a free, old 4x5 enlarger - should I take it?

[jasonso]

Hi all
I've been offered this enlarger for free, which sounds great but the owner has no idea if it works or anything else about it. I've never used an enlarger before and know nothing about repairing one but I could see myself needing one in the future.
Can anyone identify what this is? and do you think it's worth the trip to pick it up?

[Old-N-Feeble]

If it doesn't work... and you decide to not mess with it... just throw it in the dumpster. All you'll have lost is a little time and fuel cost.

[Michael Graves]

If I'm not mistaken, the old Agfa enlargers were made my Federal. They were built like tanks, but a bit prone to hot spots in the center of the negative. You'll get a lot of "negative popping) with it, and do a lot of edge and corner burning...so be ready for that. If it doesn't come with an negative carrier, you will have to fabricate something. All else being equal, you should be able to get nice prints from it. I used to have one and it used those 212 enlarger bulbs. Should still be able to get those.

[jasonso]

very true, it looks like its already halfway there I just thought I'd see if anyone recognises the thing

[Harold_4074]

Regarding the negative popping: for the price, one could probably justify a small LED light panel (Artpad or comparable) to turn it into a diffusion enlarger. In the absence of heat and mass, fairly simple cabinetry (or even foamcore and tape) would serve for the adaptation.

[John Kasaian]

It depends on how long the trip you have to take is.

[jose angel]

Ask the seller if it is complete and in working condition, you can list the different parts. If so, I`d pick it up. As Harold says, we are lucky these days to have better alternative light sources. And you can have fun cleaning and restoring the thing.
If the owner doesn`t know, ask him/her if there is something like a film holder, or maybe you can have some closer images to check if it exists. If there isn`t a negative holder, or another essential part (bellows, focus rail, etc.), or if you`re not handy, or you`re not willing to spend loooong time and some money on it, just skip it.

[AtlantaTerry]

This looks a lot like a 35mm Leica enlarger we had at Baylor University back in the mid '60s.

I never liked to use it because the bottom element of the condenser sat right on the negatives.

[jasonso]

thanks for the advice all, I think I'll just go and pick it up since its only 30 minutes away. I managed to get some more info about it too - its an agfa varioscop 60, comes with 4x5 & 35mm holders and some kind of lens. I just hope I figure out how to use/fix it!

[jose angel]

I may be wrong, but it seems to me that the carriers are for 35mm and 6x9 (6x7 maybe)...