Modify Durst L-184 for 40 x 50" prints in vertical projection

[Eric Woodbury]

Hello again. Has anyone modified such an enlarger to make very large prints in the vertical configuration? The throat from the optical axis to the support is about 6 inches short of the 20 inches required for a 40" wide projection. I know the enlarger will do horizontal projection, but that is problematic in this situation.

I've modified other enlargers by adding a truss or block between the head support and the vertical support. Curious if anyone has done this or similar for the Durst L-184 beast?

Thanks for all the help.

--ejw--

[Tin Can]

Wall mount the upper half on a 'ledge' and project to bench or floor.

[ic-racer]

The throat from the optical axis to the support is about 6 inches short of the 20 inches required for a 40" wide projection.

Do you have the Nega205? Do you have a 10"x10" mixing box? Do you have the negative all the way at the top of the glass carrier?

[Drew Wiley]

What Tin Can said. But how high a ceiling do you have?

[Eric Woodbury]

ic-racer. This would buy 4 inches and move the negative off-axis. Not quite enough. Theoretically, that is fine, but the edges of any light source are best avoided.

TC and DW, I don't think ceiling is an issue.

All, I'm in California and enlarger belongs to a friend in Virginia. Just trying to help out.

Current plan is a machinist will visit soon and see if a truss block can be fitted to extend the head 'out' by 8". Looks doable, but my vision at 2600 miles is a bit fuzzy.

Thanks

--ejw--

[Drew Wiley]

Which light source? Several of the Durst ones are designed to give even illumination over the whole 10X10 inch area, which means you could shift the negative totally to the front of that area on the holder without uneveness in the result if you have a reasonably long enlarger lens, like a 360. And most of us leave some margin around the image itself when printing, so the full 40" width is not projected.

[ic-racer]

Modify Durst L-184 for 40 x 50" prints in vertical projection ...40" wide projection...

I re-read your original post. My post #3 above assumes a 40" wide print on the baseboard. Maybe there is a error somewhere but are you making 40" wide prints or 50" wide prints? As far as I know, the enlarger is not designed to make 50" wide prints in vertical orientation.

[Drew Wiley]

You would need to detach the top column like Tin Can said. A 240 lens will yield only a 30x40 on the standard baseboard at full column height and the baseboard way down near the floor. And it would be better to use a longer focal length lens anyway. Hence the need for a fairly high ceiling, with an enlarger support modification. Or just flip it horizontal.

[Luis-F-S]

Or just flip it horizontal.

What I'd do, Eric, as IC pointed out, it's made for 4x vertical projection, not 5x with a 300 mm lens. Not sure what you'd get with a 240 mm., or flip it horizontal and if you have enough room, you should easily achieve 5x.