Flat under the enlarger

NedL · Feb 2, 2013

cliveh said:
You dont mention what paper you use, but if gloss, take all the paper out the box and repack it face to face and back to back. This will make it flat when aligned on your baseboard.

This seems like a very clever idea. I usually end up bending my paper a little to try to get it to lay flat -- although honestly if it's close to flat I have not noticed any out of focus areas. So, my stupid question is why only glossy? Will pearl stick together or mat cause scratches or something like that?

ozphoto · Feb 3, 2013

When I first started out, it was suggested by an older darkroom printer, to give the back of my RC paper a quick lick in the centre (up to 8x10) to provide enough "stick" for the exposure.

Surprisingly, it actually does work - I do this with postcard sized images that I want to print up fully, and have used it for 8x10 too.

henry finley · Feb 3, 2013

With an old vacuum cleaner, some pegboard or similar inventive idea, and a wee bit of lumber to make a suction box, you flip on the vac and that paper gets sucked down like it was glued there flat. This is how the graphic arts cameras the printshops use to make offset negatives of their print jobs. Works perfect. BEST IDEA. And it wasn't mine. Somebody made it up probably a hundred years ago.

DREW WILEY · Feb 4, 2013

Reading thru this motheaten thread indeed makes it sound like a reprint of a voodoo manual, or at least
a way to get all kinds of nasty things on your paper or into your lungs. Look up vacuum easels - where
to get them or how to make them correctly (pegboard being about the worst option I can think of). It
always amazes me how folks will spend a small fortune on camera gear and then act like the Beverly
Hillbillys when they get into the darkroom.

kb3lms · Feb 4, 2013

My vacuum easel is made as Henry suggests but instead of pegboard I used a board made of the same material and drilled smaller holes myself, like 1.5-2mm. The holes in pegboard are too big and cause noticeable dimpling marks in the paper. The vacuum cleaner is connected to a footswitch so that I can turn it on before exposure and off afterwards. Also was lucky enough to find some nails that fit through the holes and work well as pins for aligning the paper if I want to. My box is 12 x 18 inches. I have made thin cardboard frames to lay over the outer holes to concentrate the suction in the middle of the easel when using smaller sized paper. Been using this for about 5 years and it works quite well.

-- Jason

henry finley · Feb 4, 2013

DREW WILEY said:
Reading thru this motheaten thread indeed makes it sound like a reprint of a voodoo manual, or at least
a way to get all kinds of nasty things on your paper or into your lungs. Look up vacuum easels - where
to get them or how to make them correctly (pegboard being about the worst option I can think of). It
always amazes me how folks will spend a small fortune on camera gear and then act like the Beverly
Hillbillys when they get into the darkroom.

I only floated the idea out there. I never had to fabricate one. I've been a printer for 34 years, and I hauled 2 Kenro cameras off to the metal dump 8 years ago with perfectly good vacuum backs and suction motors that would suck the teeth out of you mouth.

DREW WILEY · Feb 4, 2013

It takes very little vac to operate a well made easel. That's part of the problem. They make these things out of pegboard without proper internal support, with way too many and too big holes; and too much vac draw not only flexes the board, but pulls the paper into dimples. Even a tiny vac pump needs either a bleeder valve or variable power.

Steve Smith · Feb 4, 2013

You could make your own using a small fan intended to keep computer processors cool: http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRQvYZ-yj_4of3CGO1CrgBnTsXViIZMik7GMXrEoo8xJlbZFFMj

At work, we print conductive silver ink onto polyester to make flexible circuits. To look for defects, I have set up a video camera connected to a high definition large TV. The depth of field of the camera looking at about a square inch area is not very wide so I have made small vacuum boxes using fans like the one linked to in order to create a vacuum and keep the sheet flat. The operator just moves the vacuum box around whilst looking at the TV screen to look for print defects.

Holes about 1mm diameter on a 20mm pitch would be about right. Fit the fan so it's rectangular outlet fits into a rectangular hole in the side of the box and seal round it.

This will provide plenty of vacuum to hold a piece of paper and will not pull the paper into the holes.

Steve.

paul ron · Feb 4, 2013

Sirius Glass said:
Put a drop of super glue in the center of the easel to keep the paper flat.

Steve

hahhaha..... then you have to develope it glued to the easel?

Make the thinest border you can wwith the easel blades, trim em off later.

Ronald Moravec · Feb 14, 2013

Vacuum easle

DREW WILEY · Feb 14, 2013

Plain piece of plywood. Roofing nails around the perimeter. Put glow paint on the nails so you know where to swing the hammer in the dark. But then that will fog the adjacent paper, so add a caulking gun and black caulk to fill the nail holes afterwards, if you can find a caulking which selenium tones properly.

NedL · Feb 14, 2013

DREW WILEY said:
..... swing the hammer in the dark......

+ plenty of spare enlarger lenses. Don't forget to wear eye protection.
Also DO NOT USE TAPE. It glows when you peel it off.

Flat under the enlarger

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