So I just got a good deal on an old Beseler 23c II (not XL), with a 35mm neg carrier and an M39 lensboard. It's my first enlarger. I haven't gotten a bulb, lens or easel for it yet, and after that I still have to learn to develop paper competently. Overall, I'm excited to set up a darkroom where I can make prints.
I knew the Beseler was going to have to have a little bit of work done when I bought it: the (for want of the technical term) carriage that rides up and down on the frame, carrying the head, appears to have been installed crooked. If you look at the photo, you'll see that the plastic washers peeking out on either side of this carriage have been installed so that the big washers are kitty-corner to each other (circled in yellow), and the same with the small washers (circled in red). It seems that this is causing the carriage to be crooked and, consequently, the film plane of the head is not parallel to the baseboard. I will note that everything else functions on the enlarger, but obviously it will be basically worthless until all the planes involved are brought into parallel.
Note that the big frame is not bent in any way; I checked it out and the pillars are parallel to each other, and, in the side-to-side axis, perpendicular to the baseboard. The front standard has been locked in a slightly tilted position, perhaps to compensate for the slant induced by the improper assembly--obviously, once the other part has been fixed, zeroing in the front standard to be parallel to the film plane and the baseboard will be no problem with a spirit level and a crescent wrench. I've looked it over thoroughly, and I am convinced there's nothing wrong with this enlarger that can't be fixed with hand tools-- just an amateurish job of reassembling it after taking it apart to oil the pinion gears or something.
So, ladies and gentlemen of the forum, I come to you for advice on the process of disassembly and reassembly. Would it suffice to swap the washers around so that the big ones are on one side and the small ones on the other? Or do I have to make new soft plastic washers (I can.) Is there something else going wrong? Anything to watch out for in the disassembly/reassembly process? Thanks!
EDIT: My bad, I looked at it just a second ago and all four washers are identical: they have a flange on them, and the ones circled in red are sitting on the flange, whereas the ones circled in yellow aren't sitting on anything at all.
EDIT AGAIN: It's the rack and pinion. One side is off by one tooth.
I knew the Beseler was going to have to have a little bit of work done when I bought it: the (for want of the technical term) carriage that rides up and down on the frame, carrying the head, appears to have been installed crooked. If you look at the photo, you'll see that the plastic washers peeking out on either side of this carriage have been installed so that the big washers are kitty-corner to each other (circled in yellow), and the same with the small washers (circled in red). It seems that this is causing the carriage to be crooked and, consequently, the film plane of the head is not parallel to the baseboard. I will note that everything else functions on the enlarger, but obviously it will be basically worthless until all the planes involved are brought into parallel.
Note that the big frame is not bent in any way; I checked it out and the pillars are parallel to each other, and, in the side-to-side axis, perpendicular to the baseboard. The front standard has been locked in a slightly tilted position, perhaps to compensate for the slant induced by the improper assembly--obviously, once the other part has been fixed, zeroing in the front standard to be parallel to the film plane and the baseboard will be no problem with a spirit level and a crescent wrench. I've looked it over thoroughly, and I am convinced there's nothing wrong with this enlarger that can't be fixed with hand tools-- just an amateurish job of reassembling it after taking it apart to oil the pinion gears or something.
So, ladies and gentlemen of the forum, I come to you for advice on the process of disassembly and reassembly. Would it suffice to swap the washers around so that the big ones are on one side and the small ones on the other? Or do I have to make new soft plastic washers (I can.) Is there something else going wrong? Anything to watch out for in the disassembly/reassembly process? Thanks!
EDIT: My bad, I looked at it just a second ago and all four washers are identical: they have a flange on them, and the ones circled in red are sitting on the flange, whereas the ones circled in yellow aren't sitting on anything at all.
EDIT AGAIN: It's the rack and pinion. One side is off by one tooth.
Last edited:
