I have used 500watt and 1000watt halogen only and have never had a issue diy
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DIY Exposure Unit
Wanting to up-grade to a new exposure unit. Prefer to build it myself to keep the cost down. I have been using a 500 watt photo flood bulb, keeping the art simple. Bought Tom Knights Advanced T-Shirt bundle and would like to start doing some halftone work. Question is..... Metal Halide or LED. I know the LED is the big thing right now. But is there a DIY for that type of exposure unit. Looking at the cost and the metal halide seems to be the way to go. Just unsure at this point would like some input from ppl who have used both.
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Same here I use a 500 watt halogen with no issues.
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Your current DIY is a single source/point light source, so assuming you are blacking out all stray ambient/bounce light, it should have little undercutting. The main issue with it would be relatively slow speed, which can itself lead to some compromises in image quality. Are you using a fast emulsion, like Saati PHU? That will get the best results out of your relatively weak light source. That and making sure your art is in really tight contact with the glass should get you decent results.
Myself, I have a DIY vacuum top 1000w metal halide. 25 second exposures with PHU. That is probably still the best bang for the $, but LED has certain advantages: don't need a shutter, lower power consumption and heat generation.
Probably best to prove that your current setup sucks at halftones before upgrading, unless there are already aspects you wish to improve upon.
Myself, I have a DIY vacuum top 1000w metal halide. 25 second exposures with PHU. That is probably still the best bang for the $, but LED has certain advantages: don't need a shutter, lower power consumption and heat generation.
Probably best to prove that your current setup sucks at halftones before upgrading, unless there are already aspects you wish to improve upon.
Find an old Nuarc plate burner rip out the heavy transformers gut it. drop in a 500 Halide inside the reflective funnel. Cut out the flat plate so screens fit inside add a foam square...wire up to the timer, glass closes with nice pressure on screen and artwork film.. flip / burn and your in business. Never used LEd lighting as of yet. Hope this helps as this was my DIY project years ago.
Just recently finished my DIY Led build. I kind of followed Pangea's (Think that's correct, can't find their blog now). I made some changes to fit my needs and used. I've got around $150 in entire unit and can expose a screen in 25 seconds using QXL Photopolymer emulsion.
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