Got myself a Durst 1200 + CLS501

[chioque]

Today, I managed to get my hands on a Durst Laborator 1200 + CLS501 head locally, from a seller who's gone 100% 'lightroom'. The stuff came with all the Femoboxes, negative carriers, AN glasses, etc EXCEPT a baseboard. The seller used the enlarger wall-mounted and only has the wall-mount bracket for it.

All in all I paid equivalent to $800, which, IMHO, is not too bad considering I would have to pay at least half of that amount in shipping alone, if I were to buy from overseas. But man.. it's HUGE. I'm still not sure how it'll fit into my temporary darkroom. Or most importantly, what excuses to give to the 'Finance Minister' at home

 

[Marco B]

Congratulations with the buy, it is a great enlarger. I have a Durst L1200 with Ilford Multigrade head, just for BW, but it has proven "solid" investment as well. About the base board: ensure you get some really(!) solid and strong support. It is a beast at maybe 30-40kg, and can easily bend any tabletops not designed for that kind of weight. I had to reinforce my initial setup with another 2cm thick wooden plate on top of the original one to prevent it from bending down.

 

[chioque]

Marco, mind showing how your 'reinforced' setup looks like?

Edited: I think I managed to find your setup in the (there was a url link here which no longer exists) thread.

 

[Marco B]

Marco, mind showing how your 'reinforced' setup looks like?

Edited: I think I managed to find your setup in the (there was a url link here which no longer exists) thread.

That's correct, and even with these two table tops on top of each other, and some supports directly under the enlarger attached to the wall in the back, it still has some tendency to bend...

Should have reinforced it with metal H-beams... anyway, it is stable enough now to work with it.

 

[Rick A]

How about mounting to a very large laminated cutting board. I have one that is 24"x36"x1-1/2"thick. I made mine from gluing 2x6's on edge.