Some boys use
The Bath-room for their dark-room, darkening the window and shutting out any rays of light that may come through the key-hole and cracks about the door. This works splendidly, there being running water at hand and the tub in which to wash the negatives. The work-table is made out of several boards battened together, and should be set across the edges of the tub.
[Figure 169] shows
Another Scheme—a dark-room fitted up in a closet, or by partitioning off a corner of the attic or cellar. In the latter case the inside of the partition should be covered with black paper or cloth to prevent light from entering cracks in the boards. The room should be provided with
A Work-table about three feet high. This should be built against the wall and strongly braced, as shown in the sketch ([Fig. 169]). Fasten a shelf to the wall about nine inches below the table, and under this make a rack with three divisions in it for trays. The rack should be fastened to the braces, as shown in the drawing.
Running Water is a great convenience in a dark-room, as it saves the bother of having to carry water in pails, or transferring your plates to a tub or wash-basin for the final bath after development.
If it is impossible to locate your dark-room where it will be supplied with running water, the best scheme is
A Water-tank with hose attachment. This is shown in [Fig. 169]. To carry it out, procure from your grocer a "half-barrel," such as is used for the shipment of salt mackerel, etc., and, after thoroughly cleaning it, bore a hole in the side about two inches from the bottom. Buy at a drug-store several feet of rubber tubing, a rubber stopper with a hole cut in the centre, two pinch-stops, a six-inch piece of glass tubing bent at right angles, and a small glass funnel. Slip one end of the bent piece of glass tubing into the rubber stopper, and stick the latter in the hole made in the barrel. Then slip a short piece of the rubber tubing over the glass tubing, and place one of the pinch-stops on it to be used in regulating the supply of water from the tank (see [Fig. 171]). Set the barrel on one end of the table, and run the rubber tubing through a hole cut for it in the work-table.