FrankS
Registered User
I don't want to put a damper on the building project because that can be fun and rewarding in and of itself, but consider just for a moment an alternative plan: use the money meant for the project materials to buy a used enlarger. With just a bit of time, patience and searching, surely one of the vast multitudes of unused enlargers will present itself to you at a give-away price. Just offering an alternative thought.
Ash
Selflessly Self-involved
Hey Frank, I know that would be a 'sensible' option, but I've been keeping my eye out for a 5x4 enlarger with no joy. The costs for that size are too steep for me. Also as I said, my 120-film enlarger had managed to break on me, so I'm worried about buying another used enlarger at a giveaway price right now!!
I thought 'so I may as well go 'the whole hog' and build as big an enlarger as I can'.
So far:
I've nearly sewn all the bellows leather together. That's taken an hour.
Tomorrow:
I'll get the timber (probs ply)
I thought 'so I may as well go 'the whole hog' and build as big an enlarger as I can'.
So far:
I've nearly sewn all the bellows leather together. That's taken an hour.
Tomorrow:
I'll get the timber (probs ply)
mjflory
Accumulator
An afterthought, not about the bellows, but about the light source, which I suspect could be a big headache. Plan A, a diffuser: light bulb, plexiglas or frosted or (pricey) "opal" white glass. Smooth, not too contrasty, makes scratches disappear... Plan B, a condenser: light source plus monster lenses (or fresnels?). Hard to put together, but extra-contrasty and sharp. Consideration with Plan A or Plan B: heat generated by light bulb, not only radiating from around bulb but transmitted as infrared through condenser lenses or diffuser to film, perhaps necessitating an IR cutoff filter (big bluish piece of glass) above film. Plan C: an array of white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and a diffuser, making an enlarger head with the character of a traditional diffuser but without the heat, and with effectively unlimited bulb life. The Nikon film scanners use LEDs, so it seems any problems with the light color are not insoluble, though color correction might be built into their firmware.
In the lab where I work we used this method to develop a featureless, instantly switchable visual "target" to which infants' gaze was directed in psychological tests. White LEDs are available for a dollar or two (a pound sterling or less in the UK, I imagine). The wiring is very simple: feed them DC, observe polarity, put a resistor in the circuit to limit current draw (variable resistor will control brightness), make a series-parallel array (several series in parallel) with proper number of LEDs to conform to whatever DC power supply you have sitting around.
I'd be surprised if this hasn't been tried already, it seems so obvious, but my knowledge of enlarger heads is as out of date as most of my other knowledge.
-- Michael
In the lab where I work we used this method to develop a featureless, instantly switchable visual "target" to which infants' gaze was directed in psychological tests. White LEDs are available for a dollar or two (a pound sterling or less in the UK, I imagine). The wiring is very simple: feed them DC, observe polarity, put a resistor in the circuit to limit current draw (variable resistor will control brightness), make a series-parallel array (several series in parallel) with proper number of LEDs to conform to whatever DC power supply you have sitting around.
I'd be surprised if this hasn't been tried already, it seems so obvious, but my knowledge of enlarger heads is as out of date as most of my other knowledge.
-- Michael
Ash
Selflessly Self-involved
When I think LED's I think TINY. Maybe that's because the electronics I did ended when I hit about 15.
I'll go to a local-ish auto parts store as that's the only place that sells anything electronic these days. Problem is how many LED's I'd need for a suitable amount of light (I'm thinking loads), then as you said resistors and mapping out the circuit.
I'm always a little scared to plug anything into the mains that I've wired myself, so a whole untested circuit will be a little scary!
It's a really good idea, but it may be easier to wire (and design the light box to facilitate) a fan or two, rather than work out where to get the correct LED's and get a bright enough result without blowing something up!
I'll go to a local-ish auto parts store as that's the only place that sells anything electronic these days. Problem is how many LED's I'd need for a suitable amount of light (I'm thinking loads), then as you said resistors and mapping out the circuit.
I'm always a little scared to plug anything into the mains that I've wired myself, so a whole untested circuit will be a little scary!
It's a really good idea, but it may be easier to wire (and design the light box to facilitate) a fan or two, rather than work out where to get the correct LED's and get a bright enough result without blowing something up!
Screwy
All the gear no idea
Probably of no help at all but my Devere 54 is a diffuser and has a plastic water filled flask between the lens and the rather Sci-Fi looking cathode tube , Leds are workable Heres a link with some info and I'm pretty sure there's plenty of links out there for building LED light arrays as there used on a lot of custom motorcycles these days .
Paul
Paul
Ash
Selflessly Self-involved
water?! could you possibly get me some photo's??
mjflory
Accumulator
Amazing! I'd heard of water-cooled PC's (and of course water-cooled cars) but never a water-cooled enlarger!
The LEDtronics strips look very, very handy. I wish I'd known about them when we were putting together the light source for our lab. (It was our college intern-wizard who did it, really, and he's far more facile with a circuit "breadboard" than I am.)
Fans and a light bulb are certainly a workable system, and if you don't like soldering they could be less trouble. I have a bit of a thing for LEDs -- haven't taken to putting them around my car's license plates yet or stringing them under the chassis, though. (Bright blue is the fashion here.)
The LEDtronics strips look very, very handy. I wish I'd known about them when we were putting together the light source for our lab. (It was our college intern-wizard who did it, really, and he's far more facile with a circuit "breadboard" than I am.)
Fans and a light bulb are certainly a workable system, and if you don't like soldering they could be less trouble. I have a bit of a thing for LEDs -- haven't taken to putting them around my car's license plates yet or stringing them under the chassis, though. (Bright blue is the fashion here.)
mjflory
Accumulator
Ash
Selflessly Self-involved
Lol, if you had wanted I would have drawn the hate on your photo like I did mine. No theft needed 
but the bright blue under the car... yea here we call it 'boy racer' because the kids with their fiesta's and escort's like the strips under their car.
I don't mind soldering at all, but it's a bitch to put together this enlarger as it is (yep, I admit it) so a simple and cheap (halogen?) light source with fans and diffuser may be a helluva lot easier!
but the bright blue under the car... yea here we call it 'boy racer' because the kids with their fiesta's and escort's like the strips under their car.I don't mind soldering at all, but it's a bitch to put together this enlarger as it is (yep, I admit it) so a simple and cheap (halogen?) light source with fans and diffuser may be a helluva lot easier!
Screwy
All the gear no idea
mjflory
Accumulator
It's a great hat! My wife looked over my shoulder and saw your avatar and said I should put my Christmas shoes into mine, but I'm not sure if I'd look so good with them on my head... Here they are in all their glory, anyway, complete with bells!
Halogen's really hot... as in catching-fire hot. I'd think a plain-old tungsten-filament light bulb would be a lot cooler. I was thinking about suggesting one of those fluorescent bulbs that fit in an ordinary lamp socket (ballast built in, no special socket) but even the "warm" type probably have a color cast. Then, if you're doing black-and-white, it wouldn't matter unless you use variable-contrast paper and filters, which depend on the color.
Halogen's really hot... as in catching-fire hot. I'd think a plain-old tungsten-filament light bulb would be a lot cooler. I was thinking about suggesting one of those fluorescent bulbs that fit in an ordinary lamp socket (ballast built in, no special socket) but even the "warm" type probably have a color cast. Then, if you're doing black-and-white, it wouldn't matter unless you use variable-contrast paper and filters, which depend on the color.
Attachments
mjflory
Accumulator
Screwy said:Here you go , pics of my water cooled Devere and funnily enough The cathode is a very nice shade of blue when its on
That's amazing... It looks like a tanning device for a small pet!
Screwy
All the gear no idea
Hehehehe my kids guinea pig is looking a bit fed up , Might just try him under it for 10 minutes or so, see if he perks up
Ash
Selflessly Self-involved
Hah! Christmas Convo's! That's one pair I haven't seen before.
ok I'll stay away from Halogen. I may try fluorescent strip lights, it may work well with a few of them in series.
ok I'll stay away from Halogen. I may try fluorescent strip lights, it may work well with a few of them in series.
mjflory
Accumulator
Ash
Selflessly Self-involved
I daren't stick my cameras in my shoes, they'd be devalued instantly!
I'm getting a little wound up with my bellows. Finished them hours ago but keep going back and checking bits and pieces... They don't look that great but I hope they'll function fine. I'm still trying to work it out to make sure both lens panel and neg carrier are parallel. It's a no brainer, but I'm still trying to sort how the two are connected!
That will have to wait until the wooden parts are completed I guess. I'll probably build them to be flat and then stick some cheap spirit level bubbles on each platform so that I know they are horizontal.
The lens panel axis movement is a little difficult to work out, considering the bellows are so huge.
I'm getting a little wound up with my bellows. Finished them hours ago but keep going back and checking bits and pieces... They don't look that great but I hope they'll function fine. I'm still trying to work it out to make sure both lens panel and neg carrier are parallel. It's a no brainer, but I'm still trying to sort how the two are connected!
That will have to wait until the wooden parts are completed I guess. I'll probably build them to be flat and then stick some cheap spirit level bubbles on each platform so that I know they are horizontal.
The lens panel axis movement is a little difficult to work out, considering the bellows are so huge.
mjflory
Accumulator
Ash said:
Well, I only wear them once a year, so they have 364 days to air out! (At this rate they should last several centuries.)
You're really moving along on the project! Of course I'm not much of a standard for comparison, having had my view camera materials sitting around for --- how many years?
Thinking about the axis movement... that's the up-and-down movement? Ideally you'd want a rack-and-pinion arrangement. I think that's where I stopped on the view camera plans, thinking I'd find one in a parts bin somewhere. It's got to be so big that you can't just salvage something from an old 35mm extension-bellows or even a larger camera, I suppose. What gave out on your other enlarger? Is there anything you could use?
FrankS
Registered User
I think those flourescent bulbs would be a good idea. The kind that simply screw in place like the ordinary household bulbs to save electricity. 4 of them in a silvered container above white plexi glass would work, in my mind anyways. LED's are cooler/neater, but require more skill and $ to make work with a DC power source.
Ash
Selflessly Self-involved
My Gnome Beta II (120 enlarger) broke by the spot-welding snapping. That was the welding that attaches the clamp handle, so in effect the enlarger head is no longer secure at any height unless it rests on something (so it's resting on the rank aldis 35mm extension arm). I was planning on sorting a clamp system to make it fully usable again. That'll be done around about when I grow tired of this project
I looked into the cost of an LED arrangement. It would cost about twice my budget for the correct number of LED's for 10x8 plus the circuitry, transformer, etc (going by maplin's prices). That means fluorescent bulbs will be best. They're also cheap and easy to obtain!
I'm redesigning as we speak. Attached is a 30 second doodle of the setup I'm thinking. I have the spare pole from the rank aldis (as both the rank and the gnome share diameter - so they're on a single pole).
That will be attached to the centre of the underside of the lightbox. In front of the mount for the pole is the whole neg carrier tray and diffuser etc.
I was thinking.. The way most vintage/amateur enlarger heads attach to the pole/column is by a |/ shape, so if I use that for the lensboard then it should hold itself horizontal, and the extension in the bellows is by moving the gimmick up and down the pole.
____lens__
|/
/ <- clamps to pole
Make sense?
I'm also thinking the enlarger should be built solid on its own backboard and base (to avoid it falling forward, so it sits steady. If you think an arcade cabinet gutted, thats the shape I'm thinking. THEN for the various enlargements I use shelf hooks on either side? This will mean a base plate/easel can be placed at various predetermined heights (for example 4x5 film to 10x8 paper, or 35mm film to 10x8). Of course I need to work out whether I just swap lenses or what.
Maybe a bunch of grooves would be best, then the height options are less limited, and lens swap doesn't mess up the predetermined heights.
Maybe I'm just thinking about this too much, and it is becoming more complex than I wanted.
I looked into the cost of an LED arrangement. It would cost about twice my budget for the correct number of LED's for 10x8 plus the circuitry, transformer, etc (going by maplin's prices). That means fluorescent bulbs will be best. They're also cheap and easy to obtain!
I'm redesigning as we speak. Attached is a 30 second doodle of the setup I'm thinking. I have the spare pole from the rank aldis (as both the rank and the gnome share diameter - so they're on a single pole).
That will be attached to the centre of the underside of the lightbox. In front of the mount for the pole is the whole neg carrier tray and diffuser etc.
I was thinking.. The way most vintage/amateur enlarger heads attach to the pole/column is by a |/ shape, so if I use that for the lensboard then it should hold itself horizontal, and the extension in the bellows is by moving the gimmick up and down the pole.
____lens__
|/
/ <- clamps to pole
Make sense?
I'm also thinking the enlarger should be built solid on its own backboard and base (to avoid it falling forward, so it sits steady. If you think an arcade cabinet gutted, thats the shape I'm thinking. THEN for the various enlargements I use shelf hooks on either side? This will mean a base plate/easel can be placed at various predetermined heights (for example 4x5 film to 10x8 paper, or 35mm film to 10x8). Of course I need to work out whether I just swap lenses or what.
Maybe a bunch of grooves would be best, then the height options are less limited, and lens swap doesn't mess up the predetermined heights.
Maybe I'm just thinking about this too much, and it is becoming more complex than I wanted.
Attachments
mjflory
Accumulator
Wow, you're going for 8x10! Somehow I thought it was 4x5, which is a monster already! All the more reason you're right to go with fluorescent bulbs, not LEDs.
Got to think out the attachment/mounting question, but the dinner bell's ringing here.
-- M.
Got to think out the attachment/mounting question, but the dinner bell's ringing here.
-- M.