Easel prices...

panchromatic · Mar 29, 2005

I've been searching for a good 4 bladed 11X14 easel and I see them used on ebay all the time, was wondering if 55-75 bucks was a good used price. I think it is but just wanted some feedback on it.

jovo · Mar 29, 2005

Boy, I wish I was looking at the same ebay you've been looking at. Four bladed easels, especially Saunders easels, have been going for $150 and up. I just gave up on them and bought a two blade 16x20 Saunders easel for about $50. I'll use it only for that size and use my 11x14 four blade easels (one came free with the LPL enlarger that was on sale at B&H) for everything else.

There is, however, a four blade easel from Adorama which is also sold by Midwest Photo Exchange that's about $169 new, but I couldn't quite see how it worked and decided to go with what I bought instead.

Good luck!

John Koehrer · Mar 29, 2005

Panchromatic,
Yeah, $50-75 is about right for an 11X14 Saunders on the used market.
Take a loook at B&H or calumet as a reference on new prices.

geraldatwork · Mar 29, 2005

It depends on condition but $50-75 would be a good price for one that doesn't need much work. The nicer ones used seem to go for close to $100.

edz · Mar 29, 2005

panchromatic said:
I've been searching for a good 4 bladed 11X14 easel and I see them used on ebay all the time, was wondering if 55-75 bucks was a good used price. I think it is but just wanted some feedback on it.

It depends, but I think for a "good" 4-blade even in 24x30cm 55-75 USD is not a good but a "very good" price. Most 4-blade easels, however, are hardly good. Among those that are acceptable new, many don't age well and tend to be in poor shape. The question then is not what is a good price for anything but for something specific. The first part of the question then is "which easel is good".
Some like the Salthill is better than good---- if you have one for 55-75 USD in good condition I'll pay you a premium. Other than the Salthill, my favorite 4-blade is the old Leitz/Leica. The Sauder's V-Track is pretty good and the Proton/Beard is also nice. Some like the Dunco models are OK when brandnew but they don't hold-up very well. The Kaiser Promask is excellent--- its the evolution of the Leitz/Leica, although not quite up to its quality it has a few nice features.

dancqu · Mar 29, 2005

edz said:
... Most 4-blade easels, however, are hardly good. ...

I picked up a Saunders Universal off eBay for $75. Allowing for blade
play and some wear I was still quite let down. Those light aluminum blades almost float; they don't hold anything flat. And the way the paper curls
up out of those retaining slots! There are likely other 'flimsey' features
but those two faults cooled my adore but quick. I don't think I'd
chance another Saunders 4 blade.

How about the Beseler? I has steel blades. Dan

eric · Mar 29, 2005

panchromatic said:
I've been searching for a good 4 bladed 11X14 easel and I see them used on ebay all the time, was wondering if 55-75 bucks was a good used price. I think it is but just wanted some feedback on it.

If you can find a Saunders cheap, even if it is not in great shape, you can still get parts to it. I got a cheap 16x20 4 blade easel cause seller said the hinge doesn't stay up. I got it, called Saunders, and they sold me the part for about 5 bucks. All the other 16x20 so called good working 4 blade easels were easily going for 2x the price.

L Gebhardt · Mar 29, 2005

dancqu said:
I picked up a Saunders Universal off eBay for $75. Allowing for blade
play and some wear I was still quite let down. Those light aluminum blades almost float; they don't hold anything flat. And the way the paper curls
up out of those retaining slots! There are likely other 'flimsey' features
but those two faults cooled my adore but quick. I don't think I'd
chance another Saunders 4 blade.

How about the Beseler? I has steel blades. Dan

I just learned this from the guy I bought some Saunder's easels from. Tape a magnet to each blade to hold them flat to the base. Seems to work quite nicely.

Mongo · Mar 29, 2005

I picked up my Saunders 4-blade 14"x17" from eBay for under $50. The only problem was that some of the black had worn off of the top of the blades. A bit of black paint and some wet-sanding was all it took to get it back into perfect shape. So far it's worked the way it's supposed to, holding the paper flat and keeping the blades square. No complaints about the blades staying in position.

If you're serious about getting an easel cheap, look for the ones with cosmetic problems and ask the seller detailed questions about the mechanics. (I've used this same tactic with lenses...worn barrels with perfect glass go for a lot less than perfect barrels with perfect glass.)

josephaustin · Mar 29, 2005

I just bought a Saunders 11x14 2 blade for under 10 dollars shipped, Ill make do without the other two blades, and with the extra change buy some paper.

Neal · Mar 30, 2005

Dear Ryan,

The only thing I can add is watch the shipping costs if you are bidding on ebay.

Neal Wydra

dancqu · Mar 30, 2005

L Gebhardt said:
Tape a magnet to each blade to hold them flat to the base.
Seems to work quite nicely.

I'm not going to ask how the blades are adjusted once they
are 'stuck' to the base. Is Saunders recommending any specific
brand of magnet?

I've a Saunders/LPL ET-500 timer which I think quite good and
would recommend.

Anyway, I think Beseler has the right idea, Steel Blades.
The baseboard paper holding slot design may be an improvement
over the Saunders. Anybody got a good word for Beseler? Dan

L Gebhardt · Mar 30, 2005

dancqu said:
I'm not going to ask how the blades are adjusted once they
are 'stuck' to the base. Is Saunders recommending any specific
brand of magnet?

You aren't supposed to adjust the blades with them down, even without the magnets, so it really doesn't cause any problems that way. The only negative it has it limits how small your borders can be on the maximum paper size. For 11x14 paper on an 11x14 easel you cant set it up with 1/4 inch borders.

I don't think this is Saunders recomended so any small magnet should work.

Easel prices...

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