how to align both negative and film stage in LPL 6700?

[kmallick]

I am trying to align my Saunders LPL 6700 enlarger. I am not using the baseboard as I have wall mounted the enlarger and my easel is sitting on a flat cabinet top. I am using a Versalab Parallel laser box. I can get the negative stage and the easel to align by tweaking the tilt on the enlarger column. This is all fine and dandy.

But once I have those two aligned, I cannot get the lens stage to come in alignment with the easel. I can get them to align when I try to tilt the lens board using my hand pressure. I am banging my head trying to figure out what to tweak to change the level of the lens board and make it parallel to the negative stage.

Can anybody provide some suggestions on what I can do to get both the negative and lens stage to come to alignment?

 

[Jon Shiu]

Hi, you can shim the lensboard with tape.

Jon

 

[kmallick]

I checked. There is no way to shim the lens board in LPL 6700. At least not in any way that I can figure out. By design the negative stage and the lens stage are supposed to be parallel in this enlarger. One of the features highlighted by LPL is: "Locked alignment of die cast lens and film stages for permanent parallelism." Well they are not parallel in mine right now.

 

[Jon Shiu]

Just put some tape on the lensboard so that it tilts the way you want it to. Since it is round, make a mark so that you put in the same way each time.

Jon

 

[phfitz]

"Locked alignment of die cast lens and film stages for permanent parallelism."

years ago Zone VI sold adjustable lens boards just for this reason. They were 2 lens boards screwed together with 3 screws and 10mm foam between. You can adjust the lens by tightening which ever screw was needed. You can easily make your own with 2 lens boards, the foam you can get from 'pipe wrap' at any hardware dept., cut to fit your need.

"Can anybody provide some suggestions on what I can do to get both the negative and lens stage to come to alignment? "

match the lens stage to the neg stage first, then match the easel to the whole unit.

SORRY, I just saw you are using 35mm, the double lens board may more your lens too far out to focus unless you build it as a recessed board. May not be do-able for you.