I'm confused, Beseler 45M series

[Paul Fitzgerald]

Hi there,

I just received a NOS center section for a Beseler 45m series enlarger and had a major WTF moment. Looked at all of the pics on the web for this and the 45V series. Yes, the factory assembled these back-wards. WHY???

At the negative stage the stationary panel holds the upper bellows, the moving panel holds the negative carrier. This would be great, cool and groovy if I wanted the negative in perfect alignment with the lamp house. :eek:

I really would like the negative stage in perfect alignment with the baseboard and lens stage. It really is an easy matter the remove both bellows, flip the center assembly and re-install the bellows. :D

Is there any reason NOT TO? I cannot see any interference problems.

Thanks.

[Jim Noel]

They are assembled in the correct order so that the negative stage can be carefully aligned or tilted to meet the needs of the user. Also the arrangement allows one to vary the distance from the light source to the negative in order to focus the maximum amount of light on a particular size of film.
If you want to turn it over I guess you can, but I don't see any reason to do so. In fact you may not be in alignment and then what would you do?

[Paul Fitzgerald]

"They are assembled in the correct order so that the negative stage can be carefully aligned or tilted to meet the needs of the user."

That is the confusion, Beseler reversed this arraignment on their high-end hot rod CB-7 thirty years ago. It uses the same parts. It just makes much more sense to have the stationary panel below so the carrier is held in place by gravity and the spring force of the moving panel like their 23C models. As it is, gravity is working against the spring force and the springs will wear out, sooner or later.

The change-over is easy, removing the bellows is a bit tedious but do-able. The only problem is drilling and tapping 2 holes to reverse the lifting arm.