> I've just started doing monochrome gum prints recently and have been exposing
> the paper in sunlight with good results. However, I'd like to have a more
> reliable light source. I've called numerous specialty lighting and bulb shops
> in my area (Atlanta) looking for a 275 watt sunlamp, but no one sells them
> anymore - most have said that I would need a doctor's prescription to buy one.
> So, are there any alternatives to a sunlamp, or is there some place I could
> mail order one without a prescription?
>
> Thanks,
> Scott
>
Sunlamp bulbs do show up in thrift stores but that's about it. But with
the many changes in printing technology, there are many used platemakers
on the market. Try one of the companies that supply print shops with
hardware. I picked up a used but perfectly good Nuarc N750, with a
mercury bulb and vacuum frame enclosed in a cabinet for $200. Flip/flops
ought to be cheaper. Look up "printing equipment" in the phone book and
call around.
I hated sunlamps anyway. They are very dangerous. I used to turn it on
and leave, and still could feel (or at least imagine vividly) the effects
on my eyes. Never again.
The Nuarc is perfect. It is a bit of a space hog - requiring maybe a
kitchen table to sit on, and it is a bit noisy. Its "integrator" isn't
working, but I get along just fine without it by letting the bulb heat up
with black cardboard over the work, then remove the cardboard and start my
exposure time.
Larry
lbullis@ctc.ctc.edu