help choosing enlarger easel please

Newbie setting up a darkroom and can't seem to find help on which enlarger easel to get. All my cameras shoot 6x6 square 120 format and I'd like to be able to print contact sheets also. I'm finding them on eBay but don't know enough about them to jump in and get one. Are they all adjustable for making square prints? Thanks! Susan

Adjustable easels are, two-blade easels would put your image into the corner of a 8x10 sheet, for example. With a four blade adjustable easel you can place the image in the center of the sheet and easel. This is true whether you print on a full sheet or pre-cut it to square.

Contacts are done on a "proof printer" which is typically a base with some foam and a sheet of heavy class hinged for the top. There are fancy ones that have channels for the negative strips or plain ones that are just a flat piece of glass. My preference is for the plain ones and I print through the negative sleeve page to avoid excessive handling of the negatives.
The usual problem with aged, used proof printers is that the foam deteriorates, but it's not difficult to replace. You can also do your own with a piece of heavy glass and some sort of slightly resilient base for the negatives and paper to rest on.

sounds like I should look for a 4 blade easel, in a size that is the largest I may print. Also sound like I can print as small as I wish on the same large adjustable four blade. This forum is like having a mentor, thank you all very much for your help.

Over time you may find that several easels are helpful. I use a 8X10 EZ easel where you slide the paper in and out, very quick for work prints, a 4 blades easel for RC prints up to 11X14, and a vacuum easel for FB prints and RC larger than 11X15 up to 16X20.

Paul Howell said:

Over time you may find that several easels are helpful. I use a 8X10 EZ easel where you slide the paper in and out, very quick for work prints, a 4 blades easel for RC prints up to 11X14, and a vacuum easel for FB prints and RC larger than 11X15 up to 16X20.

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^ agree!

In the days when I had to crank out a lot of prints rapidly, in a photojournalism setting, I had a few Speed EZ-ELs to facilitate turnaround.
But for less rushed efforts I have a 'borderless' Saunders 11x14, and for 'fine art' prints I rely upon a good 4-blade easel a Kostiner 20x20. I have not found a need to use a vacuum easel

One caution. One of the most common, good quality choices is the Saunders 4 bladed 11"x14" easel. The adjustable part of that easel can be removed, leaving a fixed 14"x17" easel.

In some cases, people will confuse things by describing that easel as a 14"x17" easel.

The two bladed easels aren't as easy to work with for standard paper sizes (harder to repeatably achieve square, consistent borders) but they will take odd sizes of paper (like 12"x16") that aren't as easy to use in the 4 bladed versions. They are also slightly smaller in total size (for the same maximum paper size).

I have an 8"x10" 2 bladed easel, an 11"x14" 4 bladed Saunders easel and a 16"x20" 2 bladed easel - the Saunders easel gets used the most.

The 2 blade versions are the basic model that are usually inexpensive. Four blade easels usually cost more. The nice thing about four blade easels is the ability to put the image in the middle of the paper with equal borders all round, you can't do that with a 2 blade.

Go with the Saunders 11X14 but as MattKing says you can pop the blades out for 14X17.
An advantage also mentioned is centering an image, or even printing several on one piece of paper. Gotta do
some masking for that. Did any mention you can mask to small sizes too?

For contact sheets no need for a "contact printer". I have used a sheet of double thick window glass for years. Have your hardware store cut the glass oversized - say, 10 X 12 and then cover the sharp edges with masking tape to avoid cuts. Works great for 8 X 10 contacts and stores easily.

I have and use multiple easels.
- For small prints, I use a 2 blade 8x10. The smaller easel is easier to handle than the larger easel when making smaller prints.
- For bigger prints I pull out the 4 blade 11x14 easel.

If you wish to print your 6x6 neg without cropping, the 4 blades easel will be very useful for.
Go with the size you wish to print, ex. 11x14 or maybe 16x20 but don't buy a 20x24 (because of a good deal) if you will never print that size. Really heavy and cumbersome.
In the Saunders 11x14 line, you have the basic model U1417, the intermediate Master model (with round buttons) and the high tech V track VT-1400. Look at eBay you will see theses 3 models and the prices goes from 60 to 200$. Some others good brands but Saunders Omega will be the most available on the used market. Some brands are still available new (like Beseler) but very expensive.
For contacting your 120negs, I suggest putting strips in negative sleeves pages then using a glass plate if you have. If you don't have, look again on eBay for this specific model : Print File Custom Contact Proofer Unit, it is oversized and can handle all Print File sleeve pages models, easily found in good condition for 20$. Custom cut glass plate with polished borders will cost you probably near that amount.

Another plug for the Saunders 11x14. Very well made, sturdy and reliable. It has 3 paper holding slits for 11x14, 8x10 and 5x7 and the 4 movable blades makes for great versatility. I use the backs of test prints to mark out standard borders and also use those for composing and grain focusing. 6x6 format enlarged on 11x14 paper makes for very attractive size prints in my view. You can also trim one side of the paper to provide a supply of test strips.

Susan J. said:

sounds like I should look for a 4 blade easel, in a size that is the largest I may print. Also sound like I can print as small as I wish on the same large adjustable four blade. This forum is like having a mentor, thank you all very much for your help.

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You catch on quickly. I have two Saunders 4-bladed easels, one 16x20 and one 20x24; the big one just for larger prints, the smaller does most of the work and is fine for 8x10" prints too. If you don't plan on printing larger than 11x14, then get one of that size. However, if you plan to print larger, then get a larger one. It will do for the smaller prints as well.

A comment on borders: How you plan on mounting and displaying your prints determines what kind of borders you want. Some hinge prints under window mats that are cut larger than the image size. This requires a good easel (like the Saunders) that will make square corners and it requires you to leave a generous border (preferably exactly even) around the entire image. If you use a two-bladed easel, you can set border size for two sides (the non-adjustable ones) but, unless you do a lot of fiddling with image size, it's hard to get the other two borders to be exactly the same size, and impossible if you want your image to be a different aspect ratio than your paper. The solution here is a good rotary paper trimmer (think Rotatrim Mastercut, in the largest size you'll ever need). With a four-bladed easel you can set all four edges easily, so getting even borders, at least side-to-side and top-to-bottom is a bit easier (still fiddly though...).

If, like me, you plan on dry mounting your prints, then you can either leave a border or trim the print borders off completely (which is what I do - again, good paper trimmer needed). Thinking ahead to what you plan for largest print size and display preference will guide you in acquiring the right equipment the first time.

Go for quality first: buy the best and cry once.

Best,

Doremus

I have and been happy with a 20"x24" four blade Saunders easel and a 16"x20" four blade Saunders easel, and a 11"x14" and 8"x10" Saunders easel with two adjustable holders.

MattKing said:

One caution. One of the most common, good quality choices is the Saunders 4 bladed 11"x14" easel. The adjustable part of that easel can be removed, leaving a fixed 14"x17" easel.

In some cases, people will confuse things by describing that easel as a 14"x17" easel.

The two bladed easels aren't as easy to work with for standard paper sizes (harder to repeatably achieve square, consistent borders) but they will take odd sizes of paper (like 12"x16") that aren't as easy to use in the 4 bladed versions. They are also slightly smaller in total size (for the same maximum paper size).

I have an 8"x10" 2 bladed easel, an 11"x14" 4 bladed Saunders easel and a 16"x20" 2 bladed easel - the Saunders easel gets used the most.

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Thanks for the heads up. I just checked my Saunders 4 blade 11" x 14" and sure enough, it does just that!!!! The things you can learn on apug are priceless. Well, maybe $30 or so a year. But that's close to free

No one has mentioned the Saunders fixed-size easels (non-adjustable). While I also have a Saunders 4-blade, I find the non-adjustable easels faster to use. You can focus the square image from a 6x6 negative anywhere on the 8x10 or 11x14 sheet, the negative will give you "clean edges" by itself. (I have one in each of those sizes, which are the only sizes of printing paper that I use.)

As for contact sheets, like many who have already posted, all I do is put the negatives into transparent PrintFile sheets, put the negative page over a sheet of printing paper, and lay a pane of glass over the "sandwich" and print. Works fine, and you don't need foam under everything at all.

I'm also a fan of the Rotatrim cutters, if you mount and frame work, you will ultimately need a paper cutter, and Rotatrim is simply the best. Like easels, they last forever.

Easels are a little like tripods. You can waste a bunch of money on crappy ones. Go ahead and buy a Saunders four bladed one in what you think will be the largest size you will want to print. If it turns out you decide you want to go larger, again buy a good one in the larger size. Both will get used. You won't regret buying quality. Keep an eye on Craigslist also, as they turn up there from time to time. Bill Barber