Home building an enlarger

This may take a year or more to do, I'd like to have an enlarger capable of handling 4X5 negatives, B&W, but shipping something like that here would be unreasonably expensive. I believe that I'm capable of making one apart from some critical components that would be small and light enough to put in the mail. I'd be looking for those parts and examples of similar projects if there are any. As I'm a very amateur photographer I'll be looking for help on design and parts locating.
Ron in Yellowknife, NWT, Canada

sounds like a fun project to pass a winter.

i saw a thread here not long ago about converting a lf camera to be used as an enlarger... duel purpose your equipment?

i hope you will post your progress here?

edit... here is the thread

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)


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FWIW I have a Beseler motor lift & tracks sitting here. It would be a good base for a horizontal enlarger. I thiink
it may be easier for you to go horizontal than vertical unless you can get something like a Durst or Beseler chassis.

I was wondering if horizontal was practical, I'd like to try it. I have a reasonably good vacuum pump from a de-soldering machine to use too hold the paper flat.

paul ron said:

sounds like a fun project to pass a winter.

i saw a thread here not long ago about converting a lf camera to be used as an enlarger... duel purpose your equipment?

i hope you will post your progress here?

edit... here is the thread

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)


.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the very helpful link, I'm starting from scratch. Very good detail in this project, very encouraging!

Just my 2¢. I've given some vague thought (but no more) to converting a Krokuss 6x9cm enlarger to 4x5inch. The Krokuss provides three essential parts: the vertical motion for the head, the focus motion for the objective, and the bellows.
(1) Do not insist on the 4x5" neg stage being at the same location as the 6x9cm neg. Build a light-tight box that extends backwards from the 6x9cm neg stage, by an amount equal to the difference between neg-objective distances (typically 1x...1.5x the focal length of, resp, 105mm and 150mm).
(2) Give up on condenser illumination and design a LED + frosted glass illumination.
Need to make a diagram to ensure that the original (6x9cm) window does not interfere with the image-forming rays; the issue is most acute at the minimum magnification (max bellows extension): increase the height of the extension as needed. In that respect, a 150mm lens is probably less problematic than a 135mm lens.
Mass should not be an issue once the 6x9 condensers are absent.

Again, the above does not claim to be a design, just hints. Good luck with your project.

Doing the light box with LEDs is more up my line. They should run cooler and, I hope, give a more even light distribution. Converting an enlarger might not be practical, the largest one I have now is only 6X6 cm.

Hi Ron,

This is not a major challenge. I built an enlarger when I was 6 years old (many decades ago).

Consider this:
Take a photo of a statue 6 feet tall 20 feet from the camera.
Without changing focus, put a light behind the film (developed, obviously, in a transparent carrier).
It will project a 6 foot tall image of a statue 20 feet in front of the camera.
That's an enlarger.

To get a smaller image you must move the desired image plane closer to the film.
That also requires moving the lens FARTHER from the film, toward the image.

This is the challenge of an enlarger... getting a bellows long enough to make the right size print.
All else is just fabrication.

- Leigh

There's an article here at APUG about making a LED light for a beseler 23c, but the same article also describes converting it for 4x5 use.
Might be some good tips in it even if you don't start with a 23c.

Search for posts by konakoa.

Off to a good start today, I may need to bring in fewer components than I thought. An ad in the WTB classified should turn up a good lens. A negative carrier could probably be made from an old sheet type microfice reader, or homemade, or I might find and adapt a commercially made one. As I don't have a lot of time to spend on past times I don't think I'll be doing a lot of prints, maybe more if I get to retire in a few years. When this is up and operating I'll be reviewing my 6X7 and 6X9 negatives that don’t fit my existing Krokus 6X6 enlarger. And I will be looking into the LED light article, thanks.