motor bases

[Craig Wactor]

Does anyone still manufacture motor bases that go with paper tubes? The one we have is a beseler. I can't seem to find any online, and the school requiers us to buy new, not used.

[Steve Feldman]

Craig,

A straight forward answer is: Jobo. But they can get a bit pricey. Specially for a student.

There's nothing wrong with a used Beseler or Unicolor motor base. Although not manufactured any more, either are very serviceable and long lasting tools. My old Unicolor has been turning film for the past 15 years and shows no sign of aging. (Ok the bottom is a bit rusty - so I don't look.)

And: Photographer's have been developing paper in trays for the past 150 years. It works just fine.

Get your school to lighten up a bit.

[Craig Wactor]

Oh, I am buying it for the school. I run the photo lab. We make purchase orders instead of using cash or credit card. It makes it a pain to buy anything. I am thinking of buying a used beseler on ebay and donating it. It is for developing 4x5 film in a jobo tank. I was hoping not to pay for a jobo system though....

[CXC]

I have a Unicolor motor that is not young, but it still goes around, in both directions. You sound like a good cause, I'll sell it to you for $50, including shipping (that is roughly what I paid for it on ePay). Contact me offline if interested.

I used it (during my very, very shortlived dip into the ULF world) only a half a dozen times, just enough to confirm that it works fine. I no longer have any need for it.

Also, when I went about it last year, it was pretty easy to locate one on ePay for a very reasonable price.

[wfwhitaker]

I gave two pristine reversing motor bases (along with a bunch of other stuff) to Goodwill a month ago because I couldn't find anyone who was interested in them.

[Craig Wactor]

Goodwill? Yeesh. I just won an auction for one that looks new, for $7.16. I'm going to donate it to the school.