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Darkroom Furniture: Enlarger Wall mount
BackgroundSolutions
Wall mount design
Tools
Materials
Construction
Securing the top to the wall
Tools
Materials
Construction
Background
My enlarger is an older unit, from the 50's, which I've updated with a cold light head. It sits on a base that is 28" deep and 22" wide, although I've never had the easel anywhere near the 28" edge. The enlarger head slides up and down on a 3" diameter round tube, that is 36" tall. There are a few things that bother me about this setup- The tube is not secured in anyway to anything, so it shakes when I move or even just touch the enlarger head, as in when focusing, and then I have to wait until the shaking stops. I never feel comfortable that all the vibrations are actually gone.
- The base is so long, that even with a 28" deep counter, it extends over the edge of the counter-top. This was kind of an error on my part, I made the counter-top 28" to allow the base to fit, then realized when I re-assembled the enlarger, that the attachment to the base added another inch to the length, and that it had to be away from the wall in order to tighten/loosen the height clamp. When it hangs over the edge, the little feet don't touch the counter, so the base is not level.
- When I adjust the height, I often move the base-board, because it is not attached to anything. This is due to the design of this enlarger, and the adjustment of the clamp. I need to move the clamp wheel away from the wall in order to turn it, but then the base-board is extending over the edge of the counter-top, and it gets pushed back somehow.
- I've never had the enlarger head anywhere near the bottom of the tube, where it is most stable, but seem to always have it near the top where it least stable.
Solutions
I came up with several solutions which would solve my problems in varying degrees.- Secure the top of the tube to the wall so it will not shake (except when the wall shakes - I used to live in California, until the Northridge Earthquake threw me out of bed on January 17th, 1994 at 4:31 am). The wall, although it can vibrate if it is a wall that gets walked on, or next to, acts as a big dampener.
- Put more little felt pads on the base, where they will touch the counter-top, and secure the base-board to the counter-top.
- Build a wall mount.
- It can be secured top and bottom to the wall, so the vibrations will be very limited.
- It can be placed where there is sufficient room to move the clamping wheel, and not have a moving base-board.
- The base-board goes away, so the counter-top is now completely usable for other tasks.
- If I raise the enlarger up, and turn it to one side, I can use this space for my other enlarger - a 35mm Beseler starter enlarger, that does not have a cold-light but does have a filter drawer, that I use for color.
Wall mount design
The mount you make will depend on how your enlarger mounts to your baseboard.
So you can't copy mine, unless you happen to have one of these strange enlargers
from the 50's. You can follow the basic process, but you'll need to design your own
mount for your own enlarger.
My mount is made up of 4 pieces,
- The shelf is from some 1x4 lumber, so it's 3 1/2" deep and 3/4" thick. I made it long enough for the enlarger baseboard attachment hardware plus the 2x6's on each end that support it.
- The shelf supports are from 2x6 lumber 8" long, cut in half at a diagonal, so each end is 8" long, 5 1/2" high at the back, and 1 1/2" thick. The square corners on these pieces must be exactly 90 degrees, so you can make the shelf perfectly level. By making them 8" deep, I have plenty of room to turn the clamping wheel.
- The back is made from 1x6 lumber, long enough to have one stud on either side of the point where the enlarger post is attached.
Tools
- Saw - Table, Circular, or Hand
- Screwdriver - I prefer a drill with screwdriver bits
- Countersink bit
- Carpenters Level
- Stud Finder
- Tape measure
- Sanding pad - I use a palm sander
- Paint brushes
Materials
- 1x4 lumber long enough for the enlarger mounting hardware, plus 3"
- 1x6 lumber long enough to reach from one stud to another and have the shelf attached
- 2x6 lumber, 8" long
- Sandpaper
- Screws - 1 1/2" long, flat head - I use drywall screws because they are self tapping
- Screws - 2 1/2" long, flat head - to attach the back to the studs
- Paint
Construction
- Cut the shelf to length
- Cut the 2x8" into two equal triangles
- Figure out where the 1x6 will go on the wall, so you can determine the required length, cut it to length
- Sand, seal, paint
- Using the shelf as a distance guide, attach the 2x8 triangles to the back piece, make sure the screws countersink into the back, so they are flush are below the surface of the back. Two screws per bracket.
- Using the carpenter level to make sure the back stays level, screw it into the wall. Two screws per stud.
- Drill holes into the shelf for the bolts that will hold the base-board mounting hardware in place.
- Put the shelf on the shelf brackets. Check for level in all directions. If it is not level, use shims to make it level. If you don't have shims, or they would be too thick, use pieces of paper (not cardboard, it will compress over time).
- When it is level, pre-drill through the shelf for the attaching screws, then screw the shelf into place.
- Bolt the base-board mounting hardware in place.
Securing the top to the wall
My enlarger rides on a circular pole, yours may use something different, adapt these
ideas to your situation.
In researching this, I found that some people have used wires to secure the post
to the wall, some have used metal strips, and some have used wood. I like the metal
strip idea best myself, and I've come up with a way that I think will work for most
enlarger posts. It works for mine.
A wooden back board is put on the wall, allowing the strap to be
attached anywhere along that board. One strap goes from the back-board
around the front of the post, and back to the board. Wire wraps around the
strap and the back of the post.
Tools
- Tin snips or hacksaw
- Drill and 1/8" bit, plus screwdriver bits
- Plyers
- Metal vise, if you have one, if not, another set of pliers
Materials
- 1x4 lumber, at least 24" long, but make sure the ends of the board will be on studs.
- Metal strip, 1/2" wide, 1/8" thick, it will need to be long enough to go from the wall to the enlarger and back plus about 9" or so
- Wire, at least as thick as 16 gauge, preferably solid core, long enough to wrap around the enlarger post twice.
- Sandpaper
- Screws - 3/4" long, round head
- Screws - 2 1/2" long, flat head - to attach the back to the studs
- Paint
Construction
- Cut the back board to length
- Sand, seal, paint
- Attach it to the studs very close to or at the top of the enlarger post
- Measure the distance from the enlarger post to the back board, where with the post in the correct position for the enlarger head to be level with the baseboard - this does not have to be exact here, but it will need to be exact later.
- Multiply this number by itself, add the result to itself, take the square root of this result, multiply this number by 2, add 3. Cut the metal strip to this length, remove burs, and round the edges. (the formula is Pythagoreous' theorem to get the length of the sides of the two triangles that will be made, plus a few inches for the tabs to attach the strap to the board)
- Drill a 1/8" hole in each end of the metal strip, near the end, this will be where the strap is screwed to the board.
- Bend the middle of the strap so it will wrap around the front of the enlarger post.
- Bend the ends of the strap so they form tabs which go against the back board when the strap is around the enlarger post and the post is in the right position for the enlarger head to be level with the baseboard.
- Level the enlarger head - There are several documented
ways to do this, here is my favorite
- Set the enlarger angles to zero
- Either put a negative carrier in the enlarger with no negative, or if you have a transparent grid (engineering paper will work), use it in the negative carrier.
- Turn the enlarger on
- Focus the enlarger on the easel
- Adjust the enlarger until all the separations are the same, the entire frame is the same size on both sides, and the same front and back, the spacing of the grids are the same throughout
- Re-focus and check again - the act of adjusting the enlarger could put it out of focus.
- Try it at different enlarger head elevations, it should remain 'square' at all heights. If it does not, then you don't have the enlarger head angles set to zero.
- When you have the post where you want it, secure the metal strap to the back board so that it is touching the front of the enlarger post.
- Using wire, wrap the straps and post together so the post does not move toward the wall, twist the wire tight enough to hold the post against the strap, but not enough to bend the strap.
- Check the enlarger alignment again, if it is still in alignment, it will most likely stay in alignment until the next Earthquake, Tornado, Flood or whatever natural disasters your part of the world is prone to.
