Copy Stand

Mal Paso · Jul 11, 2024

Donald Qualls said:
I'd be interested in seeing a build thread in the appropriate department. My ability to weld is limited, but if all else fails I can rent a generator and welder...

The Steel is finished and I am looking for high pressure laminate for the copyboard. I want to put a transparency/negative illuminator window in the center of the copyboard. The angle iron base is 2" x 3/16". The mast is 1.5" x 1/8" steel tube 5 feet tall. The clamp tube is 1.75" x 1/8" but must be thinner as there is .050" clearance between the 2. (Check with your local steel seller.) The camera bracket is 1.5" x 1/8" angle iron. It was welded with a Hobart 140 Amp Handler MIG welder, flux core/no gas. The bolts are 1/2x20 with 5/8 rod welded across the head. I used fine thread for better clamp force. Oh, the base is 20x24".

Welding anything flat and square is tricky. Clamp everything and tack, tack, tack as welds shrink when they cool pulling things out of alignment. Once the structure is ridgid you can increase the size of the welds.

I spent about $40 on steel and $14 on bolts because they were grade 8 from Ace and less expensive bolts would have cost more in Diesel.

Still deciding if I want built in light holders or use light stands.

xkaes · Jul 11, 2024

FYI, you should be able to buy a much more capable, flexible Testrite (Leedahl, etc.) copystand -- in like-new condition -- for a lot less than you have already spent. They won't have a light source, of course, but those are all over the place -- and cheap too.

No need to re-invent the wheel.

Mal Paso · Jul 11, 2024

xkaes said:
FYI, you should be able to buy a much more capable, flexible Testrite (Leedahl, etc.) copystand -- in like-new condition -- for a lot less than you have already spent. They won't have a light source, of course, but those are all over the place -- and cheap too.

No need to re-invent the wheel.

The decent ones on ebay were $350 and shipping is the same problem as enlargers. Where is this stash of copy stands?

I am going to have to say: Prove It.

Sirius Glass · Jul 11, 2024

This is a worthy investment of your time and money. Enjoy it.

xkaes · Jul 11, 2024

Mal Paso said:
I am going to have to say: Prove It.

Gee, I don't happen to have a sales slip. Where did I put that?

I've got a Testrite CS-3 with a 16x24" baseboard and a three foot column and adjustable (forward-backward) camera connection -- about $20-25 as I recall. Basically unused.

Seek and ye shall find -- OK, maybe NOT in California, but don't blame me!

AnselMortensen · Jul 11, 2024

Nice work!
I appreciate a well-done DIY welding project, because welding is a talent that I don't possess.

Don_ih · Jul 11, 2024

Interesting design choice and good job making that rectangular frame flat and square - I know that's not easy.

xkaes said:
No need to re-invent the wheel.

Maybe it was more fun to make it.

xkaes · Jul 11, 2024

Sometimes you have to re-invent the wheel -- like when you are 100 miles away from the nearest paved road -- but 9 times out of 10, AFTER I've re-invented the wheel, I've discovered that someone else did the same thing -- usually about 100 years ago.

Don_ih · Jul 11, 2024

If people let the fact that "it's already been done" stop them, almost no film would be shot - almost no photos would be taken at all, actually.

Sometimes, it's just interesting to do something yourself.

Nokton48 · Jul 11, 2024

That's seriously solid! You should be able to mount a heavy camera on it.

Well Done! Very Cool.

Nicholas Lindan · Jul 11, 2024

xkaes said:
AFTER I've re-invented the wheel, I've discovered that someone else did the same thing -- usually about 100 years ago.

Oh, you're lucky.

Whenever I get a 'brilliant idea,' I google it to reassure myself that I'm the first to think of it. Instead I find some Greek thought it up 3,000 years ago - and he probably got it from an Egyptian 3,000 years before that

foc · Jul 11, 2024

@Mal Paso . Looking forward to more updates on your copy stand.

Yes, you could buy one but where is the fun in that. Making your own is 100 times better.
Best of look with it and as I said, looking forward to reading and seeing more about it.

kmcsmart · Jul 11, 2024

Very nicely done and I love those ”Tee” handles that look to be copper. You’re a very talented and clean welder.

neilt3 · Jul 11, 2024

Mal Paso said:
The Steel is finished and I am looking for high pressure laminate for the copyboard. I want to put a transparency/negative illuminator window in the center of the copyboard. The angle iron base is 2" x 3/16". The mast is 1.5" x 1/8" steel tube 5 feet tall. The clamp tube is 1.75" x 1/8" but must be thinner as there is .050" clearance between the 2. (Check with your local steel seller.) The camera bracket is 1.5" x 1/8" angle iron. It was welded with a Hobart 140 Amp Handler MIG welder, flux core/no gas. The bolts are 1/2x20 with 5/8 rod welded across the head. I used fine thread for better clamp force. Oh, the base is 20x24".

Welding anything flat and square is tricky. Clamp everything and tack, tack, tack as welds shrink when they cool pulling things out of alignment. Once the structure is ridgid you can increase the size of the welds.

I spent about $40 on steel and $14 on bolts because they were grade 8 from Ace and less expensive bolts would have cost more in Diesel.

Still deciding if I want built in light holders or use light stands.

View attachment 373859
View attachment 373860

View attachment 373861

The copy stand I use is the bulk on an enlarger with the lamp etc removed.
The head was secured via a 1/4" bolt , all that was needed was to screw a tripod quick release to it and level off .
Cost me about £10 , and I already have the tripod fittings .
I do frequently make my own things though .
This looks a sturdy job though .
Just a thought .

eli griggs · Jul 11, 2024

The Leitz Valloy II and Durst M600 both, IIRC, can be used as a copy stand, just in case you have one of these sitting around and have the need.

This built stand looks pretty solid and the design very stable.

Thanks for sharing.

Mal Paso · Jul 11, 2024

neilt3 said:
The copy stand I use is the bulk on an enlarger with the lamp etc removed.
The head was secured via a 1/4" bolt , all that was needed was to screw a tripod quick release to it and level off .
Cost me about £10 , and I already have the tripod fittings .
I do frequently make my own things though .
This looks a sturdy job though .
Just a thought .

Ya, a lot of it is timing. I could have had Cara Weston's whole darkroom free but my house had burned and I had nowhere to put it. Once I rebuilt I wound up spending a whole day driving to Modesto for a Beseler 45 and that was the closest one to me in 6 months. You'd think there would be a surplus. I went to Monterey Museum of Art today for Frans Lanting's lecture and in the audience were 2 Westons, an Adams and a Bullock.

I should also say my awesome copy lens is a 105mm Macro on a 24x36 sensor so I wanted an extra tall mast.

abruzzi · Jul 11, 2024

looks like a pretty good job. Unfortunately, I lack any metalworking skills, so I built mine (much more expensively) from Sinar parts. Most of which I already had, but I did have to buy a few expensive pieces like a P2 standard.

neilt3 · Jul 12, 2024

eli griggs said:
The Leitz Valloy II and Durst M600 both, IIRC, can be used as a copy stand, just in case you have one of these sitting around and have the need.

This built stand looks pretty solid and the design very stable.

Thanks for sharing.

Mine was the Durst , possibly that model .
It also has an extension strut that screws on to the arm for keeping it central to larger prints/copying.

Mal Paso said:
Ya, a lot of it is timing. I could have had Cara Weston's whole darkroom free but my house had burned and I had nowhere to put it. Once I rebuilt I wound up spending a whole day driving to Modesto for a Beseler 45 and that was the closest one to me in 6 months. You'd think there would be a surplus. I went to Monterey Museum of Art today for Frans Lanting's lecture and in the audience were 2 Westons, an Adams and a Bullock.

I should also say my awesome copy lens is a 105mm Macro on a 24x36 sensor so I wanted an extra tall mast.

All luck of the draw and being in the right place at the right time .
There used to be a used camera shop I called in frequently near where I live , and he'd keep things to one side that he knew I'd probably buy for next time I was in .
This was one of them .
It was probably just it's transformer and bulb missing , but was old and battered .
Do made an ideal copy stand without ruining a perfectly good enlarger .
With regards to welding , it's usually my forty year old VW campervan I'm doing that to !
It's almost new again .

OAPOli · Jul 12, 2024

Here's my DIY copy stand for digitizing film. Thick acrylic base, steel post with brazed attachment plate and telescoping collar, geared tripod head with nodal slide.

Mal Paso · Jul 12, 2024

I'll bet that geared head is handy for close work!

Myricks was our camera store until 2017 when Steve could no longer keep the doors open. Giddy from online sales, none of the camera manufacturers supported brick and mortar stores. Myricks served Ansel Adams, the Westons and every other local photographer for almost 40 years. Steve was a stand up guy. He couldn't sell me a camera when I went to him at the end of 2016 but he pointed me to the Nikon D810 which I have been very happy with. We have a couple "camera stores" that sell point and shoot but have No Depth. Any serious equipment has to be ordered online.

On a positive note, Zack Weston, Edwards great grandson, operates a Film Photography School and darkroom in nearby Seaside so all is not lost.

eli griggs · Jul 14, 2024

OAPOli said:
Here's my DIY copy stand for digitizing film. Thick acrylic base, steel post with brazed attachment plate and telescoping collar, geared tripod head with nodal slide.

View attachment 373908

Nice unit.

Donald Qualls · Jul 15, 2024

Mal Paso said:
welds shrink when they cool pulling things out of alignment.

This was standard teaching when I learned to weld in 1975. Does no harm to reiterate, though.

neilt3 · Jul 15, 2024

Donald Qualls said:
This was standard teaching when I learned to weld in 1975. Does no harm to reiterate, though.

A big hammer soon puts it back !

Mal Paso · Jul 22, 2024

I found a particle board shelf at my local ReStore and although I detest the material it's hard to beat $1.67. I cut a hole, routed a recess and painted it to seal it. This morning I dropped in the plexiglass and slipped a flat panel LED light underneath.

I removed 2 of the black boards to show the plexiglass better. The camera is a Nikon Z7ii with an afs 105 macro.

The only welding photo I took. My neighbor thinks I should have done a "build video" but that takes time away from the build. lol

Oh ya, a mirror really saves time aligning the camera, shower mirror from amazon.

Don_ih · Jul 22, 2024

Mal Paso said:
I found a particle board shelf at my local ReStore and although I detest the material it's hard to beat $1.67.

As detestable as particle board is, it's hard to get something flatter or more dimensionally stable. You copy stand is looking great.

Copy Stand

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