Here is the $25 CAD UV unit and a few of the dump Family Photos. This "Families of the Dump" series is an ongoing project dating back to 2013, I just returned in April 2018 from 4 months at the dump, plan to head back around May 2019, have $360 donation money raised so far. I hope the Platinum, Platinum-Palladium or Palladium prints will tell the story of the families in even a better more personal and sadly beautiful way.

2nd Darkroom Build Starting

Will start to work on my 2nd darkroom this next week off. Now that I have a nice UV exposure unit, I need a place to set it up and uses it! I plan on using this darkroom for wet plate, platunum printing, for workshops-teaching and as a rental darkroom. Photos of the build to follow.

2nd Palladium Print Attempt, Much Better!

 from Facebook....

My second attempt at printing up a Palladium print using a digital negative. The neg was not made with my personal curve as I am still learning that process. This neg is an existing Curve within the program. It turned out OK. Lots of room for improvement in this alternative printing process thing but today was a step in the right direction.

Thank you Bill Schwab for so much help on this.

 

Developing This Image Link 

 

UV exposure unit running for 8 minutes in darkroom #2

Neg with paper and rubylith in a large contact printing frame.

Rubylith masked neg on the plastic side.

Rubylith masked digi neg on the emulsion-ink side.

The exposed image on the hand coated Palladium paper

The print clearing in its first bath.

Sunning Silver Again

Sunning the silver! I have enough silver to almost fill 2 - 16x20 tanks. Great to have and use this daylight exposure unit, especially this time of year in Edmonton when the weather is cold with no sun.

Note* You sun the silver (expose it to UV light) to draw out the impurities in the bath. The excess chemicals in the bath when exposed to UV light turn black, fall to the bottom of the bottle, and are filtered out.

My artificial UV light (daylight) darkroom set up. Great to have in the wintertime!

Platinum-Palldium Printing Buys

 Bought a bunch of Platinum-Palladium printing supplies online from work tonight.

- Picked up a bunch of different papers and sizes. I the larger 11x14, 11x15 paper is for the New Brunswick University exhibitions.

- Picked up the cheap type transparency film A-Sub in sizes 11x17 100 sheets and 13x19 100 sheets. I will try this cheapo stuff for a while, if I find the quality or scratching is an issue I will change to something else, possibly Pictorico. 

- Picked up some tetrasodium EDTA that I will use mixed as one of my two clearing agents for my Platinum-Palladium. Got me a 15lb bag which should last a longer time and is much cheaper to buy this way than from Bostick & Sullivan.

In the long wrong paying more now, I will pay less over the long haul. I expect to be doing Platinum-Palladium printing for the rest of my life.

Am also thinking of buying Palladium Chloride from online sources, to make my own Palladium chemistry. It might be cheaper to go this way as well, especially if I start making very large prints, which I anticipate eventually doing. My Nuarc UV exposure unit can make up to 40 inch prints.

Note* There is also a chemical called disodium EDTA that can be used for clearing the print, the difference seems to be in the PH level, the following explanation is from an online source.

The key difference between disodium EDTA and tetrasodium EDTA is that disodium EDTA has a pH lower than 7 while tetrasodium EDTA has a pH greater than 7.

Paper type and sizes bought from B&H with free shipping to Canada

A-Sub transparency film 11x17 ($103.12 CAD), also got a 100 sheet bag of 13x17 ($116.94 CAD)

Tretrasodium EDTA 15lbs from E-Bay ($69.99 USD plus shipping)

Latest Darkroom #2 Update

Well the painting in darkroom #2 is finally completed. I think I painted everything 5 times in every colour of the rainbow! Now am starting to bring in all the darkroom gear as well as more personal touches, the room is becoming quite congested.

I picked up a small Sony stereo today (CD player, cassette player, radio) for $25, an excellent deal. I hooked it up to the Sony speakers and added in 2 Pioneer speakers I got from the same seller for $10. The sound quality is pretty damn good, not bad at all, certainly good enough for me. Was listening to the Beatles Anthology CD tonight as I cleaned, and mopped and arranged the room. Music will make the room more alive. Later on I plan to hook up my cordless headphones (got from work for free) to the system.

In the darkroom I also have a reading area, complete with comfortable chair. I will be browsing my art-photo books as well as reading some poetry and novels in my darkroom down time. I will also just go down there to read when I am not printing. Added a TV with DVD player to the room on dad's old swing TV stand for $40, and a small fridge ($65) for storing film and some cold water (will keep all the drinking liquids and glasses etc. always inside the sealed fridge for health and safety reasons).

Also put up some of my old pics found from younger days as well as some of the higher quality, framed, newer stuff. Tonight I brought over a bunch of my show posters-adverts from various galleries that I have exhibited at since 2013. It sort of gives the place a bit of movie poster feel to it.

The darkroom is feeling very nice and cosy, and will be a very personal and fun place to hang. I cannot wait until I make my first Platinum-Palladium print in the space.

"Ain't Photography Grand!!!"

Note* The next step is to make the 3 large windows light tight, and then finish my sink stand. Next week off I plan to bring in an electrician for an estimate on putting in some ventilation and will call in the plumber to hook up the 3 darkroom sinks I will have in the space (2 older sinks also on the other side of the room). The darkroom should be completed, by March 1, at least I hope so. Spring is on the way and I have a new darkroom to create, print and dream in. Does life can any better than that? Not for me!!

Note** The cat is from my Baba and Gido's (grandma and gramps) old home.

Enlarger table, have 3 set up, might bring in another 2 or possibly 3 more

Largest sink, will use for washing film, trays etc.

Light table area with Mr. Picasso watching

Sink #2 and Sink #3

View from the far end of the darkroom

$65 fridge and $25 Sony stereo

Penticton Art Gallery "Families of the Dump" show card, and  Rosebud Alberta exhibition for the Families and  Dad

My chess area, want to vastly improve my game, playing online matches as as I print and review  chess books

"The Train is Coming" Bangkok Klong Toey Slum advert

My little library of art, photo, poetry, novels and chess books

Advert, Artist Statement for the Thai Sex Worker portrait show at the VAA

View from the other angle of the darkroom

Another view from the other side, the chair is for reading and resting

Another view of the book area

Stand for trays etc, still needs to be cleaned

Second cupboard with a 4th and 5th sink left over from my fathers cooking days

Movable table with the large $25 UV exposure unit

Final view from the fridge side of the darkroom

3rd Palldium Print Attempt

I am very excited by the possibilities of alternative printing processes and digital negs. Hopefully in the not to distant future I can try "Carbon Transfer" printing as well!

from Facebook....

Here is another neg printed in Palladium using an exisiting curve. This is my 3rd attempt at the process, still need to learn how to make my own personal curves. The photo is of a father and his son Chemeeko. I photographed the father and mothers wedding on my first trips to the dump in 2013, this photo was made in 2015. Last I heard, the family now has 3 children and has returned to Burma as Chemeeko's grandmother had become ill. Thinking of doing this one up larger for the Art Centre show at the University of New Brunswick.

 Here is a video link to the developer pour. COOL STUFF!!

Developing This Image Link 

Print In 15 minute wash.

Image visible after exposure of hand painted Palladium emulsion.

Emulsion-ink side of rubylithed digital neg.

Rubylith on neg, for even edges.

Digital negative detail.

Digi neg, coated Palladium paper and contact printer on UV printing unit.