Re: UV exposure unit and sunlight vs. artificial light
Hi Francis, I always used print frames and a UV light box, which was fine, but then a guy who ran alt process workshops down near the coast here decided to quit and pull up stakes, so he dismantled everything and was selling it all. The last thing he had left was this huge old vacuum print frame-- built like a tank, but with lights included-- it folded up like a suitcase when exposing-- really heavy and takes up room, but it works great-- and he was selling it for a song. The reason he quit offering the workshops is because he couldn't get enough people enrolled, so he told me I could have this as long as I came down and got it. That was a few years ago, and it's worked like a dream. Then about a year ago, I saw on Craig's List here in my area that someone was dismantling their graphic design and photography studio-- I think this was a bad divorce situation, so the guy had to get rid of everything, and he didn't care how much he got for anything since I gather he wasn't getting to keep the proceeds. So I saw he was selling a NuArc, something like a 24x27-- for about $200. This was so perfect, in pristine shape-- like it had never been used. He wasn't real happy when he had to haul it downstairs for me and put it in my car, but whatever. I'm thrilled to have that one, too. That's really perfect too, though I had to rig up lights for that one. So, I guess my bottom line is, I think you can find these used for really good prices, but you probably know that already. Since using the vacuum print frame, I would find it very, very difficult to go back to print frames and separate UV light box. I think my vacuum print frame is probably slower, but I do think the light is more even and consistent, and I like that the negative adheres so tightly to the paper. And I think they work so much better for re-registration. The only place I've ever taken classes that I thought had a great system, though I don't know if they still have it-- was at ICP, years ago. They had a tall stack of drawers, like a dresser, from floor to ceiling-- with lights built in the top of each drawer. So they must have had something like 20, so a class could print all day at the same time-- nobody waiting for anybody to finish. Of course, that was using separate print frames, with the UV lights built into the top of the drawers, at just the right distance, I guess. For a classroom situation, I thought that was pretty clever and seemed to work really well. Maybe you could find an enterprising young carpenter/electrician who would build something like that, on the school's dime. Anyway, my 2 cents. Hope it helps. Diana On Dec 14, 2008, at 1:44 PM, Mark Nelson wrote: Francis,
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