Problem with Durst M600

[anjo]

I just picked up a complete darkroom kit for $5, including a Durst M600 enlarger. I am, of course, anxious to get started, but it's proving difficult to put the enlarger together.

The first step is to use a bolt to attach the socket to the baseboard. It says clearly in the manual (available here, page 8) that the bolt is to be inserted from above. Then you're supposed to use the quick-locking lever to "secure tightly".

But the bolt is just too long! Even if I could secure everything tightly (which I can't, since the non-threaded part of the bolt is too long), the enlarger would not rest on its plastic feet, but rather on the bolt (since it's so long). See the attached image.

Am I misunderstanding something here? Or is the bolt actually too long?

 

[ic-racer]

That is certainly the wrong bolt. I suspect that bolt has permanently damaged you 'quick locking lever' as it looks to have the wrong thread pitch as the original. That 'quick locking lever' looks like a wing nut. I would just get a new bolt and a metal wing nut from the hardware store. If you are in the USA then Ace, Home Depot, Lowes usually carry Jandorf or Hillman fastener assortments. You can get a new bolt and new plastic clamping knob.

That is a good find for $5. Is everything else OK?

 

[anjo]

Great. I wonder what the previous owner did when he wanted to use the enlarger though...

 

[ic-racer]

Perhaps he lost the correct bolt and just threw that one in there for the sale?

 

[anjo]

That is a good find for $5. Is everything else OK?

Everything looks alright, and it was quite a steal at $5. Four film developing tanks, an LPL easel, a print dryer, beakers, etc.

 

[John Koehrer]

You could just put a spacer between the baseboard and the bottom of the enlarger. Plywood would work.

 

[removed account4]

i have a m601 and the bolt looks nothing like that ...
it only has a small part threaded and a small uncut shaft with a big round plastic grip.
you might find something at a hardware store ... maybe ...
but if that doesn't prove to be helpful, ask a machinist to make you a custom-bolt.
it might cost a few dollars, but it will be the right "everything"

it is a well made enlarger and you can project print on the wall like a horizontal enlarger
by swiveling the head or you can turn the column around backwards
and project down onto the floor for large prints ... or correct convergence lines
by using the bellows ...

have fun with your new darkroom!

john