I never thought I would say this...

[guitstik]

I had been looking for an enlarger so that I could print my own negatives instead of paying a lab to do it, they never came out the way I wanted them to.

So to that end I had been putting out feelers at the local camera club and the only camera store left here in Memphis to no avail. It had gotten to the point that I was planning on cobbling one together out of pieces that I could get from a hardware store and a spare camera. About two weeks ago I was laying out my plans to the guys at the camera store when Tom asked me how serious I was about printing my own negatives. Apparently, one of his customers was getting rid of a bunch of stuff and he had an enlarger and old chemicals that he wanted to just give away, needless to say I jumped all over it.
So last night I went to the mans house to pick it up. All that I had been told was that it was an Omega 4x5 enlarger but when I arrived, he pointed me to what turned out to be a D5XL with the base and the dichroic head and a spare condenser head plus trays, chemicals, graduated colanders and sundry other items.

Now to the title of this thread, what am I going to do with this beast? I had originally planned on a small enlarger that I could take down and put up in a small bathroom with minimal fuss. This enlarger may be more than I need at this time seeing that I have not been in a darkroom for almost twenty years and I am just now trying to get back into doing DR work. I don't have the working space for this thing. Before anyone jumps in and offers to take it off my hand, forget it. I think I am just being overwhelmed at the moment and scratching my head about where I am going to put it. The only possible place I could store this enlarger is in a shed that will take a lot of work to get it up to even being a workable darkroom. Insulation, electricity, water and building a wall and making it light tight and comfortable to move around in. Then there is the matter of what to do with all of the accumulated "stuff" that now resides in the shed. I am excited to have this enlarger but it may turn out to be a white elephant that will cost me more in the long run than it is worth.:confused:

 

[asp.artist]

Ain't life sweet!

 

[Neal]

Dear guistik,

Get a small cart and keep it in a closet. Roll it out when you want to print. I used a D2 that way for years A small stool will make things easier. I bought one last year at Target for $20. There are lots of threads about temporary darkrooms. You can glean plenty of ideas from them.

Neal

 

[Sim2]

Ooooh, I love this dilema!

Seriously, can you take the enlarger and adequately store it for a time? Converting a shed is not something to be rushed into on the spur of the moment. If you can store, get the enlarger and then evaluate the potential costs/feasibility of converting the shed or somehow using the enlarger, without the time pressure of "needing" to make a decision for fear of losing a bargain.

Thinking ruthlessly, the enlager is probably currently its way to be scrapped, you can save this – perhaps, in time, use it yourself or possibly sell it on to finance your preferred enlarger. Good options.

Wish you the best with your dilema - nice one to have!

Sim2.

 

[photoncatcher]

As the old saying goes. Be careful what you wish for, it may just come true.

 

[David William White]

You'll figure something out, even if not perfect. When I went to get my brother's 4x5 enlarger a few years ago, he had it in a walk-in closet, and his trays on an ironing board set low enough to keep the wife's blouses from dipping into the chemicals. Ridiculous yes, but he kept printing!

 

[Christopher Walrath]

By all means acquire it. Then adapt to use it or keep on looking. At least you will have this dandy piece of gear.

 

[Jerevan]

I am not sure if you already have acquired the enlarger. If not, do so! Then find somewhere to store it while you get rid of the accumulated stuff in the shed and get going with the darkroom construction. Just take a little bit at a time and you'll be fine. I have a DeVere 507 sitting in the shared darkroom and it's been a year or so since I got it, but it will be used for printing. At the moment, it's just a coffee table.

 

[MattKing]

D6 on cart in bathroom. The first shot showing almost the entire height is actually of the enlarger's reflection in the bathroom mirror.

The empty spaces on the cart hold plastic bins with stuff when the enlarger isn't being used.

The entire cart rolls out through the door and spends time in an unused nook in the hall when not being used.

Apologies for the really crummy digi-snaps.

And yes, I do have to check alignment regularly, but surprisingly enough it stays quite aligned, despite all the potential for movement.

 

[fschifano]

It's not too much enlarger. Trust me on tis one. Once you start using a big enlarger like this one, it's hard to go back to something smaller. They're just so damned sturdy and much more precise feeling than the smaller amateur enlargers. Yes you need big everything to go with it, and it may be difficult to impossible to make small prints from 35 mm negatives with a 50 mm lens. No big deal. Use a longer lens(~ 80mm should let you get down to 3 1/2 x 5) for small prints from small negatives and you're good to go.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I have one too.

You will find a way. Keep it!

Steve

 

[PVia]

I have one as well. Put it on a rolling cart as advised by others. My cart is very short but still at a good height for working.

 

[guitstik]

Five people in 1600sq/ft is considerably uncomfortable as it is adding a behemoth like this would make it even worse. Fear not tho for I did get the enlarger and I have been trying to figure out where I am going to settle it on a permanent basis. Surprisingly my wife has been extremely supportive of me getting a second out building dedicated to photograph/darkroom work but me thinks she has an ulterior motive like getting all of my cameras out of the house. I spent the day looking for a suitable candidate and I think I found one and the people that have it are going to do some work to it to make a dedicated darkroom with a dry side and a wet side with plenty of outlets on the dry side for a drying cabinet, enlarger and safe light on a separate circuit and plumbing on the wet side for a water heater and wash basin. Again, I am amazed that my wife didn't even blink when I told her what it was going to cost, should I be scared?

For now I have the enlarger in the shed and I am going to be selling off a lot of stuff from the shed that is not necessary. I have already taken a load of stuff to the dump and I gave a friend of mine a truck load of parts, tools and fluids for automotive work (I used to be a mechanic).

I am excited about finally having an enlarger but I am also apprehensive about being able to use it to its fullest capacity. As I stated in the original post, it has been almost two decades since the last time I have been in a darkroom and I don't remember a thing, well maybe a little but it is going to take a long time for me to be able to get to the point where I am comfortable. I will need to find an instruction manual for this one so that I don't screw something up. Needless to say I will be spending a lot of time in the darkroom section of APUG asking a lot of annoying questions.

 

[fschifano]

It's not going to take you that long. The biggest hurdle you will have is coming to grips with variable contrast paper, and that's only if you've never used it before. It's not hard.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Again, I am amazed that my wife didn't even blink when I told her what it was going to cost, should I be scared?

Sounds like you have a keeper.

Consider renewing the marriage contract the next time the cancellation comes due.

Steve

 

[Jerevan]

I am excited about finally having an enlarger but I am also apprehensive about being able to use it to its fullest capacity.

Don't worry! If you did once, you can do it now, too. It's like riding a bike. And you will be using it to the full extent, once you get settled in, I am sure of it.

And you have a wife that supports you - that's great!

 

[2F/2F]

Use it as a bedside table/lamp until you have the means to use it.

 

[guitstik]

I do have a keeper in my wife, now I just have to figure out how to put together a darkroom:confused: I have some ideas and I think that I will be putting it in an 8x12 area.

 

[JJB]

Have you looked at Craigs List? I found two when I searched for an enlarger for sale in Memphis. One is an hour and a half away, the other is 40 minutes from Memphis.

http://memphis.craigslist.org/search/?areaID=46&subAreaID=&query=enlarger&catAbb=sss

And I feel your pain on this one. I picked up a D6 yesterday and don't really have the room for it, but I know it is the right tool for the job. I am going to light proof the rec room and use it there, then walk the prints in a light proof carrier of some kind to the bathroom where I currently use my Omega B. Not ideal, but very workable. And the Rec Room has 1 door, no windows - other then the electronics that all seem to have a little LED light it will be a snap! (I love my man cave!)

Go with the Big D if you can, or look on Craigs List for a few months until you can find what would fit your needs better.

Good luck!