monster enlarger saga part2

[Sean]

hey, just got back last night. We had a great trip, thanks for asking

Currently the enlarger is lying on the floor of my garage. I plan to have a little party in a few weeks so I can get enough people over here to help me raise it upright. Then I need to piece some of it together and probably get an electrician in to do the wiring.

While in the US I also picked up my 8x10 Deardorff which I ordered on ebay a year or so ago. She's a beauty and I'll probably post a pic of her some time today once we're unpacked. See ya

 

[veriwide]

Congrats on the new bohemoth!

I too am lucky enough to have a woman that understands my photography mental illness. In the past two years my darkroom has gone from an outfit that could travel back and forth into the bathroom to taking over half of our garage. It houses an Omega D3V (up to 4x5), Omega E3 (5x7), Polaroid MP-4XL, an old wooden film dryer that will hold 40 rolls of 120 at a time, and I have an old Burke and James 8x10 copy camera and stand on the way.
She is a horticulturalist, so she does have an equal mental illness for plants. She has the other half of the garage.

 

[Sean]

Thanks veriwide

Well, I'm making progress. A guy from the moving company is coming out tomorrow to see how we can lift it upright. Just for the heck of it I tried to lift the back column to judge the weight and it didn't budge at all. We either need 6 bodybuilders or some type of pulley system. Once I get it in place it's all go from there. I'll have an electrician come wire it up, then get the builder in for an estimate on converting the garage into a room. I can't wait to post a pic of it. Gotta run, Sean

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Heh. Reminds me of a time when I was playing at a jazz festival in Poland during the last days of Communist rule (I was there to do research, but I was playing trombone on the side), and watched two guys who looked like retired Olympic dead-lifters carry a concert grand piano up stairs.

 

[Sean]

LOL. When we moved house several months ago, a muscle bound islander (those guys are superhuman) was carrying our refrigerator on his shoulder. Carried it down our stairs and down the driveway to the truck. I envy those guys, if I was like that I'd be shooting 12x20...

 

[Jeremy]

how's the project coming along?

 

[Sean]

Well, our garage was a disaster area so I spent all weekend cleaning it up. Now there is plenty of space around the enlarger to 'move it' and I'll try to call in a mover to see what my options are. I keep saying this but have been so busy lately. I plan to have it in place by end of week. I found an instruction manual for it too which is good. It appears it was made in 1973, and it can take a max negative size of 12x15. Gotta run

 

[Sean]

Ok, ...sigh

Well, I am ready to have the enlarger set upright. I called a moving company for quotes and they figure it will take 10 men at a cost of 650-750 dollars!

I've decided to try the following. I am posting a notice at the nearby Rugby club. Basically saying "need 8 strong guys to raise this machine [photo] upright. 30 dollars each for 10 minutes work and located down the street." Hopefully one of the teams will say, "hey lets run over there before the game and make a quick buck"...

 

[Robert]

Enlarger raising party? Free beer and pizza. Get the thing up before you tap the keg.

 

[Flotsam]

Enlarger raising party? Free beer and pizza. Get the thing up before you tap the keg.

And get stuck with drunken rugby team running around your home? Sounds chancy.
Probably better to thank them profusely, hand them the cash and point them them towards the nearest Pub.

Too bad you don't live an Amish community, Sean. Oh right, they're not particularly fond of photography

 

[Tom Duffy]

Sean, I'll bet you're going to think twice about moving!

 

[MaLar]

Hey Sean

I have placed wooden beams through the frame work of garage roofs and lifted truck engines. Just make sure you catch as many roof members as possable and go slow with a comalong.

LaMar

 

[Sean]

Ok, progress..

but how many times have I said this??? hopefully this is it!

I have made friends with the guy 2 doors down, who happens to be a builder! He just had a look at the garage and will get back to me soon with a quote for converting it into a room. He's renovated his 100+ year old villa and it looks great, so he definitely knows his stuff. I'll also get what they call in this part of the world "mate's rates". He also feels that once we get the garage door removed, we can hook the enlarger to the car's tow bar and lift it upright with the car and a few guys help. So, things are looking good

 

[Jeremy]

hooray!

<in the sincerely happy for you sense and not the smart-ass sense, I know what it's like to have an enlarger laying on its side unusable though I could actually pick mine up>

 

[Sean]

Ok, well the builder has given us the final quote and work should start within 2 weeks!

He is also bringing a group of his friends over to raise the enlarger (possibly this friday). All they want in return is a large supply of beer. I'll try to document the "raising" and send pics as soon as it's up. Too bad my webcam can't reach because I could webcast it lol.

 

[Ed Sukach]

All they want in return is a large supply of beer.

Hmm... I've heard that New Zealand beer is pretty fair ... although I can't find it anywhere around here.

Where did you say this was going to happen? ... and when?

:roll:

 

[Eric Rose]

The reason you don't see any over here is because THEY DRINK IT ALL!! LOL

 

[Sean]

The reason you don't see any over here is because THEY DRINK IT ALL!! LOL

You could be right, not enough left for export! My favorite NZ brewery is:

http://www.speights.co.nz/

Someone out there must sell Speights. I guess I can export 6 packs of speights for $50US dollars

 

[Sean]

The builder next door, 2 of his friends, and myself we able to raise her. Luckily they were big dudes cause we barely got it! We did this an hour ago and I am still winded! Once raised we had to place metal pipes under it to slide it into place because it wouldn't budge. I have attached a photo of her next to my lpl medium format color enlarger for scale. Sorry Aggie, no webcam broadcast of the raising, it's pouring down rain here. It's hard to really feel how big this enlarger is in the photo, it's almost 9ft tall. Work on the darkroom starts in 1 week!

 

[Jeremy]

let me be the first to congratulate you. That's one big mutha--shut yo mouth--I'm only talkin bout Sean's enlarger

 

[Thomassauerwein]

Wow, wow, wow!!!!! Your gonna need three people to focus that thing. The floor in my darkroom is cringing and threatening to cave in if I even consider something that large. Course you know what they say about the size of a persons enlarger don't you? My poor wife, I only have a 4x5.

 

[Sean]

Haha!

Well, It's all motor driven, the photo does not include a big cabinet that houses the power system, and several motors that are used for adjustments

 

[Eric Rose]

Houston we have lift off ........

 

[Sean]

For those who might not be aware, I bought the enlarger off a NZ auction site for $250US, and it was about $300US to ship it here via a moving company. Total cost around $550US

The big pulse xenon light bulb looks in great shape and the guy I bought it from says they used it for over 10 years and still haven't had to replace it. I also have a brand new spare bulb too.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Congrats! That's impressive!