Converting LF/Process camera into Horizontal Enlarger

[DanielStone]

hey all,

i was watching a video the other day a friend has, and it showed good ole Ansel printing on his horizontal enlarger. much drool came forth from my mouth =).

so i have the hair-brained idea of converting one of the many old, LF (8X10 OR 11X14) cameras on fleabay to use as a horizontal enlarger.

right now this is just planning, for one, i'm still at home, and don't have a darkroom of my own yet(parents tell me when i move out and have my own place i can have one), but one can dream.

just wanted to see if any of you guys, or gals have done the same thing i have been thinking of doing.

this would be a few years down the road, and would take some time, but being that i've gotten hooked on 8x10 contact prints lately( i print at school), but i have some I really want to enlarge.

if you have done so, please let me know. pics would be appreciated if you have em'


thanks

dan

 

[Wade D]

I found part of an old Elwood 5x7 enlarger on ebay. It has the negative stage, bellows and focusing gear. Cost was less than $20. I'm drawing up plans to make it into a horizontal enlarger. Seems simple enough. All I need to make is a moveable stand, light source (LED's) and lens board. This is still in the early planning stage. Looks good on paper so far but no pics yet.

 

[richard ide]

I converted a 20 x 24 Nuarc process camera into a Frankenlarger/camera. With 9 ft. bellows I could enlarge 30 x 48 negatives with a 1200mm Apo Tessar. Smaller negatives were enlarged with 600mm or 760mm Apo Nikkors. The whole camera was on a 36 ft. track with a 78 x 192 vacuum easel.

 

[glbeas]

I converted a 20 x 24 Nuarc process camera into a Frankenlarger/camera. With 9 ft. bellows I could enlarge 30 x 48 negatives with a 1200mm Apo Tessar. Smaller negatives were enlarged with 600mm or 760mm Apo Nikkors. The whole camera was on a 36 ft. track with a 78 x 192 vacuum easel.

Darn, if your'e going to brag how about some pictures for us to drool over!

 

[richard ide]

I have been kicking my butt for years that I never took pictures of my shop.

Partial equipment list:
49" Dupont RA processor
24" Dupont lith processor
20 x 24 Agfa vertical camera
9 x 9 Wild vertical enlarger
6' x 8' vacuum frame
20 x 24 vacuum frame
60 x 120 Opticopy camera enlarger with 6000w enlarger light source. Pin register both ends. 8' x 11' x 25'
Opticopy 8 x 10 enlarger head with either point or diffuse condenser light source.
Durst Laborator 4 x 5 enlarger
Deardorff 11 x 14 copy camera
Set of 30 x 75 x 6 processing tanks
Converted 20 x 24 process camera with ability to make 36 x 54 negatives or enlarge 30 x 48 negatives. 36' track and 78 x 192 vacuum easel
55" hot/cold laminator
40" hot/cold laminator
A complete workshop for wood/metal/plastic
and lots of other stuff

 

[Erik L]

Just this past weekend I built a new set of bellows and stripped and old 8x10 horizontal enlarger and danish oiled the heck out of it. I haven't used it yet as I have to fabricate a vertical easel to use. I grafted a cold light head onto it and it will project through a 240 lens a 40x50 inch size from an estimated 5 to 7 feet away from the wall. It is a lot brighter than I expected it to be so I don't think the exposure will be overly long? The hardest part will be aligning it to the easel I think. The thing I like is it is portable and stashable for my limited space. Does anyone know what type of cc filter I would need to use to correct a w31 cold light to make it useable for vc paper. I don't want to purchase a v54 bulb in this size for monetary reasons anyway, here's a couple pics.
regards
erik