Is my horizontal enlarger setup logical??

[redshift]

I'm working with a home made 8x10 enlarger. It's mounted horizontal on a Hercules tripod with lots of geared adjustments. It's not as easy to use as a vertical enlarger but it's what I have.

Is my alignment procedure logical? (1) I've attached magnets to my Versalab laser so that I can attach it to the center of the easel. (2) With the lens removed I bounce the laser off the glass negative holder, I adjust the light source/negative stage until the reflected laser dot aligns with the source. (3) I put a reflector on the lens and adjust until the reflected dot again aligns with source. The last picture shows the reflection ALMOST aligned.

135329135330135331135332

[jp]

I've done pretty much the same thing to successfully align my 4x5 enlarger, but I used a laser torpedo level instead of the versalab. I put a mirror in place of the negative holder and adjusted alignment without the lens. Then put a mirror on the front of the lens to adjust the lens mounting alignment. You want to make sure your rail is level too, otherwise you'll be tinkering with your enlarger alignment to compensate for errors there; you could do that by shooting the laser parallel to the rail. If your tripod ends up not being ideal, I bet a dewalt miter saw stand would make a good base for your enlarger.

[Drew Wiley]

Wobbly Plan A versus Plan B, even wobblier. I'd build a solid cabinet for it with steel sheave rollers integrated with parallel floor tracks. But per alignment, pull the cells of your enlarger lens and stop the aperture as far down as possible, so when the laser beam hits the easel mirror, it has only a tiny opening to get thru. Versa Lab is so-so, but a reasonable start. And use a decent machinist's level or something otherwise seriously made. Cheap levels are a waste of time. Another minor issue is that those Saunders easel backs aren't necessarily dead flat. I've got several of them. It's best to temporarily mount a stiff truly flat board in there for the laser, or at least check the consistency of the yellow part of the easel corner to corner, side-to-side with a good straightedge first. When it comes to alignment, never take anything for granted. You're also going to have dimensional issues with what appears to be unsealed wood components to your rig, but
that's any easy fix. Overall, you're off to a good start and no doubt some wonderful printing sessions.

[ic-racer]

Alignment method looks good, that is the way I do it. You will have to decide how difficult it was to establish alignment each time and weight that against the trouble of making a permanent track on the floor.

Although it looks like you are making a small enlargement, but if you do make big ones on the wall, the alignment to the wall becomes less important. That is to say, if you can maintain the standards on the camera aligned to itself (lens to negative holder) you don't have to be so careful aligning to the wall. Think of having your standards parallel when taking pictures and how it is not that hard to get a billboard in focus, you can do it by eye.

[Drew Wiley]

Once one gets serious with a big vac wall easel or whatever, it does help to start with everything precisely aligned to begin with. After that you can tweak your
front standard movements a bit if needed. And if you end up needing a bigger faster enlargeing lens to reduce printing times, there are distinct advantages to having a geared P-style front end rather than the F-style which seems to be the case in the picture. Just something to keep in mind down the road.

[redshift]

Thanks all! Sounds like I have a cobbled together system that is pretty decent for occasional 8x10 printing. I can see the value of a sturdy cabinet and rails on the floor and well within my ability. I guess I should bite that bullet. I'm using the rear standard of an F so that I could use the focusing rack. I've got a P standard that I could press into service. I can see how that would help with lens alignment without disturbing the negative stage alignment. I'm using a Rodagon 300mm f5.6, is that a reasonable choice?

[Drew Wiley]

Yes, you've cobbled together the basics. That's a good lens for general use, but a P front would add a bit more insurance against vibration. I'd try printing a few things with your system as is, just to spot the weak links, then improve as needed. Floor rails make it very convenient for resizing images, larger or smaller.

[Peter De Smidt]

Looks good. In addition to what others have written, heat sinks work better if run vertically. More importantly if your light source isn't bigger than your negative, you will likely get significant falloff at the edges of the negative. On my scanner, I use a 6x8" light source for 4x5" film.

[redshift]

Thanks Peter. I should have thought about heat flow before I ordered the heat sink cut to size. Fortunately it doesn't even get warm. There is no reason I can't mount it vertical. I can do that when I rebuild with a cabinet and rails. A lot of work went into getting the light even. I worked with Cemil from Modern Enlarger Lamps on the design. Tried several layouts with reflectors and diffusers, getting close but not perfect. The power source was plenty big so adding a few more LEDs provided very even illumination. I was hoping Cemil would show me how to make it VC like the one he made for my 4x5 but we never got to that point.


Looks good. In addition to what others have written, heat sinks work better if run vertically. More importantly if your light source isn't bigger than your negative, you will likely get significant falloff at the edges of the negative. On my scanner, I use a 6x8" light source for 4x5" film.

[redshift]

Resizing is a bit of a PITA.That will push me to the cabinet and rails very quickly. What do you use for rails? I was thinking of angle iron attached to the floor point up V belt type wheels or round rails with wheels hitting it at 10 and 2 oclock. Angle iron sounds easiest.


Yes, you've cobbled together the basics. That's a good lens for general use, but a P front would add a bit more insurance against vibration. I'd try printing a few things with your system as is, just to spot the weak links, then improve as needed. Floor rails make it very convenient for resizing images, larger or smaller.

[ruilourosa]

Show us your light source! It seems nice!! DIY?

Thanks


Rui Lourosa

[Drew Wiley]

Sheave rollers and rails are matched. Go to an industrial supply site like McMaster. Some use special molded rails, some angle iron.

[Peter De Smidt]

If they heat sink stays cool, don't worry about it.

What is the size of the lighted area of your source, and how close does it get to the negative? Even if the light source is perfectly even over it's lighted area, unless it's bigger than the negative, the edges of the negative will get less light than the middle. Consider a point in the middle of the negative. It get's illumination from all around it. A point on the edge of the negative in a system with a light source close to the size of the negative won't get illuminated from all directions, and hence it will get less light. This can be mitigated by using a reflective material around the inside of the light source, making the source bigger, making the source brighter on the edges, or making a mask that acts like a center filter. De Vere did the latter by machining the piece of diffusing plastic to be thicker in the middle.

[Tin Can]

McMaster Carr is a great source and I still buy from them often, but when you learn from their site what is available, make sure you check for a similar if not identical product on eBay.

I recently learned all about 5 start Acme screw drives on McMaster and Google, but saved big time on eBay.

I would never do that when I worked in the factory as time was and is big money. McMaster delivers pronto and in Chicago I get it same day if needed, but as a retired hobbyist, money is short and my time is up.

And a whole production line is not waiting.

[LabRat]

Cool!!!

It all should work for now, but you will get tired of fussing with it...

First upgrade would be to mount camera and sliding easel area on a common support, such as an aluminum 3"X3" or 4"X4" (at least a 3/8"+ wall thickness) box extrusion for as long as you like (for your common print sizes), and mount it on a sturdy table or cabinet, raised so there is some room for the slider/locking blocks under the rail... Then the camera + easel will always be in alignment... (Metal suppliers have this aluminum for not too much $$$...)

Second, even good tripod/camera stage locks can be taut/spongy/springy/shift/settle in ways that you wouldn't notice normally, but might show up in a print... (Note that most cameras seem a little flimsy compared to good beefy enlarger, esp. with a big lighthead on the rear...) You can start with building a rail that can hold this rig now, and down the road be upgraded as-you-go... (Later you can even build a nice enlarging camera bit by bit from hardware store components and a set of bellows!!!)

Last advice is to not depend on walls/floors to be flat and perpendicular... (If you were ever cursed with aligning a wall mounted or mural enlarger, you know...) Not as big of a problem for VERY large prints, but a devil with smaller sizes!!!

So, your journey begins...

Steve K

[redshift]

Thanks again to everyone for the suggestions. The light source is 11"x11". The negative is in an AN glass sandwich that slots about 1/4" in front of the diffuser. I'll take pictures of it when I build the cart and rails.

[Jim Jones]

Consider suspending the enlarger from rails attached to the ceiling if the ceiling is sturdy enough. Rails on the floor present a few potential problems.

[Luis-F-S]

If you're going to do this regularly, you may want to look for a used De Vere or Durst horizontal enlarger. They've gotten so cheap lately, sometimes even free, and I have to believe are going to be much easier (fun) to use, so you can concentrate on printing instead of fussing with the Sinar setup. L

[blindpig]

Here's another thought when doing the angle iron v grooved wheels on your dolly,you only need one rail for alignment and that keeps binding between two rails from ever happening. If the rails aren't perfectly parallel some rising/falling and binding may happen.I've built a couple of mural enlarger set ups and used the one guide rail deal.The wheels on that rail were shimmed with washers to eliminate side to side movement and to make it easy we used the same wheel/rail materials on the second rail but removed the washers to allow those wheels to travel side to side if necessary with no binding.Actually in your situation I'd only use one rail and let the non guide wheels run on the floor.
Just food for thought,good luck...
Don

[Tin Can]

Here's another thought when doing the angle iron v grooved wheels on your dolly,you only need one rail for alignment and that keeps binding between two rails from ever happening. If the rails aren't perfectly parallel some rising/falling and binding may happen.I've built a couple of mural enlarger set ups and used the one guide rail deal.The wheels on that rail were shimmed with washers to eliminate side to side movement and to make it easy we used the same wheel/rail materials on the second rail but removed the washers to allow those wheels to travel side to side if necessary with no binding.Actually in your situation I'd only use one rail and let the non guide wheels run on the floor.
Just food for thought,good luck...
Don

Great advice.

[redshift]

Here's another thought when doing the angle iron v grooved wheels on your dolly,you only need one rail for alignment and that keeps binding between two rails from ever happening. If the rails aren't perfectly parallel some rising/falling and binding may happen.I've built a couple of mural enlarger set ups and used the one guide rail deal.The wheels on that rail were shimmed with washers to eliminate side to side movement and to make it easy we used the same wheel/rail materials on the second rail but removed the washers to allow those wheels to travel side to side if necessary with no binding.Actually in your situation I'd only use one rail and let the non guide wheels run on the floor.
Just food for thought,good luck...
Don

That is great advice. I remember working on inexpensive CNC plasma cutters. They had an accurate drive rail and a floating guide rail. Plenty accurate for slow speed, short distance work without the hassle of perfect alignment of two rails.

[Drew Wiley]

One aligns and bolts down the parallel tracks based on the trolley itself, with it already in position, not visa versa. The rails should project upward rather than be recessed, so that dirt doesn't accumulate in the track, but this can create a minor trip hazard in the dark. There are all kinds of way of achieving linearity, some
of them extremely precise with a matching price tag. In the last project I chose to go vertical instead, since I have a very high ceiling, which saves floor space.
That means I have to load the negative carried from up on a rolling platform ladder. That's easy enough. But changing light bulbs in the colorhead is a distinct chore!

[Jim Jones]

Here's another thought when doing the angle iron v grooved wheels on your dolly,you only need one rail for alignment and that keeps binding between two rails from ever happening. If the rails aren't perfectly parallel some rising/falling and binding may happen.I've built a couple of mural enlarger set ups and used the one guide rail deal.The wheels on that rail were shimmed with washers to eliminate side to side movement and to make it easy we used the same wheel/rail materials on the second rail but removed the washers to allow those wheels to travel side to side if necessary with no binding.Actually in your situation I'd only use one rail and let the non guide wheels run on the floor.
Just food for thought,good luck...
Don

Rather than using a V-groove wheel on the dolly, consider two ball bearings: less friction, and perhaps easier to improvise from junk box parts. The guide rail does not need to be an angle iron. Even round pipe can be used, and it is more rigid than angle iron.

[Drew Wiley]

All kinds of options are available from true industrial supply houses. Doing things the right way often turns out to be the better option in the long run if there is
a realistic budget. Ordinary jerry-rigged stuff isn't always exactly, uh,er..straight to begin with. And you don't want wobbly sheave rollers or bearing that won't
take the load. And load/mass/stability is a very desirable feature. But nothing works right if you don't have a truly flat, level floor where it counts. So that's the
first task in any successful project like this.

[miltonkeynes86]

I'm working with a home made 8x10 enlarger. It's mounted horizontal on a Hercules tripod with lots of geared adjustments. It's not as easy to use as a vertical enlarger but it's what I have.

Is my alignment procedure logical? (1) I've attached magnets to my Versalab laser so that I can attach it to the center of the easel. (2) With the lens removed I bounce the laser off the glass negative holder, I adjust the light source/negative stage until the reflected laser dot aligns with the source. (3) I put a reflector on the lens and adjust until the reflected dot again aligns with source. The last picture shows the reflection ALMOST aligned.

135329135330135331135332

I put a mirror in place of the negative holder and adjusted alignment without the lens
http://aaswall.tk/27/o.png

[Jim Jones]

I agree, the right way is often the best way, but not always practical or economical. Breaking down the requirements of a project to the absolute basics and engineering from scratch to use the materials and facilities at hand sometimes saves time and money. For example, at one site in my Navy days, public works quoted us $1000 to erect a rhombic antenna. A little research suggested that a long wire antenna would meet our requirements. With engineering and a little scrounging we saved the Navy $999.25. The antenna worked well. Not everyone in government service is out to screw the taxpayer.

[Drew Wiley]

Well, some of those things the Govt did pay an arm and leg for are damn near free now as salvage. My own big enlarger has the whole lens standard apparatus
precisely controlled by a big micrometer-driven bronze device which makes a Hollywood fluid head look like a Lego toy. It allegedly came from a WW II ship gun for aiming. I got it for free, surplus. In general, I've got a phD in jerryrigging, a phJ, as an expert in doing expensive things cheap, and often better. Otherwise,
there is absolutely no way I could afford the deluxe lab I have. Can't think of anything photographic I haven't either built or somehow tweaked myself, other than
lenses.

[cardiomac]

Even if the light source is perfectly even over it's lighted area, unless it's bigger than the negative, the edges of the negative will get less light than the middle. Consider a point in the middle of the negative. It get's illumination from all around it. A point on the edge of the negative in a system with a light source close to the size of the negative won't get illuminated from all directions, and hence it will get less light. This can be mitigated by using a reflective material around the inside of the light source, making the source bigger, making the source brighter on the edges, or making a mask that acts like a center filter.

Well said.