Omega D5 lens stage alignment; ran out of adjustment

[bottlegardener]

Hi all,

I was recently given a free Omega D5 that did hard time in a school lab for many years but still seems mechanically OK to me.

I'm currently stuck on the alignment.

I've been able to get the base board and negative stage level both front-to-back and side-to-side but the lens board still has a noticeable droop towards the front, even with maximum adjustment of the carriage axel eccentric. It's OK side-to-side.

I was just wondering if there are any further steps I could try? Maybe shimming something?

It seems like there's a bias towards a front-down droop. The side plates (not sure if this is the proper term; but I'm talking abut the things that the negative stage is attached to) droop downward too (again, even with maximum carriage axel adjustment) but I had enough play to get the negative stage flat.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

If the negative stage was drooping too before you adjusted it, then I would suspect the best way to get it all lined up would be to shim the column since it would appear to be leaning forward on you. I am not too familiar with the D5, but a lot of enlarger columns dig into the wood of the baseboard over time which means they end up leaning forward, so check that. I would shim the column until the negative stage is parallel to the baseboard when it is centered on it's adjustments. Then the lens should be easy to get aligned.

Good luck.

 

[bottlegardener]

Hey thanks! Great idea.
It looks like ~2mm (1/16") shims for the front 2 bolts gets it pretty close to level.
I wonder if the need for such a big shim is a cause for concern?

 

[Hikari]

As I remember, the lens plane is aligned before the film stage. There are a set of wheels on the carriage at the back that adjust the front to back alignment. There again, if I am remembering correctly.

 

[bottlegardener]

Hi Hikari,
Yes, what you're remembering jibes with the instructions that I was reading. I think it's called the 'carriage axel eccentric' or something like that.
The only problem is that I ran out of adjustment well before the forward droop was corrected. Do you remember if it adjusted easily in your case?

 

[paul ron]

are you aligning for parallels or leveling?

parallelism is the proper alignment.

use shims under the column to bring the stage back n adjust your parallels from there.

 

[bottlegardener]

Hi Paul, thanks for the info. I did see the reference to matching parallels in the manual. The downward droop was so severe that I thought it would make sense to get things fairly level first.
Do you reckon stacked washers would be an acceptable shim for this?

 

[darkroommike]

Hi Paul, thanks for the info. I did see the reference to matching parallels in the manual. The downward droop was so severe that I thought it would make sense to get things fairly level first.
Do you reckon stacked washers would be an acceptable shim for this?

Regular washers are stamped from sheet metal and not all that regular. I would look for round (sometimes called arbor shims) or horseshoe shaped shims instead.