Easel recommendations

[Cybertrash]

Never heard of Beard before this thread. Do or did they make a four blade? Shame not to have adjustable borders in two sides.

But my VT is awfully nice.


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I believe that Beard easels are more often found in Europe, especially the UK (which I think is where they're manufactured). I have heard of a 4-bladed Beard easel, but never seen one, supposedly they're very expensive.

Here in Sweden you'll usually find American brands such as Saunders & LPL, but ocassionally English products such as Beard pop up. German brands aren't uncommon either.

 

[ic-racer]

I've been offered an Ahel Marge 4 for a reasonable price

Wow, those are nice. No longer available new.

 

[MartinP]

My "small" easel is an Ahel 3 (with three adjustable blades, instead of four as in the Ahel 4). The paper on that one is aligned to pop-up stops -- the larger the paper, the further away from the centre are the stops, so as to keep the paper in the middle of the base. The Ahel 3 then has printed scales on the easel-arms to allow each border to be set precisely. It looks as though the photo of the Ahel 4 shows graduated knobs on the end of the arms to carry out an equivalent function. The version of the Ahel board which I have is accurate and robust so you wouldn't regret using one, assuming the price is acceptable and you can't find a Beard or upper-range Kienzle.

 

[pentaxuser]

Roger the two blade easels have adjustable borders on all four sides in fact such that you can have different borders on all four sides . However the top and left borders are adjustable only in quarter inch steps by means of stops placed in a series of slots and the bottom and right borders are continuously adjustable by moving the blades.

Hope this helps clarify things

pentaxuser

 

[cliveh]

Never heard of Beard before this thread. Do or did they make a four blade? Shame not to have adjustable borders in two sides.

But my VT is awfully nice.


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http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Photon-Be...05&prg=10670&rk=2&rkt=6&sd=201198274005&rt=nc

 

[Newt_on_Swings]

I've got two vtracks and they are great. I especially love the 11x14 version. The 16x20 is a bit too big for me. They are super heavy duty with big masking blades that do not get bent out of true. You can test and correct easels if you print a geometric test pattern onto printer paper and insert into easel. Grid paper will work too. Lay it into groove and match up easel blades to the lines. Then bend whichever blades need correcting. After you get them in pace you can use masking tape to lock them down.

 

[Ken Nadvornick]

With my 16x20 VT2000 no bending of blades was necessary. They are individually adjustable via a pair of set screws where they attach to the positioning sliders on the right-hand and bottom edges.

I used a small high quality carpenters square and adjusted until all four blades were square with each other, and the horizontal blades were parallel with the paper insert grooves. I recheck them periodically, and in light use they have never budged.

Ken

 

[Newt_on_Swings]

That's really good to know ken, I've never had to adjust my vtrack easels before, but have had to fix a bunch of others in the past with blades so thin that when students poke them they go out of alignment.

 

[mklw1954]

If you like the look of borderless prints, using a borderless easel is easy and works. Old Saunders or Beseler easels are sometimes available on ebay.

 

[analoguey]

Google Secondhand Darkroom Supplies and Nova Darkroom. You will need to check if they will ship outside of the U.K.

pentaxuser

Thanks!
I know Of second-hand darkroom supplies - had looked them up while searching for an enlarger, will check there!

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[gopher]

enlarging easel..

I have used a vacuum easel exclusively since setting up my darkroom many years ago. Using a scrap enlarging paper the size you wish to enlarge and plastic pieces to hold the paper in place the process is easy and efficient.

 

[analoguey]

What is a vacuum easel? Just something that holds up paper at 4 corners via a vacuum device - like a key chain hanger?