Beseler 45 MX head movement

[Jeff Searust]

Just a question since I seem to be missing the manual.... I want to be able to aim my head at the wall rather than at the base. I know this can be done, because there is a brace in back of the head to do it. Before I go loosening every bolt on the machine, can anyone give me a heads up on how to do this?

 

[msage]

Just a question since I seem to be missing the manual.... I want to be able to aim my head at the wall rather than at the base. I know this can be done, because there is a brace in back of the head to do it. Before I go loosening every bolt on the machine, can anyone give me a heads up on how to do this?

Hi Jeff
On my Beseler 45, you just swing the head back until the brace engages the cross bar. It is easier to do that desribe. Note that the light source needs to be firmly attached or will fall out when the head is tipped back in its horazatal position!
Michael

 

[Jeff Searust]

I think the brace thing is supposed to be loose?---mine seems to be caught by one of the horizontal bars... grrr. got to find another one of these things to look at.

 

[bobwysiwyg]

Here's a thread from Sept. '07 wherein a member has the manual in PDF form. Might give him a shout.

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

 

[Konical]

Good Afternoon, Jeff,

I agree with Michael; it takes just a couple of seconds. Using the enlarger in this fashion, however, does have some complications. It is critical that the wall surface be precisely parallel with the enlarger lensboard and the negative carrier. The tricky thing is that both horizontal and vertical axes must be trued up, with horizontal being the trickier. I never found the effort involved to arrange everything properly worth the bother. On the few occasions when I've had to make an oversized print, I moved the enlarger forward, clamped the rear of the enlarger (very firmly!) to the table, removed the enlarger baseboard, and projected downward between the metal "legs" onto the floor. If you frequently need very large prints, it would be worthwhile to build an enlarger table with a removable center section.

Konical

 

[msage]

Good Afternoon, Jeff,

I agree with Michael; it takes just a couple of seconds. Using the enlarger in this fashion, however, does have some complications. It is critical that the wall surface be precisely parallel with the enlarger lensboard and the negative carrier. The tricky thing is that both horizontal and vertical axes must be trued up, with horizontal being the trickier. I never found the effort involved to arrange everything properly worth the bother. On the few occasions when I've had to make an oversized print, I moved the enlarger forward, clamped the rear of the enlarger (very firmly!) to the table, removed the enlarger baseboard, and projected downward between the metal "legs" onto the floor. If you frequently need very large prints, it would be worthwhile to build an enlarger table with a removable center section.

Konical

Jeff
I think Konical is correct, in fact, that is what I did in my darkroom.
Michael

 

[Jeff Searust]

Thanks to everyone who replied, and to the 2 copies of the manual that I got emailed. This is one of those things that the manual is good for. This is my 4th Beseler enlarger, and the first one that is really giving me any head-scratching moments.