Share your experience with Elwood 8x10 enlarger please

[Keith Fleming]

I have a very old model of the 5X7 enlarger, and I strongly urge anyone using an Elwood to thoroughly disassemble the light unit and check the wiring very closely. Today I started to replace the power plug, and noticed how brittle and cracked the wires were. That led me to disassemble the light head. I found that many decades of high heat from the 300 watt enlarging bulb had caused all the wiring to become dangerous. The insulation around each wire was quite hard and brittle--where it had not cracked and fallen away. The danger of electric shock or a fire was very high. It will take a full rewiring to make that light unit safe to operate. If you have an Elwood, please check it out.

Keith

[Ilford4ever]

Because of their age, these things come in every condition from junk to excellent. Price sounds high and I would make sure of not making a long drive for nothing, any lenses included? Mine is the model with hinged column and was easy to haul in a suv

No, no lenses included :-(, just an original negative carrier. It comes with original heavy metal 40x44 stand/table. Seems if I scrap the table, I could get my money back. Haha.

[Ilford4ever]

It is easy to align, I built a 2x8" frame to hold the enlarger and a seperate plywood table to hold the easel. The manual has alignment instructions. I make lens boards from plywood.

I thought about it too. Once started with LF I can't picture my life without table saw and a router. Good to know that I am not alone! Now I need to explain my rationale to my wife!

[Robert Langham]

Elwood enlarger on my studio floor photos:



It's a monster. Not sure how you would ship it though I could be surprised. Free for the pick up. I think the enlarging table for it is also available, it it's in College Station, Texas. Got the most outrageous footswitch I have ever seen! As I said it's dirty, corroded but looks like it would clean up, rewire and be fine.

[jbphotos]

Eccentric questions on Elwood 8x10 enlarger:

I no longer have my Elwood Enlarger but upon cleaning the darkroom out I found the diffused glass and also glass I would consider neutral density or heat absorbing.

These came out of the enlarger as is – the opal glass was broken in half (we used it that way!)

I want to pass these along if anyone wants them for free-just pay shipping.

I have pictures, let me know on this site and I will send via email.

Janine

[jbphotos]

Photos of the glass.

Janine

[Graybeard]

I am looking into buying used 8x10 Elwood enlarger, but would like to know more about it. Please share your experience, if any. Both good or bad. Thanks!

Before you buy an Elwood you will want to be very sure about the availability, to you, of light bulbs for the enlarger.

My experience is with the 5x7 Elwood. The diffusion head uses a stack of sandblasted glass plates to provide even illumination. This is not very efficient and Elwoods typically used 300W and 500W photoflood bubs in order to put a useful amount of light through the negative.

There is the additional complication that the Elwood head uses a parabolic refector: the position of the bulb inside the head is important and this requires a large diameter bulb with an unusually long neck. The bulbs for which my Elwood was designed are no longer available with an opal coating (the one that is needed). Interestingly, bulbs of the needed glass envelope shape and and wattage are available from McMaster Carr but not with an opal coating (I understand they are used for lighting barns, BTW, perhaps the cows stay up all night reading).

I was able to squeek by using 150W G40 opal bulbs and socket extenders on my 5x7. I think the problems would be quite a bit worse with an 8x10 and, if anything, the OEM spec bulbs more difficult to find.

[John Kasaian]

Eccentric questions on Elwood 8x10 enlarger:

I no longer have my Elwood Enlarger but upon cleaning the darkroom out I found the diffused glass and also glass I would consider neutral density or heat absorbing.

These came out of the enlarger as is – the opal glass was broken in half (we used it that way!)

I want to pass these along if anyone wants them for free-just pay shipping.

I have pictures, let me know on this site and I will send via email.

Janine

PM sent

[boswald]

Farmtek has really big 'full spectrum' CFLs. A 100 watt has the light output of a 500w old tungsten, but obviously a little less heat than a tunsten 100w. A word about the lighting system. It is not really a difusion enlarger. The light is focused, but it is a reflector rather than a refractor, much as in telescopes. Do not try to clean the reflector by wiping if it is at all still good. Spray and rinse. It may need polishing. You achieve even lighting by adjusting the lamp position(the big cfls are about as long as the old 300s) with heat absorbers but not diffuser in place. Then add it back. If you are using the CFL, you may leave out the heat absorbers if you have any glass in the filter drawer.(I can't see if Robert's has a filter drawer- some don't)
Anyway, once you have it aligned it won't move. Aluminum castings are quite stable. Enjoy!

[John Kasaian]

I've got one. The biggest expense was shipping the thing. I think they are a hoot to use. These were professional machines and often used hard, but were well cared for. They are huge. If you don't have a high ceiling plan spending a lot of time printing on your knees, or loosen two bolts and rock the head back and project on the wall.
Honestly, I'd get a lot more use out of a Beseler 45 with the 8x10 conversion but those are terribly expensive even now. I can afford my Elwood and it makes me happy. What's not heavy aluminium castings are wood and quite easy to repair if damaged. In the worse case scenario, you can get a Aristo cold light for it.
It also does a splendid job of warming tortillas if you're hungry!