8x10 Elwood--quick question/time sensitive

[DKT]

Any of y'all ever moved an 8x10 Elwood? I'm roughly familiar with the size, but it's been years since I've seen one in person. A patron is donating one to us & we're trying to figure out if we need 3 guys to move or if 2 would be okay...fwiw, we have a large truck with a hydraulic lift, appliance rollers & such and willl probably try to dissemble parts of it if possible, but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately, we don't have the time to scout this out--needs to be picked up asap. So--anyone out there have any packing/handling tips for an 8x10 Elwood on a cast iron base?

Thanks in advance,

KT

my opinions only/not my employers.

 

[Aggie]

..

 

[DKT]

maybe...but only 2 will fit in the cab of the truck, so taking 3 means 2 vehicles...might wind up doing this anyways, but I was wondering how the enlarger was put together & whether realistically we could expect to remove the head from the column & such, or transport it on it's back? Assuming we packed the lamphouse & glass all separate? We have a pallet jack that I guess we could use, but I'm worried about getting it onto the tommy-lift safely too. It would be easier if it could taken apart & moved in pieces.

I saw a picture online recently and it looked slightly different than the one in our state archives lab used to look....so I'm having trouble visualizing what we need to get together for the trip tomorrow. There's just not much time on our end to line up alternate vehicles or help, that's all, and as long as it's being donated, we hate to pass it up.

KT

 

[lee]

they are very big. I have a cast iron table top 5x7 that with some effort I can move by myself. The only 8x10 I have ever seen I would not try without at least one other. The head won't come off but the top part will and you can remove the heat glass and light bulb. The thing that is of the biggest concern is what happens when the light bulb burns out. They are next to impossible to find unless you convert it to an Aristo which is what I did for a while with mine. I would just eat some Wheaties that morning and lift it on to the lift and go for it.

lee\c

 

[John Sparks]

I used to own one and have a friend who owns a different one and I've seen a photograph of a third one. All were quite a bit different. I think they were made over a long period with many variations.

The head comes off fairly easily, but the lens stage does not. You wan't to take the head off, or at least remove all glass from it as it's the only fragile piece, but it doesn't weigh all that much. The column can be removed from the baseboard with some bolts. The baseboard is very heavy, the column is even heavier. By taking the head and baseboard off the column, I was able to move mine up and down stairs by myself, but I would recommend using 2 people. If you don't remove the baseboard from the column, you may want 3 people, but 2 could probably manage.

The Elwood my friend has is the autofocus version. It weighs more than the one I had. If you are trying to move an autofocus 8x10 Elwood, you will want 2 people and 3 if you don't take it apart.

 

[DKT]

thanks--I think we're going to try it with 2 and if for some reason that doesn't work out, we can try again the next day I guess.

Any idea if an 8x10 Aristo head would fit one of these beasts??

Assuming we don't kill ourselves moving this thing or find ourselves filling out worker's comp forms, I'll let you know how it goes...

BTW--John, thanks. Yeah they seem to look different, although unfortunately I haven't seen this one in person. For years there was one in the lab of the state archives, but it belonged to a staffer who retired & took it with him. I remember it vaguely as being about the size of a Delta bandsaw we have in our woodshop--maybe 5 feet tall and the floor width of a refrigerator. I saw one online though, and the thing was almost twice that size with what looked like a blower attached to the lamphouse. It was also gunmetal grey--which is similar to a 5x7 Elwood I've seen in person as well. This one in the archives was brown, almost black. So--I guess it remains to be seen....

KT

my opinions only/not my employers

 

[Robert]

The general rule is two people who know what they are doing is better then three who don't. I've seen two guys fly around with a large fridge and I've seen four/five guys struggle to move a little thing.

 

[DKT]

Mission accomplished--thanks folks. Well, looks like a project--the bench was a home-made deal built into a wall & no way it would be moved-short of a sawzall and some pry bars....someone had removed the enlarger, and it was on it's side, so luckily all we had to do was manhandle it onto a cart we had and then get that out to our lift & up to the truck bed. Of course, we got back to our building and got a couple of more hands to help....took about 5 hours tops, including gettting lost on the way.....


Now we need to make a base for it, make a lensboard, and adapt an 8x10 coldlight....

Thanks again, if we ever get it up & running, I'll see if we can post a picture or two.

KT

my opinions only/not my employers