Durst 184 - new darkroom considerations?

[Kimberly Anderson]

Hey gang,

I'm almost finished with the main portion of my basement and will soon be fitting out my darkroom.

It looks like I may have stumbled upon a reasonably priced Durst 184, and I am wondering about any considerations I may want to keep in mind while designing my space.

I have 9 foot ceilings and can put the enlarger really anywhere I want to since I have nothing in the room yet except for studs and a doorway.

Any thoughts?

[ic-racer]

1) 220v Power (if you head needs it).
2) Spare power supplies, heads, bulbs, Mixing boxes, condensers, lensboards, lenses, etc are all very large and can take up an entire 6ft shelving unit for storage. Rather than a spare drawer that a smaller enlarger might require for the same.

[Allen in Montreal]

.......It looks like I may have stumbled upon a reasonably priced Durst 184



Did you pick up that 157.00 Durst 184 with an Omega F head in NYC last week?
That was a killer deal! I hope it was someone here who landed it.

[Kimberly Anderson]

No, I didn't get that one.

[Allen in Montreal]

No, I didn't get that one.

:-(

The only advice I can offer is: a lot of people put them tight in the corner, if you have the space allow room to move around the baseboard on three sides.
My enlargers are in corners to save floor space and it bothers me when printing.
It works, you learn to live with it, but it would be really nice to be able to maneuver around the baseboard a little more.

[Len Middleton]

Michael,

Our friends ic and Allen have used their enlargers (I am still setting mine up), might be able to indicate your maximum print size in vertical mode only. It will of course depend upon the height of your enlarging head and the lens you are using relative to your 9 foot ceiliings.

I do have a spreadsheet for calculations on magnification for different lenses based upon maximum available distance from negative stage to printing paper location.

If that maximum size is too small for you, consider how you would lay out the darkroom for projection printing (e.g. easel location, whether to rail mounting, etc.).

Hope that is useful,

Len

[ic-racer]

If you have the condenser head the fully raised height is 2750mm. Nine feet would be 2743mm, so you should be able to do nearly a 40" print from 8x10 with the table all the way down and a 300mm lens.

[Kimberly Anderson]

A 40-inch print would be sweet. I could set it up in an area that gives me both 3-sided access AND would let me rotate it to the wall. Does it rotate in only one direction, or does it swing left or right? I know that it was mounted on rails before and I saw a 25-foot wide print today from it that was made from a 5x7 negative.

This thing is a beast.

[Len Middleton]

If you have the condenser head the fully raised height is 2750mm. Nine feet would be 2743mm, so you should be able to do nearly a 40" print from 8x10 with the table all the way down and a 300mm lens.

ic,

Thanks for the detail, as mine is limited by my ceiling height...

[Kimberly Anderson]

I just measured my ceiling...with no flooring, I have 9'1".

The power source is 110v...I think that there must be some sort of power transformer with it...there was a big box that I couldn't identify. Is there a pro or con to running it on 110? I can get 220v into the darkroom super easy at this point.

[Allen in Montreal]

110 or 220 will come down to the head the unit is equipped with.
The color heads with big lamps tend to be 220. The condensor heads that run 300 or 500 watt bulbs are generally 110.

Do you have any pix of her yet?

[ic-racer]

A 40-inch print would be sweet. I could set it up in an area that gives me both 3-sided access AND would let me rotate it to the wall. Does it rotate in only one direction, or does it swing left or right? I know that it was mounted on rails before and I saw a 25-foot wide print today from it that was made from a 5x7 negative.

This thing is a beast.

It should swing either way. I'd mount it so you can wall project if you want to. For occasional wall projection you don't need the rails, just use the wheels and line it up by hand. Even if you don't do big prints right away, just showing the huge image on the wall is cool;)

[Kimberly Anderson]

Here she is...sorry for the crappy cell-phone pics (and I have a crappy cell-phone to boot...).

http://www.tawayama.com/darkroom/durst184front.jpg

http://www.tawayama.com/darkroom/durst184back.jpg

[Frank Petronio]

Congrats. It looks like a sci-fi robot.

[Allen in Montreal]

Michael,

Congrats, she is a beauty, nice and clean. :) :)

Do you have it at home yet? I am wondering about the light source. This appears to be the basic bulb type 184 set up, but at the same time, I wonder if it is rigged to use quartz lamps. I can't tell from the pictures what the piece in the center is, is it a regulator for a point light source?

It has a blower so I am guessing a 500 watt bulb or a point light source.

The baseboard is a custom made job, a fraction of the size of the original board.

[Kimberly Anderson]

Truth be told...I haven't purchased her yet. BUT, I am very strongly considering it. It just kind of dropped into my lap, the price is right, but I am finishing my basement and might not have the fund-age immediately.

I opened up the lamp house and there was a massive bulb in there and there was no mention of it running on quartz lamps.

It comes with a quiver of lenses and all the right condensers. I did notice that the baseboard was 'wrong'. I might have to correct it. So far the biggest easel I have is a Saunders 4-bladed 20x24.

I would be tempted to make a large base out of 1/2 inch marine plywood and clad it with sheet-metal. I could do a larger print and hold down the paper with magnets.

[dsphotog]

Is that a coldlight head in the background?

[Kimberly Anderson]

I don't think so. I didn't see one there.