AmerGraph ULF-28 Xenon Printing Source

reggie said:

I've pretty decided to buy one. It is a great unit, giving me about everything I need for contact printing my 8x10 and 12x20 negatives with just about every paper out there, including my hand coated silver chloride paper!

My long term plans include buying a Class A RV and travelling the country for 5+ years. I could put the unit in the RV and print on the road.

I'll post how it goes if\when I order one. They will have to ship it cross country, so I'm a little concerned about shipping costs. They will probably eat up the APUG discount.

-R

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I still think this is great unit. My exposures, for carbon, kallitype and Pt./Pd. are on average about a full stop or more faster than with the NuArc 26-IK I formely used, the exposing plane is larger, and light distrution better. Top quality exposing unit IMO.

Sandy

I have been lurking on this thread for a while now, mostly awaiting Sandy's technical evaluation results to come out.

I started working with Rob Lesko form Amergraph almost a year ago. I contacted Amergraph after I looked over their product line and realized the potential of their mainline plate burner. I know nothing of the graphic arts industry, but the potential was obvious. As a ULF and 8x10 shooter, I could see that Amergraph had the potential to produce the ultimate contact printer for UV sources - and if they could extend the capabilities to allow printing on graded and VC enlarger speed papers, well that would be the ultimate.

I worked with Rob to help Amergraph understand the size and special needs of the ULF marketplace. He had never heard of us and he was very impressed with our numbers and our organization and presence on the web. I explained that we were really mainly artists with the occasional 'techie' amongst us that would understand the science of the unit. As for me, I made it clear that I was focused on the unit as a tool to make art and I wasn't adept at the technical aspects - which represents the average point of view I would suspect.

Once we had the specs for a prototype firmed up, I suggested that we get a respected expert in the ULF community to evaluate the unit, get exposure on APUG, Mamut, Unblinkingeye and eventually full reviews in View Camera.

I sent Rob the contact info for Sandy King and Rob ran with it and contacted Sandy before I could get Sandy's ok\agreement to do the testing! Rob moves very quickly. He is fantastic to work with. He is a real professional and a hard-charing guy. It was great to see a man who can get things done!

My involvement phased out after the technical testing. They did ask my opinion on the marketing brochure but I wasn't a lot of help.

Now, I see a completed product, tested by Sandy with test results published on the internet. A VC review is a MUST and I hope to see one next year! I am especially pleased to see the additional light source for enlarging speed papers!!! I had asked for this early on, but Rob wasn't so sure about it. I think Sandy's similar feedback got them to do it. It is a great feature.

This contact printer is the ultimate contact printer. It embodies every feature that I think we could possibly ask for! I could get this and easily toss out my enlarger and not miss it.

Many many thanks to Rob Lesko at Amergraph for being so open to creating a new product for us!!! This is as exciting as Cooke coming out with the new XVa, maybe more! And a big thanks to Sandy for the technical evaluation. His strong credibility and sound reputation really helped validate the suitability of this product to LF\ULF contact printing.

Now all I need to do is take delivery of mine!! I know they are a lot of money, but if you can afford it, please let's give Rob and Amergraph the encouragement they deserve and place some orders.

Thank you.

-Mike Whiting

reggie said:

I've pretty decided to buy one. It is a great unit, giving me about everything I need for contact printing my 8x10 and 12x20 negatives with just about every paper out there, including my hand coated silver chloride paper!

My long term plans include buying a Class A RV and travelling the country for 5+ years. I could put the unit in the RV and print on the road.

I'll post how it goes if\when I order one. They will have to ship it cross country, so I'm a little concerned about shipping costs. They will probably eat up the APUG discount.

-R

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Well, I took the plunge. I put together an order for one optioned out with all the bells and whistles. The shipping was surprisingly affordable, just $250 to cover about 3k miles and it will arrive on a trick with a tailgate. I will let everyone know when it arrives, probably in about a month.

Has anyone else ordered one?

-R

I forgot to give a big thanks to Rob at Amergraph, Mike Whiting and Sandy King for their work on this product. It is very encouraging to see Amergraph come out with such a high quality product for the ULF (and LF) marketplace. Of course there even those geeks who make enlarged negatives on their computers - they have to print them with something and the ULF-28 is just the ticket for them, too.

It was great to read Sandy's review of the ULF-28. It gave me the kind of reassurance that I needed to know this was the product for me. As Mike said, a review in View Camera is a must.

-R

reggie said:

Well, I took the plunge. I put together an order for one optioned out with all the bells and whistles. The shipping was surprisingly affordable, just $250 to cover about 3k miles and it will arrive on a trick with a tailgate. I will let everyone know when it arrives, probably in about a month.

Has anyone else ordered one?

-R

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Congratulations. You are going to have one great multi-use exposure unit.

Contact me if you have any questions in setting up and using the unit.

Best,

Sandy

sanking said:

Congratulations. You are going to have one great multi-use exposure unit.

Contact me if you have any questions in setting up and using the unit.

Best,

Sandy

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Hi Sandy:

The unit hasn't arrived yet, but I was wondering about pin registration and the ULF-28.

I have a Condit 8x10 punch and a brass strip with the pins on it that match the punch. I wonder if it would be possible to place the brass strip (face down so that the pins are facing down away from the glass) inside the vaccum frame and place punched negatives and masks on the strip while printing?

I have a Condit contact frame packed away somewhere and I believe the pins are glued to the surface of the glass and the surface onto which the paper and negatives\masks are placed is a little spongy.

Do you think I'll be able to do this with the ULF-28? I think pin registration was one thing that maybe wasn't considered in the units' design, was it? I anticipate that masking for contrast control may be a big part of printing my 12x20 negatives.

Thanks.

-R

Wish I could answer your question but I have no expererience at all in using pin registration systems with vacuum frames. Maybe someone else can offer some advice.

Sandy

reggie said:

Hi Sandy:

The unit hasn't arrived yet, but I was wondering about pin registration and the ULF-28.

I have a Condit 8x10 punch and a brass strip with the pins on it that match the punch. I wonder if it would be possible to place the brass strip (face down so that the pins are facing down away from the glass) inside the vaccum frame and place punched negatives and masks on the strip while printing?

I have a Condit contact frame packed away somewhere and I believe the pins are glued to the surface of the glass and the surface onto which the paper and negatives\masks are placed is a little spongy.

Do you think I'll be able to do this with the ULF-28? I think pin registration was one thing that maybe wasn't considered in the units' design, was it? I anticipate that masking for contrast control may be a big part of printing my 12x20 negatives.

Thanks.

-R

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Well,my ULF-28 arrived. It was crated and heavily packaged with thick cardboard. It made the trip from New Jersey to the west coast with not damage whatsoever. It was shipped by a comany called Watkins which has been taken over by FedEx. The rates were excellent. $200 for shipping a 200lb box 3000 miles. Not bad. Home delivery was exceptional. They kept it for a week while I was away for Christmas with no storage charges. They did a great job of keeping touch with me as to the exact time of delivery. The delivery man was super. I was sure to ask for a truck with a lift gate and I suggest this for anyone getting one - Amergraph has to specifically request this and it made a huge difference in lowering the crate to the ground. It is heavy, so moving it up stairs would be difficult. Fortuately I live on the ground floor. I unpacked it and took the unit inside. It comes out of the box\crate in a single piece all ready to plug in and use.

The electrial requirements are 120V, 60Hz, 15 amps. The manual says that the unit must be connected to a dedicated power line. I ordered a Variac that will supply a steady 120V. If my line is only 105V, for instance, I can get 120v and 20amps out of the variac. Sandy, did you have a dedicated line? Do you know if the line was a consistant 120V? I am pretty sure I can isolate the line inside the house to the ULF-28 and use the Variac to increase the voltage to 120V. That should provide stable power. If not, the Variac ca nbe put to use with my coffee roaster!

I haven't setup up the unit yet. I will need to get a work table setup and wait for delivery of the variac.

As for pin registration, there is a warning in the paperwork of the ULF-28:

USE OF REGISTER PINS WITH A HEIGHT EXEEDING .110" IS PROHIBITED!
Premature cacuum blanket wear or broken glass could occur if pins of creater heith are used. Take proper precautionary measures to ensure the unit is set up properly.

All on-retracting pins should be sushioned to prevent premature vacuum blanket wear or the possibilit of breaking the glass. Register system manufacturers normally recommend .040", .070" or .110" pints for contacting or platemaking.

I have Condit pins. Does anyone know thei height of these pins?

That's about it for now. Once I get it setup, get the voltage correct and start making prints, I"ll get back to everyone with results.

-R

reggie said:

The electrial requirements are 120V, 60Hz, 15 amps. The manual says that the unit must be connected to a dedicated power line. I ordered a Variac that will supply a steady 120V. If my line is only 105V, for instance, I can get 120v and 20amps out of the variac. Sandy, did you have a dedicated line? Do you know if the line was a consistant 120V? I am pretty sure I can isolate the line inside the house to the ULF-28 and use the Variac to increase the voltage to 120V. That should provide stable power. If not, the Variac ca nbe put to use with my coffee roaster!


-R

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Congratulations. Good luck with the unit. I do not have a dedicated line for the ULF-28 and that has resulted in the lamp not striking from time to time when other fixtures are drawing power from the outlet, so you really do need a source of steady power to the unit. I had a similar problem with a NuArc that was using a nearby outlet, though not the same one the ULF-28 is on now.

Sandy

Update: Insights: AmerGraph ULF-28 Xenon Printing Source 4.5 years of use?

Mike and Sandy,

This is such an amazing thread! What a contribution you guys have all made to spec this out and help an American company expand their market base to the benefit of LF and Alternative photography practitioners! No doubt there have been continued lessons from your experience in the past 4.5 years! So what new insights, development and advances have there been in this time. Do we know how many photographers have purchased the AmerGraph ULF-28 Xenon Printing Source and how service has been?

Have there been any units showing up for resale?

Thanks for sharing!

Asher

Hi Sandy,

Don't know if you still monitor this thread.... Wondering about your experience with the ULF-28 for use in pt./pd. and polymer gravure process?

regards.
Michael

i I have the ulf machine and also and older amerigraph....truth be told I like the older machine just as much if not more..see no real advantage with the newer machine...just my 2 cents
best, Peter

Hi Sandy,

I read through this old thread and your unblinkingeye.com review and finally traded in my 26-1ks for the ULF-28 with both lights. I have installed the unit in my darkroom, read all of the instructions, and have fired up both lights. I have not yet exposed platinum or Azo, because it seems to the naked eye that the light is extremely uneven on the vacuum easel surface. The bulbs and the reflections of the bulbs seem to produce hotter areas (stripes) on the easel. Am I missing something (either equipment or intelligence)?

Thanks!

Rob Vinnedge