Beseler Printmaker 67 focusing knob issue

I'm wondering if anyone here has any ideas about what is going on. I ordered a printmaker 67 and it arrived yesterday. Assembling it went just fine (they included the wrong size nuts for one step, and seemed to have missed a screw. Those issues were easy enough to solve by a quick trip to the hardware store).

What's totally baffling me is the focusing knob. After installing it, it just rotates freely without actually moving the metal rod it attaches to - thus the bellows don't actually move either. Looking at this closer, I can see that the end of the knob is round, but the metal rod is more like a semi-oval - rounded on the top and bottom, and vertical on the sides. So it doesn't seem to me like this is a match: either they included the wrong knob, or the metal rod has a cosmetic deficiency. From the photos online of new knobs, I can see they are all round as well.
The manual gives brief instructions on what to do when the focusing is too stiff or if there is slippage, but that doesn't seem to be what's happening here. In any case, I did try loosening and tightening the hex screws that hold the springs in the focusing mechanism to no avail.

Any advice would be appreciated. Photos attached.

Looks like you need part #76.
https://www.beselerphoto.com/wp-con...intmaker-35-67-Exploded-View-_-Parts-List.pdf

This and other useful stuff is found here: https://www.beselerphoto.com/parts/

MattKing said:

Looks like you need part #76.
https://www.beselerphoto.com/wp-con...intmaker-35-67-Exploded-View-_-Parts-List.pdf

This and other useful stuff is found here: https://www.beselerphoto.com/parts/

Click to expand...

Thanks. I should have clarified. That screw came included too. But all that does is maintain the knob secured against the metal rod along the cross sectional direction. The knob rotates freely, but said rotation does not rotate the rod in turn.

Is this a new enlarger, or a used one?

MattKing said:

Is this a new enlarger, or a used one?

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New from B&H.

Reach out to them.

Sad considering how much money Beseler expects someone to lay out for this machine. Geez.

You probably got a knob intended for the 23C or 4x5 enlargers.

Obviously, the knob supplied is the wrong part. The hole in the knob should have the same elongated-circle cross section as that of the end of the shaft. The knob should fit the hole snugly. It looks to me that the elevation knob used on the 23C, 23CII, and 23CIII has been erroneously packed with your Printmaker 35.

On the 23C series, the focus knobs have an anti-rotation provision to keep the knobs locked to the focusing shaft.

On the other hand, the 23C elevation knob has a round hole that is kept greased so that it can spin freely on the shoulder screw that is firmly attached to the elevation crank lever. I think that you have a 23C ELEVATION knob.

Your best option is to contact B&H, explain the problem, and request that it have the correct knob sent to you.

Look at the drawing whose link is given in post #2. It appears that the focusing knob (38) part #10-45933 has a LONG HUB and is fastened with a 6-32 x 1.25” long pan-head machine screw (76) #519-56-02-02. [Note the misspelling “Fan” Head Mach. Screw in the parts list]

The knob shown in the photo of post #1 has no long hub as does the focusing knob in the drawing.

Ian C said:

Look at the drawing whose link is given in post #2. It appears that the focusing knob (38) part #10-45933 has a LONG HUB and is fastened with a 6-32 x 1.25” long pan-head machine screw (76) #519-56-02-02. [Note the misspelling “Fan” Head Mach. Screw]

The knob shown in the photo of post #1 has no long hub as does the focusing knob in the drawing.

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MattKing said:

Reach out to them.

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mshchem said:

You probably got a knob intended for the 23C or 4x5 enlargers.

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Thanks everyone. The focusing knob supplied does have a long hub - it’s not apparent from the photo I posted. It looks to match the part listing on B&H:



That said, I was able to figure it out last night . I had played around with tightening the hex screws in the back to loosen/tighten the springs holding the rod earlier to no avail. Gave it a second try and it turns out I needed to loosen the springs a *lot* more.

I still don’t understand why the focus knob hub is round but the rod is semi oval - googling suggests this knob is often a problem and people buy replacements - seems a poor design to me.

Not impressed with the enlarger build overall, but I really wanted a VC head in a compact setup. Should have gone for a 67xl or 23c iii, but those are significantly pricier.

Anyway, I now have my first print.

The VC head is wonderful. Congratulations on making a great print!

mshchem said:

The VC head is wonderful. Congratulations on making a great print!

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Thank you!

I agree - congratulations!

And now you can keep your eyes peeled for a used 67XL, because the head on yours is, I think, swappable to that .
In fact, I believe I could have put it on this ~50 year old version! (which I recently sold)

MattKing said:

And now you can keep your eyes peeled for a used 67XL, because the head on yours is, I think, swappable to that .
In fact, I believe I could have put it on this ~50 year old version! (which I recently sold)
View attachment 386190

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Thanks!

Yes, the head is swappable into the 67XL.

Is the XL a noticeable upgrade over the printmaker 67? Yours looks better made than the current 67XL Beseler makes.

The enlarger in that photo was purchased new by me in the mid to late 1970s, and was at least a couple of hundred dollars back then.
Yes, those early versions are heavy and very robust.
My sense is that the current 67XL is an upgrade over yours, but I have incomplete information, and no personal experience using either.
You may be able to take steps to make yours more rigid by doing things like bracing the column against a nearby wall.

MattKing said:

The enlarger in that photo was purchased new by me in the mid to late 1970s, and was at least a couple of hundred dollars back then.
Yes, those early versions are heavy and very robust.
My sense is that the current 67XL is an upgrade over yours, but I have incomplete information, and no personal experience using either.
You may be able to take steps to make yours more rigid by doing things like bracing the column against a nearby wall.

Click to expand...

Noted. The printmaker 67 *just* fits on the side of the sink on a bathroom counter. A larger footprint enlarger would have meant putting it on a cart like yours is, and the floor in that bathroom is at a slight incline so not ideal.