I was looking over his posts in hopes of finding leads for parts to my Curtis type 3 enlarger/printer. This compact enlarger's primary purpose is to make 4X5 color separation negatives from 35 slides (transparencies, think E6 slides and pin registry for the negatives. This was my dad's, and I hadn't known he had it until after his death. I had only done black and white negatives and printing with him, mostly 2-1/4 x 3-1/4 from a nice Voigtlander view camera that I loved using, along with a Contax 35 rangefinder that I also liked. The latter had been used enough that the shutter required periodic servicing. He had no idea that I was so interested in it, so he donated it to The Berkeley Camera Club's fundraiser a few decades ago. The Curtis type 3, s/n 46 is missing filter holders and filters at this point. Perhaps they were not recognized when their estate was boxed up. Could have been discarded.
Back to the Curtis: Also lacking is a separate easel, if one were used, and it's lacking a punch & die set to punch pin registry holes in the film margins, if indeed that were done...don't know yet, for it is also missing a manual. Possibly the negatives were set over the print sheet, one color at a time, and exposed as contacts using light and condenser of the basic unit with negative removed? This would require suggested exposure times for different films, knowledge of color densities of the original negative, I should think, and great care to avoid disturbing the registry by distortion of the punched holes in the film. Again, I'm assuming that it was pin registry, rather than two short flats for registry on the five inch side, and one short flat or pin on the 4 inch side by the corner, so that essentially three points (flats, to minimize edge distortion) would determine the re-registry. That method would also eliminate the need for holes or separate mounting for a glass plate over the negatives.
So, speculation aside, what does anybody know about this enlarger built at Curtis Laboratories, Inc. in LA, likely in the 1940s. BTW, did I mention that the unit is apparently otherwise in very fine condition, with a few spots of ancient tape adhesive, a spliced power cord, an original working bulb that is still available for about $5.22 plus shipping?
My other interest is adding to my ability to print from 4X5 negatives to larger sizes. I have contact print hardware (old), and Linhof Super Technica and a B&W 4X5 press with range finder. NOt in great shape, and perhaps the shutter will have to be serviced, for the low speeds seem slow, now. It had been in storage a decade before I got it, and quite a long time out of service before the previous owner obtained it.
Has anybody suggestions on adapters for using B&L microtessovars on the B&W. I'd have to find a suitable shutter, of course, but easily can produce a lens board for it. I know Dad used them for photomicography when not using the microscope, although they also got used on an old B&L brass microscope at the house.
Thanks to anybody who can advise me or guide me to a reliable source on any of thes issues.
Paul
