Attaching Omega D-2 to a base

SuzanneR

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A friend gave me an Omega D-2 that someone gave her. It had, apparently, been in a darkroom that was dismantled at MIT. At any rate, I'm getting close to finishing construction on a darkroom, and this poor enlarger has been resting on it's side for some time. It doesn't have a base.

I was thinking I might just mount it directly to the counter top in the darkroom, but I'm not sure how to do that... there aren't any obvious places for the bottom of the column to be bolted to a base.

Ideas?
 

tkamiya

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Is it D2 or DII? I can send you a picture of how it's done.
 

John Wiegerink

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I believe I have and extra base-board and plate if you need it. If it were me, I think I'd do what you suggest and mount it on the table, but your table had better be heavy duty. Let me know and I'll pull the plate and send it to you for the cost of shipping. JohnW
 
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SuzanneR

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Wow... that would be great. Thanks!!

I would mount it to a counter top that is very stable, so I don't think the enlarger is too big for it. I'm dealing with an area that has a somewhat low clearance ceiling wise, and I figure, I can save a couple of inches if I skip the base.
 

Robert Hall

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Suzanne,

If you are mounting next to a wall, it may be wise to us a small cable attached to the wall (or better yet, a stud in the wall) and attach that to the top of the column.

Remember you will want to align the enlarger as well. This cable may help.

Please notice the contraption I have on my Omega in this image. It is the third enlarger back...

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=516176915#!/photo.php?pid=31023582&id=1122723189

(I hope the link works.)
 

Lee L

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Here's a drawing from the assembly/service instructions that I posted a while back:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)


The 'fastener' shown below the baseboard is a T-nut with threads to fit the cap screw. You'll need three of them. I don't know the thread size off the top of my head, but could check if you need that info. T-nuts may be available at your local hardware store. You need to drill a hole for the T-nut to fit into. The flange of the T-nut is on the bottom of the baseboard to keep the cap screw from pulling through the baseboard.

http://www.woodpeck.com/tnut.html

Lee
 

bdial

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Looks like you're all set, but in case not, I've mounted a Durst 1200 directly to a counter top for VCP. You need some reinforcement under the counter surface. For the VCP enlarger I built the reinforcement from plywood.
Since I'm more or less local, I could come down and help, if you need.
 

MattKing

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These Baseplate Assembly instructions may also help:
 

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fotch

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Regarding the counter top, if its the type that is like in a kitchen, Formica laminated to 3/4 partial board, it may not be safe enough. The bolts might pull through. If so, you could perhaps take a piece of 3/4" plywood on the underside and use longer bolts so it is using the plywood like a giant washer.

Wall mounting would be an excellent idea.
 

MattKing

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John Wiegerink

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I'm out of town at the moment and won't be back until Monday, but I'm sure I have what you need. Just send me your address in a PM and I'll send it out when I get back. JohnW
 

tkamiya

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Suzanne,

The difference between D-II and D-2 (I have both) has to do with the vertical column and the way it mounts to the baseboard. D-II has a cast base block attached to the vertical pole and has a single bolt with a giant plastic head at the middle. This "thing" bolts to what appears to be a giant flange that bolts to the base plate.

Please see THIS:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tkamiya9/4307163021/

you see a large black thing at the bottom? That's actually two pieces. Rotating part is at the very top and it's only about 1/2" thick. Rest is one piece cast block. You can see two bolts at the bottom and there are two more in the back.

Also, D-2 has a hand crack for height adjustment. D-II does not. Since most parts are interchangeable, quite a bit of mixing has happened between the two.

Is this what you have?
 

Dan Henderson

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I took my D2 off of the baseboard and mounted it on a narrow shelf about 6" off of the countertop, with some VERY heavy duty brackets, and also secured the top of the enlarger column to the wall with steel strapping. I am pretty sure that it would make a sharp exposure during a small earthquake. The idea of the shelf mount was so that I could slide the easel wherever I needed to underneath it.
 
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SuzanneR

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Mine looks slightly different, especially at the bottom, and it does have a hand crank... here's a couple of pix.
 

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brucemuir

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Thats a D2 head and rail assembly (note the height adjustment crank) but don't know about that mounting turret.
Could've been custom milled.
Looks like you are missing a plate of some sort to bolt to your counter top.

My DII has a big hand screw thing in the center of the turret that allows the entire column to rotate. This was so you could rotate the column and project onto the floor because the rails aren't that long for big prints (the XL has longer rails)

A DII is called a push- pull in the vernacular because it lacks the height crank.
 

tkamiya

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You have D-2. You have a crank, you have the base assembly of D-2. You also have a variable condenser housing. What you need is the plate and the bolt thing I posted earlier.

From what I can tell, this whole bottom plate and assembly is there to clamp the bottom flange (shown shiny in your photo) pressed against the metal plate in my photo. Looking at mine, there is no reason why one can't drill through this bottom flange and directly screw it to the counter. Of course it won't rotate....

D-II is pretty much like that. It held in place by 4 fairly small screws. The top assembly (only) rotates on D-II.

As I said earlier, mine is also a mixture of D-2 and D-II. Since these enlargers were made in the 40s, it wouldn't surprise me parts were swapped around to keep one going.
 

John Koehrer

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It would be easy enough to make a couple of clamps similar to the ones Omega used & just mount directly to the baseboard.
Actually you can get similar clamps from woodworking supply joints like Rockler. It would depend on cost for the original style vs. woodworking style.
 
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