Fuming Box Design

[CasedImage]

My "darkroom" is a corner of the studio that I have masked off with thick black plastic painter’s drop-cloth. All of these little quirks serve to remind me that daguerreotypes can be made with fairly loose standards and still come out looking great. It’s no Castle Daguerre but it’ll do.

A man’s darkroom is his castle… ah the urban legend of Castle Daguerre… ” title=”Smile” />

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[Jon Lewis]

At Alan’s suggestion, I put several coats of shellac on my box. I haven’t used it very long so I’m not sure how long it’ll last. It’s over built and I didn’t bother to sand off my pencil mark so it looks rather unfortunate but it works.

Since my darkroom is also my bathroom does that mean my throne is in my castle…? Though my Lavatory Daguerre is far from the great legend of Castle Daguerre.

[yowyip]

Hi There,

I know this thread is 3 years old, but I am wondering if anyone can follow up on the results of simply spray painting the fuming box to contain the iodine from leeching out ? I know Acrylic is resistant to iodine, so would a thick acrylic gesso also do the trick?

Though not strictly daguerreotypey, (it is related trust me) I have an idea to display some iodine crystals in a large glass container, but am wondering how to seal it so it does not poison the atmosphere. I am attempting to be somewhat archival here also, so that this set-up could last for at least a couple years without the iodine completely dissipating.

thanks!

[Andy Stockton]

I have done a fair amount of experimentation with acrylic fuming boxes, but I wouldn’t recommend acrylic gesso on wood as a substitute. You would be pretty much in the “unknown zone” with the various ingredients in gesso, and I strongly doubt any paint layer would reliably protect a wood box for very long. I’m willing to be corrected by someone who has tried this, but I wouldn’t go there myself.

It really isn’t all that hard to grind a Pyrex dish lip flat and prepare a ground glass to cover it. Enclose that in a wood box and you have a time proven and safe container. See the Resource page for images of various types.

As for displaying iodine, any lab supply company can sell you a glass jar with an HDPE cap and a PTFE (Teflon) liner that will contain iodine adequately for a display. If the glass stays intact, the iodine – both gaseous and solid will be contained.

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