Enlarger Alignment Advice

[AlexHaight]

Looking for advice on aligning the Beseler 67VC Printmaker enlarger. Currently my process is using a first surface mirror and boresighter laser. I'll place the first surface mirror on top of the negative carrier in the negative stage and place the laser on my easel pointed upward and try and reflect the laser back down on itself. To align the lens stage I do the same thing but I place the mirror on the lens instead.

The 67VC has 4 screws on each corner of the negative stage which I use to change the alignment. For the lens stage, I'm using pieces of tape to shim the lens board.

I've noticed that when spinning the laser, the reflection moves in a circular motion which leads me to believe the bottom of the laser isn't perfectly flat. I've tried my best to compensate for this but still see the corner edges of my prints out of focus.

I've seen alignment tools on B&H for $200+ which I'm really trying to avoid purchasing. I've also seen techniques using two mirrors that create concentric circles but don't have a mirror with a circle etched into it or one with a hole.

Does anyone have any advice or experience aligning this enlarger?

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

The two mirror technique works without the problem of getting a perfectly perpendicular laser.

Back surface mirrors are OK. For the hole just scrape the silvering away. I use an 'X' around the hole for a sighting aid - a magic marker is all that is needed.

You might want to set up an ebay alert for a Versalab Parallel alignment tool.

 

[DREW WILEY]

I've sold and used a helluva lot of lasers, including for enlarger alignment, and I simply can't believe anything as dirt cheap as that particular bore sight being linked can possibly be machined well enough for the task at hand. I use a better one for playing chase the dot with the cat.

Otherwise, the ticket is a semi-silvered mirror at the negative carrier plane, which both reflects and transmits, and a regular mirror on the baseboard, preferably front-surfaced.

 

[grain elevator]

The two mirror technique works without the problem of getting a perfectly perpendicular laser.

Back surface mirrors are OK. For the hole just scrape the silvering away. I use an 'X' around the hole for a sighting aid - a magic marker is all that is needed.

You might want to set up an ebay alert for a Versalab Parallel alignment tool.

Can you explain how the two mirror technique is done please?

 

[Fatih Ayoglu]

The two mirror technique works without the problem of getting a perfectly perpendicular laser.

Back surface mirrors are OK. For the hole just scrape the silvering away. I use an 'X' around the hole for a sighting aid - a magic marker is all that is needed.

You might want to set up an ebay alert for a Versalab Parallel alignment tool.

+1 versalab tool. I use both for my enlarger and to align my DSLR camera to align it while I’m digitising MF and LF frames. Very solid and easy piece of kit to use

 

[bernard_L]

Either method aligns carrier or lens versus base, while the most critical alignment is carrier versus lens.
But that should be OK as long as the accuracy of either of the two alignments is better than 1/2 the required tolerance of carrier versus lens (1/2, and not 1/sqrt(2), because 2 is not a large number and RSS is not justified here).

 

[bernard_L]

Can you explain how the two mirror technique is done please?

See:
https://www.photrio.com/forum/threa...ive-enlarger-alignment-tool.37814/post-543499
But... you need to be able to peek down through the negative stage, either by removing the light box (if that is possible), or removing the condensers and using a 45° mirror.
This might also work; he sensitivity is adequate IMO, but requires a lot of trial-and-error;

An inexpensive, effective enlarger alignment tool

I have been less than successful in completing a satisfactory alignment on my enlargers so I decided to improve on the mirror concept. I made some changes to the basic instructions I found on the web and now have a very accurate and simple (inexpensive) alignment tool that is quite sensitive. I...

www.photrio.com

 

[RalphLambrecht]

read page 441. It may help you

 

[DREW WILEY]

The double or better triple mirror technique resembles scientific optical collimators, but at moderate, not cheap, price. There is no need to remove the light box, but a round bullseye front-surface mirror with a hole in the middle is placed at the lens position, if I recall correctly, a semi-silvered mirror at the negative stage, and a full surfaced mirror on the lensboard.

I'd have to dig up and double check my kit to see if I've explained this correctly or not; I haven't had reason to use it in over 20 years because, once set up, all my enlargers are very sturdy commercial duty ones, and extremely well braced.

I'd have to find the diagram, but the Salthill alignment device worked on this premise, and there are optical textbooks which explain it. Supplies can be obtained from Edmund Scientific Industrial division. All three planes are aligned when all three projected rings come out perfectly concentrically spaced in relation to one another. But I once added an expensive industrial laser as well, which I borrowed, for sake of extreme accuracy.