Re: call to UV printers: was Fluorescent bulbs
Beakman (beakman@netcom.com)
Wed, 2 Oct 1996 09:18:33 -0700 (PDT)
>
> On Wed, 2 Oct 1996, Risa S. Horowitz wrote:
>
> > WOW
> >
> > well, so far the response to my request on UV unit specs has been amazing.
> > Keep it coming, i'll have a unit chosen and built in no time!
> >
> > thank you
> > Risa
> >
>
> My printing unit consists of 12 four foot unshielded blacklight tubes
> spaced 1/8 inch apart. The hardware was obtained by buying six
> flourescent shop fixtures from Wal-Mart for about $8 each.. This gets you
> the ballasts, wires, and T12 connectors very cheaply (a ballast from an
> electrical supply is about $30,) Get the shop lights rated for 40 Watt
> flourescents, not the 32 Watt energy savers. All this is mounted on a
> sheet of plywood with a layer of galvanized roofing tin (all painted
> white) to ground the ballasts (important), the lights munted on one side,
> and the ballasts on the other, as the ballasts heat up during use. The
> ends of the plywood have "feet" made from a piece of 2X6 to support the
> unit and provide space to slide the printing frame under. Will handle
> 20X24 inch prints, with a minimum exposure time of 3 minutes for
> platinum, and costs about $250 to build. Bulbs came from Bulbman in Reno
> Nevada.
For what it's worth, I bought my nuArc 26-1K mercury vapor platemaker used
for $450. This includes the exposure unit, integrating timer and a
vaccuum bed. I've since seen them for slightly less. It too, can handle
up to 20x24 inch prints.
David