DeVERE Modifications anyone?

I don't know if anyone's messed around with this - certainly my 504 is a slightly ODD setup...! I have a tablemount model which I mounted to the wall -and whose table I removed... leaving me with the tablemount configuration for neg and light stage positioning intact. I set it up this way so I can project murals onto the floor. I have a breakaway table I built for normal projection distances - so - basically - this leaves my focus system sort of incompatible with what I have set up. Focussing with my magnifier on the floor is hellish - since I have to re-insert the focus rods and reach wayyyy up with my arm while my face is at the floor.

SO - this being said... anyone have any great ideas about some sort of permanent system that may work for me...? A motorized transport would obviously be one solution - but a solution that would require WAY more involvement than I'm prepared to expend....

How does the wall mount devere do it's focussing...? Maybe I should try to get some parts from that one. Otherwise - maybe a flex-shaft approach might be the way to go... anybody try this - or try replacing the normal shafts with anything 'alternate'...?

We had a table mount DeVere 504 with the table removed in an almost identical situation to what you described. This was late eighties so the unit was an early to mid eighties build.

What we did was to weld a socket to a universal socket (UJ) joint from a normal workshop. To the UJ we drilled and bolted a steel shaft with a T piece ending.

We also had the socket and nut head scored so that they only became married to each other with a fair amount of pushing. This meant the set-up stayed put whilst we were focusing and that sort of stuff, but we could easily pull the arms off if required.

Luckily after welding the socket and UJ together, we discovered that the steel arm was able to hang down in a near vertical manner. I think you will need about 6mm rod as a minimum thickness as mild steel twists easily. We found this out with our first one when we cobbled it together rather quickly.

This enabled us to sort of emulate the UJ jointed arms on the huge Dursts we had.

Mick.

Say- yeah - why didn't I think of that..? I could just take the arm spindles as they exist into a metal shop, have them lop off all but the last four inches (three inches of penetration into the saddles) and then have them weld something like a univeral joint on there (yes - a chrome adapter from a socket driver set comes to mind - though I'm not sure that's weldable...!).

I don't think I would lop the original spindles, you never know down the track, when or if, you would like to re-assemble to the original configuration.

Mick.

Seems like it would be much more difficult/more expensive to get something fabbed up that would work in it's place...!