Print washer

[PeteScherm@xxxxxxx]

A couple of years ago, when I started getting really interested in 20x24  
prints, I looked around for a good print washer (I think all print washers 
can be considered "archival" - it just depends on the length of time you're 
willing to wash).  Everything I saw was way too expensive for simple washing 
use.  I paid $15 for a new Rubbermaid 40-gallon Roughtote storage container.  
I fashioned a dozen nesting racks made from some scrap Lexan sheet and 
Plexiglas-type 5/16" rods and fitted them to the container.  I constructed  a 
water-spray "network" (for lack of a better word) out of 1/2" CPVC tubing and 
a hundred-plus small holes to set-up many eddy currents in the water as it 
enters the washer - and then regulate the siphon overflow to keep the dozen 
prints well under the water level.

Disadvantages.  It's big; I have to wash the prints in my cellar as I don't 
have that sort of spare room in the darkroom.  It's heavy;  I often will have 
nearly 30 gallons of water in it - well over 200 pounds.  And it may not be 
the most efficient in water usage.  As far as archival characteristics, a 
person can get experience with their own set-up by buying the residual-hypo 
testing chemicals and experimenting.
Pete Schermerhorn
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