Miller Holzwarth 20x24 easel?

[Daniel Stone]

Have any of you ever heard of this company? I have a 12x18" Leitz easel that I never plan to part with, but just doing some late night perusing through CL this evening, and came across this:

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/pho/4559123258.html

Seems to be built pretty heavy, not that I bang my stuff around, but I don't mind a heavy easel whatsoever!

thx,
Dan

[djdister]

Not familiar with the company, but apparently it was built for military use judging by the nomenclature and the "U.S." stamped on it.

[BarryS]

I don't think I've ever seen a a two blade 20x24 easel, but I think it would be a royal pain in most darkrooms.

[Mark Sampson]

You're right, Miller-Holzwarth made darkroom gear for the US military. When I worked for Kodak we had a couple of contact printers (for aerial roll film) made by them. Those machines were ex-USAF, probably made in the 1950s or '60s. I'm sure the company is long gone.

[Daniel Stone]

You're right, Miller-Holzwarth made darkroom gear for the US military. When I worked for Kodak we had a couple of contact printers (for aerial roll film) made by them. Those machines were ex-USAF, probably made in the 1950s or '60s. I'm sure the company is long gone.

looks like they were purchased at-auction last year:
http://www.vindy.com/news/2013/jun/06/texas-company-buys-former-miller-holzwar/


I don't think I've ever seen a a two blade 20x24 easel, but I think it would be a royal pain in most darkrooms.

Barry, just wondering why you'd thing a 2-bladed easel would be a royal pain? Most of the time when using 20x24 in the past, I don't care if the image is centered on the paper(I usually trim the "extra" off for use as test strips), as it'd go to waste anyhow in the end when trimming to dry mount. Ya, it might not look as pretty, but I don't drymount the entire piece of paper, just the print itself, trimmed to size ;)

-Dan

[Kirk Gittings]

For my money its just too big with the standard baseboard on a Beseler 4x5-wall mounted perhaps. My 16 x 20 can be a problem sometimes.

[BarryS]

looks like they were purchased at-auction last year:
http://www.vindy.com/news/2013/jun/06/texas-company-buys-former-miller-holzwar/



Barry, just wondering why you'd thing a 2-bladed easel would be a royal pain? Most of the time when using 20x24 in the past, I don't care if the image is centered on the paper(I usually trim the "extra" off for use as test strips), as it'd go to waste anyhow in the end when trimming to dry mount. Ya, it might not look as pretty, but I don't drymount the entire piece of paper, just the print itself, trimmed to size ;)

-Dan

Dan-- A 20x24 easel is heavy and large. If you want to keep it on your baseboard or table, it should also be useful for other size prints. Imagine making an 11x14; the sheet of paper needs to be in the upper left corner of the easel, so you're got to slide the whole thing down and to the right to center the paper under the lens--there's a good chance you wouldn't even have room to do that.

If you're just going to use it for 20x24 prints, you can get by with something cheaper and lighter. Before i got my 20x24 easel, I used a a sheet of MDF with some wood strips as guides/masks. If you want a nice 4-blade easel, you just need to be a little patient. You can also wait a few days and offer the seller $50 or $75--I'd be surprised if it sells for over $100.

[Daniel Stone]

Hey Barry,

Thanks. I've used a Saunders 20x24 easel before, but can't remember how heavy it was exactly. I know it wasn't light, but frankly, I'm not making mass-produced posters, so I think I can deal :)

I'm calling him tonight, and making an offer. We'll see

cheers,
Dan

[Daniel Stone]

hey all,
So I offered him $80, and we settled on $100.
This thing is HUGE, and totally bad-ass. Mil-spec quality, all metal and should last me a lifetime of use. I'm going to completely disassemble, lube/grease and adjust things this weekend. It's been sitting awhile, so needs a little going-thru to get into prime shape.

Glad I got it though!

[ic-racer]

I paid about the same for this Saunders 24" 4-blade. It turned out being worse than I expected but I got it fixed up nice. I suspect yours will fix up nice also. http://www.apug.org/forums/forum43/98401-making-20x2d4-4-blade-easel.html

[BarryS]

hey all,
So I offered him $80, and we settled on $100.
This thing is HUGE, and totally bad-ass. Mil-spec quality, all metal and should last me a lifetime of use. I'm going to completely disassemble, lube/grease and adjust things this weekend. It's been sitting awhile, so needs a little going-thru to get into prime shape.

Glad I got it though!

Cool! There's something to be said for owning badass industrial grade equipment.

[Liquid Artist]

Congrats on your purchase. The price doesn't sound too bad considering the size and shape it's in.

It wouldn't be my choice in easels, being such a large 2 blade.
I would rather have something that sucks the paper down, hopefully keeping it flat.

However I like the fact that it's Black rather than White.
After struggling to see where I've laid out my test stripes on all my white easels (and never had that problem on my one grey one) i have decided to try painting one I never use and see if the paint sticks.