DIY Exposure Unit: What light source?

[Andymac]

Steve, that is worth $2000 if it works.

[Nicholas Wilson]

Yeah, I'd totally take it if I lived in chicago.

[steve w]

you know you can run 220 in your shop without it being a danger to anyone. It requires some electrical work and a different plug (no worries about people plugging a hairdryer into a 220 box)

It's not the electricity that worries me.
It's more the heat generated and the space required. And the money to install 220 service.
Andy, if you want it, pay for the shipping.

[ohdanielsan]

ok, so undercutting is not as big of an issue as it seems, which is good. So now I'm basically between the UV fluorescent method and the 1000w or 2x500w methods. From what I've gathered:

UV fluorescent- faster exposures, more efficient (questionable since it would be an 8x40w set up or something like that), more expensive (8 bulbs @ $13 or so a bulb), involves a lot of wiring and time to set up, looks way cooler

High Wattage Halogen- longer exposure time, produces a lot of heat (needs a fan for cooling), significantly cheaper ($50 or so for the light), easier to set up and no real wiring required, marginally more ideal single-point light source

I think with my requirements (mainly ease and cheapness) it would be a better idea to go with a single point 1000w or 2x500w system, at least for the time being. Thoughts?

dude, go with the tubes. you'll thank yourself later for the extra time/money you put into it. there are some here that have luck with halogen setups, but there are also some who have retardedly long exposure times. being that UV is the true way to expose emulsion, go with science. plus, the best part about the tubes is they take far less room. i have my tube setup on top of other stuff, and it's a real space-saver if you don't have tons of room to spare. if you go with halogen, you're talking about at least 30" of height wasted for the same thing you could have done with 10".

[lil_tuffy]

^^ Yeah, I plan on using the space under my unit to store and dry screens. Space is a premium in my new spot which is why I elected to not go the metal halide route.

[fantasygoat]

My homemade unit cost me about $600 in materials.

$100 for the neoprene blanket online (1.5mm thickness)
$400 for six fluorescent fixtures and the special UV bulbs ($12 a pop)
$100 for the vacuum, wood, screws and white paint (for the inside)

The bulbs might be expensive but in the 3 years I ran the studio I never needed to replace any. Mind you, most exposures were 2 minutes!

I certainly never had any detail issues as I put 18" between the glass and bulbs to allow enough diffusion.

[windflame]

this is my process: Exposure Unit Process

I sold it for more than it cost to make it. Always had great exposures, and the new owner loves it.

[mr. illiteracy]

the main thing that's making me lean towards the halogen setup is money, seeing as how I have very little of it right now. Granted, the tube setup takes up a lot less space which is a plus, but that's offset by the much (MUCH!) higher cost of putting it together. I could build a full unit with a halogen light source for practically cost of the UV bulbs alone...add fixtures, ballasts, glass, and lumber and I'm looking at something like 4x the cost. And from what I understand a 1000w halogen light will burn a screen in 3 minutes at 21", which is not bad at all. So if it really comes down to mainly a difference in the size of the unit, I'd sacrifice the convenience of UV for the cheapness of halogen.
I'm not trying to be argumentative so please don't take it like that, it just seems that a halogen unit makes more sense for me right now. I will most likely end up going with something along these lines: Exposure Unit but ideally using a single 1000w halogen bulb.

Mark, how's it goin man? This is Alex from all of those foundation year GD/Advertising classes. I actually checked out your build thread for that before and if I do end up going UV it'll pretty much be a copy of what you did.

[Fools Gold]

Man, I wish I lived in Chicago land, I've been looking for one of those lamps for almost a year.

[ohdanielsan]

the main thing that's making me lean towards the halogen setup is money, seeing as how I have very little of it right now. Granted, the tube setup takes up a lot less space which is a plus, but that's offset by the much (MUCH!) higher cost of putting it together. I could build a full unit with a halogen light source for practically cost of the UV bulbs alone...add fixtures, ballasts, glass, and lumber and I'm looking at something like 4x the cost. And from what I understand a 1000w halogen light will burn a screen in 3 minutes at 21", which is not bad at all. So if it really comes down to mainly a difference in the size of the unit, I'd sacrifice the convenience of UV for the cheapness of halogen.
I'm not trying to be argumentative so please don't take it like that, it just seems that a halogen unit makes more sense for me right now. I will most likely end up going with something along these lines: Exposure Unit but ideally using a single 1000w halogen bulb.

Keep a couple of things in mind if you do go halogen:

1.) The bigger your screen, the higher the screen has to be from the bulb(s). I think 21" is for a smaller screen, if I can remember correctly. For anyone that remembers: Isn't the height from the bulb the diagonal measurement of the screen? I'm blanking right now.

2.) Do yourself a favor and buy the halogen light(s) from a local store. The reason I say this is because you'll want to be able to return it if it isn't the right thing. What I mean is, *some* halogen lights put out the proper light spectrum for burning screens, and some do not. I bought a really nice 1500w halogen before I switched to UV tubes, and it was totally the wrong range in the light spectrum, and wouldn't burn a damn thing even after 20 minutes (except for the heat that it was giving off! - those things get HOT). The guys here who are getting 4 minutes from a halogen setup have the right kind of light, and you should find out the brand that they bought.

I'm only going on about this to save you the pain I had to go through. When looking back, I would have bought/built three more UV tube setups just to avoid the hours/days/weeks I wasted trying to figure out why the halogen was giving me inferior results.

Good luck!