2 Focomat questions

[megido]

I've just taken possession of a late 1c with filter drawer.
First problem i've encountered is getting the door to sit flush with the lamp housing. I am engaging the locking 'notch' but one side of the door leaks light.
I'm presuming the connection between the door and the housing should be light tight.
Any advice most welcome.
I'm also having difficulty aligning negatives. My proceedure is to firstly position the negative as best as possible on the carrier before lowering the condenser. However, the frame ends up with a border on one of the longer sides. There also seems to be a slight sideways shift between the neg and condenser just as they mate. I detected a little play between the condenser and its housing (including the large retaining spring) and I'm wondering whether this could be a contributing factor.
I hooe this is self explanatory. I never have much luck with uploading images.
Any help/advice much appreciated.

 

[Emile de Leon]

Sounds like your enlarger needs work..a little black tape and slight bending of metal may be in order..
Maybe hold the neg strip with your finger as you lower the lamp housing..or get the brass Leica spacing ring that goes over the condenser...its not cheap..but worth every penny..so you wont have that sliding neg syndrome anymore..or dust or Newtons rings for that matter..
Personally..I just disengage the auto focus..and focus on each neg separately..because I use the brass spacer..and negatives..can contract and expand..but if I needed perfectly flat negs..and to do reams of work...I would use the autofocus and the glass anti-newton condenser..

 

[Robbie Bedell]

It may be that there was once an anti-Newton glass ring attached beneath the condenser at the bottom. Someone probably removed it to sell it as it is nearly as valuable as the whole enlarger. BUT, as Emile says, there is a spacer ring that goes along with the glass ring. The person who removed the glass did not remove the spacer, hence the lack of solid contact. You would have to remove the lamp house and then reach in an unscrew the condenser and spring assembly. You should find a brass rind about 3 inches in diameter and 1/8-inch thick. Remove that altogether and you will probably then get good contact. If you start getting Newton's Rings, write back and we can tackle that later. But do not do any bending!!

 

[megido]

Thank you for your help so far. The condenser is actually fitted with the AN accessory and the spacer. I'm presuming there should be no play in that whole assembly. Correct?
The projected frame is smaller than the aperture of the neg carrier when lever is not engaged and its at this point that i!centre the neg. However, it enlarges unevenly across the aperture as the lever is lowered and then at the last minute just before contact it shifts the neg a little to one side. After careful inspection i can see the condenser head swivelling a little as it settles.

 

[Robbie Bedell]

In that case there should be no play. The condenser does move a little bit, front to back, as it settles on the negative carrier. But it should then sit firmly on the carrier. You usually do have to hold the negative with a fingertip as it comes down. Even then, to get it perfect you kind of let up just a touch of the pressure with the lever so it moves, but is not loose. Then you should be able to fit the negative exactly where you want it and then put full pressure on. This is for precise framing such as when you want black borders. After a while you get the hang of it. If the head is moving from left to right as you lower it, then you might have problems. I don't understand about the small projected frame. Is the Newton glass fitted squarely onto the condenser? Also, what lens are you using?

 

[megido]

The condenser does move a little from front to back but not significantly from what you describe.
I'm using a Focomat 2.
The negative doesn't seem to be able to be centred. There's always a border at the longest side nearest me. This happens even when I push the very edge of the neg against the 2 guiding prongs. I've never had much luck posting images here otherwise I would. Keep getting 'invalid file'.
I should add that once the condenser is sitting on the neg there is no movement from the neg. so the contact is obviously solid.

 

[Robbie Bedell]

Ah, I know what you are going through. The negative carrier is probably not original to the enlarger. It really is not big deal. There are two brass pins sticking up at the back of the negative carrier. What I did on mine is get a high quality small file and file the pins so the negative moves further back. It should not take much. I think that carriers might have been made for individual enlargers as I have had a number of them that need filing, either the pins or the rectangular holes themselves. Some are even different thicknesses. If filing the pin is not enough you can file the hole. Just be very careful and test from time to time as you do it. Then smooth and paint the filed brass with a flat black paint or it will reflect light onto the neg. Do not file the enlarger!

 

[megido]

Do you mean file the very bottom part of the pins where they meet the edge of the neg?

 

[Robbie Bedell]

Yes, I just filed the whole post or pin, flat on the side that faces you. If you start getting more than one third in I would stop. Make sure you put some tape on the flat part of the carrier so the file does not damage that. If you email me at robadore@aol.com I will send you some photos tomorrow.