2 blade easel ?

bvy · Sep 19, 2014

I've been contemplating an easel purchase. I have an 8x10 hinged, fixed border thing, which seems to be about a hair too small on the long edge such that the paper doesn't lay flat. For 11x14 and larger, I've been projecting directly on to the paper, but the soft edges and slight keystoning look sloppy.

So I've been looking at two-blade and four blade easels. I realize four-blade is ideal, but I have a question about the two blade jobbies: Since I can only adjust two blades, it would seem that the top and left borders are fixed or restricted. So what is the working border range of these easels? For 35mm, I usually print 6x9 centered to 8x10, and for 120 square, I do 7.5x7.5 with a quarter inch border on three sides. I would be interested in an 8x10 or 11x14 easel.

Thanks.

Xmas · Sep 19, 2014

If you are going to mount the print you can Guillotine the margins first.

MartinP · Sep 19, 2014

There are also three bladed easels, which give much of the flexibility of the four bladed version while being much cheaper (smaller baseboard and simpler mechanically). I'd suggest looking for one a little larger than the size of paper you currently expect to print as gaining larger printing-trays is a lot more likely than someone gifting you a huge easel . . .

The cheapest (and nastiest) two blade easel I've used had adjustable borders from almost-zero up to 15mm. The better quality easels would typically have more border range, better paper-holding devices and stay square at all positions of the arms.

paul_c5x4 · Sep 19, 2014

I have several of the cheap'n'nasty two blade easels - They are kinda OK for proof prints and when you are not too worried about the margins being square.

When the opportunity arose, I acquired some RRB two blade easels - These are adjustable in ¼" steps from ¼" up to 2" on the fixed side and the movable blades remain square.

ic-racer · Sep 19, 2014

Look for a used 4 blade.

ParkerSmithPhoto · Sep 19, 2014

If you are trimming to dry mount then anything will do. If you like to print with set white borders and no mounting, then you need a four blade. The 11x14 size are everywhere, dirt cheap. I have three plus a 16x20.

Mainecoonmaniac · Sep 19, 2014

I would get a 4 bladed easel. It's much more flexible. I like big white borders on my prints so 4 bladed easels are my favorite. There are quite a few on Ebay for a decent price. I've owned an 11x14 Saunders for over 30 years and it still works well. I gotta grease it once in a while.

summicron1 · Sep 19, 2014

ic-racer said:
Look for a used 4 blade.

what this guy said. A 4-blade gives you infinite vaiability for margin size, very handy.

Hilo · Sep 19, 2014

We all have a preference based on what we like to use. I use a Leitz easel for 16X20 and a RRB for 20X24, both are 2 blade and are excellent.

scheimfluger_77 · Sep 19, 2014

Often, the 11 x 14's are actually 14 x 17. You must read fine print and measure carefully. I have two that size and both will actually take a 12x16 if I wanted to.

L Gebhardt · Sep 19, 2014

ic-racer said:
Look for a used 4 blade.

I agree. I have a two bladed easel and it's not something I would spend money on.

MattKing · Sep 19, 2014

I prefer the 4 blade easels, but I have made good use of 2 blade easels too.

The 2 blade easels have more flexibility when you are using odd paper sizes - the channels on my Saunders 4 blade make it difficult to use something like a 5.5" x 14" sheet of paper.

Doremus Scudder · Sep 20, 2014

Two-blade easels are just fine if you have enough room. I used them for years before getting four-blade ones.

For extensive cropping you need room on the baseboard to position the fixed corner. Put that where it needs to be and then complete the crop with the two moveable blades. If you have limited space, you might run out of room to move your easel around under the enlarger. Other than that and the inconvenience of moving the whole easel instead of just adjusting blades, two-blade models are just as good in the end. No one will know whether you used a two- or four-blade easel when viewing the final print.

And, believe it or not, if you get a good two-blade easel, you are ensured of having at lease one perfect 90° corner... Even the best four-blade easels are often a bit out of square. That doesn't bother me much, since I trim all my prints before dry mounting, but for those who don't, it can be exasperating.

Best,

Doremus

L Gebhardt · Sep 20, 2014

My main issue with two bladed easels is you are limited in the size of the borders. You can't make a 12x18 print on 16x20 paper with 2 inch borders top and bottom and 1 inch on the sides. Obviously you can trim the paper first, but you are still limited to how wide the borders can be.

Neal · Sep 20, 2014

Dear bvy,

Find and old 4 blade 11x14 easel on Craig's List. They are cheap and plentiful on the used market and just about the only easel you will use.

Have fun,

Neal Wydra

pentaxuser · Sep 20, 2014

L Gebhardt said:
My main issue with two bladed easels is you are limited in the size of the borders. You can't make a 12x18 print on 16x20 paper with 2 inch borders top and bottom and 1 inch on the sides.

My understanding is that you can do this with a Beard 2 blade easel. Each of the bottom and right side blades are independently set and the top left hand corner has a series of grooves set at a quarter of an inch apart into which you place an insert so both the top border and the left side border can be set independently

As each blade runs on two runners the print should have straight borders which can be set anywhere at quarter inch intervals anywhere between a quarter inch and two inches.

pentaxuser

mgb74 · Sep 20, 2014

Not mine, but: http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?116596-Beseler-Universal-14-easel

paul_c5x4 · Sep 20, 2014

pentaxuser said:
My understanding is that you can do this with a Beard 2 blade easel. Each of the bottom and right side blades are independently set and the top left hand corner has a series of grooves set at a quarter of an inch apart into which you place an insert so both the top border and the left side border can be set independently

Your understanding is absolutely correct - As I mentioned a few posts back, I have a number of the RBB 2 blade easels, and they all work just as you describe. OK, some people may not want borders in ¼" increments, so they would be better off looking for alternatives.

Nicholas Lindan · Sep 20, 2014

If you want to do 6x9 centered in 8x10 paper - using the paper margin as part of the mat - they you will need a 4-blade easel. 2 blade easels restrict you to equal margins on the upper left corner of the easel - and the max border in that corner is something like .75".

Keep looking on ebay et al..

Alex Muir · Sep 20, 2014

Nicholas Lindan said:
If you want to do 6x9 centered in 8x10 paper - using the paper margin as part of the mat - they you will need a 4-blade easel. 2 blade easels restrict you to equal margins on the upper left corner of the easel - and the max border in that corner is something like .75".

Keep looking on ebay et al..

That's not the case with RRB (Beard) easels. I routinely print 6x9 centred on 8x10 paper. The max border, as already mentioned, is 2" all round.
Alex.

L Gebhardt · Sep 20, 2014

Alex Muir said:
That's not the case with RRB (Beard) easels. I routinely print 6x9 centred on 8x10 paper. The max border, as already mentioned, is 2" all round.
Alex.

That's a much better system than the 2 bladed easel I had. I could live with those limitations, but I would still rather have the flexibility of the four bladed easel.

bvy · Sep 20, 2014

Message heard. Will cut to the chase and restrict the search to four-blade models. Might look into the Beard two-blade...

bvy · Oct 4, 2014

Well, I picked up an 11x14 four-blade easel on Craigslist for $50. And I hate it. It's big, it's heavy, and I'm having to move the enlarger around and rearrange everything in my darkroom just to use it. Even then, there are problems. Just now I wanted to enlarge a 7.5 inch square image to 8x10 paper, and I can't even position it to work. The top of the easel buts up against the column of the enlarger. I think I'm just going out some templates from black cardstock and continue to improvise...

MartinP · Oct 5, 2014

Bvy, if you rotate it 180 degrees is the base any narrower, from image to easel-edge? That is to say, having the hinge side away from the column of the enlarger might work.

Alex Muir · Oct 5, 2014

bvy said:
Well, I picked up an 11x14 four-blade easel on Craigslist for $50. And I hate it. It's big, it's heavy, and I'm having to move the enlarger around and rearrange everything in my darkroom just to use it. Even then, there are problems. Just now I wanted to enlarge a 7.5 inch square image to 8x10 paper, and I can't even position it to work. The top of the easel buts up against the column of the enlarger. I think I'm just going out some templates from black cardstock and continue to improvise...

What enlarger do you use? I have a Durst M601 for 6x6 work. The column base can cause problems with big prints. The head can move forward, however, on its support arm and this gives more space from the optical axis to the column base. It has a kind of stop on the support arm. I don't know if this is what it was designed for but it works. Some other Durst models share a similar design.
Alex

2 blade easel ?

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