Slide copy stand

That’s a great price for a very good quality piece of equipment! It will definitely do the job. Thanks for the update.

I got real lucky a couple of years ago and bought a Saunders LPL 670 for $30.  The spring action movement is super smooth for quick and easy positioning of your camera.  I needed the flexibility to copy 4x5, 6x6, and 35mm.   I over magnify and stitch 3 images for 35mm, 6 images for 6x6, and 18 images for 4x5.

ProfHankD wrote:

You can get a nice old enlarger for under $50, and most can easily have the head removed to function as a copy stand. Admittedly, that's NOT the case for my Beseler 23CII -- not cost not easy head removal…

Odd, what is it that seems difficult?

The head comes off the Besseler 23CII with just one "C" clip retaining ring. Then slide the pivot pin out, and the head is free.

Next, construct a box that is 6 5/8th" by 6" by 6" or so. The only critical dimension is the 6 5/8", which is the width of the existing head mount. Ideally, this could be aluminum, but even thin plywood would work fine. Even the 6 5/8" isn't critical, if you don't mind some side-to-side slop, or can put some washers or spacers on the pivot pin.

Next, drill a hole through both ends of the box along one edge, so the pivot pin can slide through and re-attach the box to the base.

Next, you'll need to attach something to the bottom of the box that will offset it the proper amount from the tilted column. You can use a drywall or builders square to determine the amount. Look at how the enlarging head does it, and cut an appropriate bit of aluminum or thin plywood. You can either cut and trim precisely to make the box perpendicular with the base, or do like Besseler did, and make a little adjuster with any handy fine-pitch screw.

Finally, put your favourite quick release on the side of the box facing you. Ta da!

I bought one of these converted 23CII copy stands at a photo swap meet. Correction, I looked at it several times during the swap meet, and at closing time, the guy gave it to me, on condition that I take another enlarger away with it. It had an obviously custom-constructed aluminum box that, instead of hanging off the pivot pin, was machined with the proper slope to attach with bolts directly to the movable part of the stand.

For more versatility, make your box taller by about 4"-5", and tilt it back on the pivot pin until it hits the latch that makes the enlarging head able to project on a wall, for huge prints. Cut the appropriate slot, and you can use your copy stand to shoot huge artwork on a nearby wall!

Yea, I'd say the Besseler 23CII is one of the easier and more versatile conversions to do — at least for the superior tilted-column design. That's why I sought one out for my yet-to-be completed conversion… I'll put some plans here when I get it done.

So little time, so many projects…

Now, for something totally different, consider (ab)using an old slide projector!

More desirable ones would have some means of accepting stacks of slides, like the Stack Loader for Kodak Carousel projectors. Bell & Howell also made a slide projector that held slides in 40-slide plastic cubes.

Oh, yea. The projector must have an easily-removed lens. Then, simply position your macro lens into the hole where the projection lens used to be.

I can't locate the URL, but someone did this on Hackaday or some other "maker" website. He had it set up with a simple timer that would advance the slide, pause a bit for things to settle, then fire the shutter. He could "scan" 40 slides in just a few minutes that way!

That inspired me enough to get a stack loader for my ancient Kodak Carousel.

So little time; so many projects…

Jan Steinman wrote:

ProfHankD wrote:

You can get a nice old enlarger for under $50, and most can easily have the head removed to function as a copy stand. Admittedly, that's NOT the case for my Beseler 23CII -- not cost not easy head removal…

I bought one of these converted 23CII copy stands at a photo swap meet.

And here it is, if it will let me upload the image…

Given that written directions are less than wonderful without photos, what you need to do is construct the aluminum box that the camera is mounted on.

My instructions above talk about making a right-angled box (aluminum or thin plywood), hanging it on the Besseler's pivot rod, then using some material off the bottom to make the whole thing sit perpendicular with the base.

Jan Steinman wrote:

Jan Steinman wrote:

ProfHankD wrote:

You can get a nice old enlarger for under $50, and most can easily have the head removed to function as a copy stand. Admittedly, that's NOT the case for my Beseler 23CII -- not cost not easy head removal…

I bought one of these converted 23CII copy stands at a photo swap meet.

And here it is, if it will let me upload the image…

Given that written directions are less than wonderful without photos, what you need to do is construct the aluminum box that the camera is mounted on.

My instructions above talk about making a right-angled box (aluminum or thin plywood), hanging it on the Besseler's pivot rod, then using some material off the bottom to make the whole thing sit perpendicular with the base.

Fair enough.

However, I'll stick with my Spiratone Doublogram II as my copy stand. It literally has a 1/4-20 thread to hold the enlarger and, because of the way the doublogram works, it gives an extra degree of freedom in positioning the camera (pull forward, push backward).