Darkroom

Re: Beseler 45 enlarger operation question

"Stephan Goldstein" wrote

> My Beseler 45 MX-II has a lever on the left side that lowers the negative
> stage so a negative holder can be inserted ... I have to push the stage up
> to seal against the bottom of the light stage. Is there supposed to be a
> spring to assist the stage in returning to position?

Yes. Make sure the problems isn't gumming-up or overtightening
so that the spring can't overcome the stick/friction.

Beseler used to have an exploded view of the MX on its web site.

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.
To reply, remove spaces: n o lindan at ix . netcom . com
Fstop timer - http://www.nolindan.com/da/fstop/index.htm
 

Article References :

Beseler 45 enlarger operation question
 

See Also : Re: Darkroom size

"Louie Powell" wrote:
> bob wrote:>

> > I'm thinking of building a darkroom. I seem to have two options:
> > 1) a roughly 8x8 foot (2.4m) space that will become available this
> > summer. It has plumbing, electric and ventilation already.

> > 2) the space over a 2 car garage that won't be built for at least a
> > year.
I have the master bedroom in this location. It's bloody cold in the
winter and hot in the summer. I have an aux. gas heater for winter
nights and summer nights are OK with open windows on 3 sides. For
a darkroom it would be one of my last choices.

> Suggest a few things. First, decide what size prints you want to limit
> yourself to. You can always improvise to make larger prints

For > 20x24's I have wrestled the enlarger into the kitchen and
used the kitchen floor for trays. Worked well. Keep a mop handy.

> One subtlety that you need to be aware of is that a 4x5 enlarger requires
> a lot of head room.

I have a "U" drop in my bench that lowers the enlarger baseboard to 24".
I work at the enlarger in an office chair. A nice alternative is to
bolt the enlarger to the bench and use an oversize 30x30" drop surface
so the easel can go all the way down to floor level. Beseler sells a table
like this, but I have not seen it in person.

> corner blocked in to form a counter for my enlarger. I mounted the
> enlarger directly to the counter, and braced the column into the wall to
> eliminate vibrations.

Hmm, have the enlarger grow out of the corner. Let the easel be catty-corner.
For larger prints/easels square the easel and rotate the negative carrier.

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.
Remove spaces etc. to reply: n o lindan at net com dot com
psst.. want to buy an f-stop timer? nolindan.com/da/fstop/