Help with rescued DeJur Versatile II enlarger...

[jay moussy]

New to the forum (as of this morning!) and to B&W enlarging, , I plan on using a Craigslist rescued a vintage DeJur enlarger, the Versatile II, a condenser version.

It is missing lens board and lens, but between the well-known marketplace and some time in my workshop, I can deal with that.

The negative carrier to be recreated is more of a mystery (35 mm and maybe 6x6).
Do I use some glassless art board assembly, and replicate what I think is the original "paddle" shape as I see marks left on the machine, or just use a plain rectangle?
I am also confused by the thickness of the carrier "sandwich", that is, hinge part + thickness of film stop +....?

Another aspect of the rehab is geometry, how to make sure the projected image is square on?

 

[glbeas]

Ive had DeJur enlargers and found Beseler negative carriers worked just fine. Is the Versatile a medium format version? Carriers for a 23c would work fine.
The enlarger has side to side swings on the negative stage to square the image, just have to check and mark the joint for the proper location. Front to back takes shims under the mounts.
The one I have on a shelf in the basement had a round lensboard that slipped under the retainers not very securely. I think its supposed to have a small square one, might try one off a 23c, maybe cut it down if it doesnt fit.

 

[Nodda Duma]

One detail: My DeJur Professional had split negative carriers. That is, no hinge which is great for enlarging off the dry plate negatives that I usually shoot.

 

[tedr1]

One of the things about "paddle" type carriers is they rotate to any angle whereas a rectangle might be more limited. I seem to recall the paddles were plain unhinged type, there were probably location pins that for registering the top and bottom halves. If you are just starting out and want to economize and try something DIY knife-cut art-board hinged with adhesive tape would work, just be aware that film negatives are fairly soft and easily scratched, there should be no sharp edges on the carrier.
As a first approximation of alignment check the baseboard for flatness and the column for squareness to the baseboard, ultra-precision isn't needed because the projected image has much more depth of focus than exists for the negative + lens arrangement which does need to be fairly precisely square, give the greater attention to getting the lens and negative square. I take as a starting point that the metal front rim of the lens barrel is square to the optics inside and a rule placed across the lens barrel rim needs to be parallel to the negative plane.

 

[outwest]

I had a 4x5 Versatile Professional years ago and I replaced the lamp housing with a Honeywell Nikor 6x7 dichroic color head simply by taking a couple of pieces of plywood with one with a hole sized for the condenser housing and the other for the head and attaching them . This works because the cross sectional area of the 6x7 lighted area is equal to the original bulbs area. I don't have the DeJur now but I still use the color head on a 5x7 Omega condenser housing by just replacing the lower half of the adapter.