cheap way to make an easel?
DuffMomma
easel?
k
David Nebenzahl
> I'm looking to print 20x24 paper, any suggestion on how i can make a cheap
> easel?
Lessee: make a rectangular frame from illustration board or some such;
could piece it together and use tape or glue patch pieces over the
joints. Now all you need is something heavy to hold it and the paper
down: that magnetic strip stuff? Metal, like big washers taped to the
frame? I'm sure you can come up with something.
Oh, and you'll need some strips of paper taped down on the baseboard (or
tabletop) to locate the paper and the frame. That oughta do it.
--
God willing, the many crimes of the Bush Administration
will eventually be printed in a nice leatherbound,
multi-volume edition that will look fantastic on my bookshelf.
R.W. Behan
words--cut a heavy board, like particle board, or even a piece of plate
glass, 20 x 24". Put some strips of double-sided scotch tape, maybe 3" long
or so, in each corner. Position this under the enlarger lens for the print
you want, and use a scrap pieceof white paper to focus and compose. (DON'T
press this paper down firmly, or the corners will stick to the scotch tape.)
Now, place the sensitized paper on the baseboard, and DO press the corners
down firmly. Expose. Peel the corners up carefully, and away to the
developing tray you go. I have such "printing frames" in standard sizes,
using plate glass, expressly for making full sized bleed prints, and they
work great. Cheers, Dick B.
"DuffMomma" <evok...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:o8KdnehmtL3...@rogers.com...
Mike King
substances) but this one was called a bulletin board square, 12"x12", 4 to a
package, pretty sticky on one side, which you peeled and stuck the thing to
the wall, the other side was low tack (not quite Post-It note but much less
sticky than most tapes and such) made so you could put your notes on the
wall and remove them later. Perfect for this application.
BTW if you're using RC paper it will usually lay flat out all by itself,
then all you need is a way to position it under the enlarger.
darkroommike
"R.W. Behan" <rwb...@rockisland.com> wrote in message
news:EridnYggZtq...@rockisland.com...
Nicholas O. Lindan
> cheap easel?
I use 'drafting tape' - a less sticky masking tape - and tape down
the 4 corners. On large prints I like to have a ~1" margin for
[man]handling the print. This margin is covered by the matte
board.
I suppose they still make drafting tape. If it hasn't gone
the way of carbon paper and typewriter ribbons you should
be able to find it at art supply stores or blueprint stores
[if they are still around].
3M makes removable scotch tape but it doesn't have much
holding power. It is great for paste-ups but then who does
paste-ups any more.
--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer: Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.
To reply, remove spaces: n o lindan at ix . netcom . com
Joshua Putnam
sink, so it was free.
The top is a frame cut from mat board -- the cutout from matting a
16x20 print, so also "free" material. Whate face, black core, makes
it easy to get things lined up right.
The corner stops for the paper are small brads driven into the base,
aligned with small holes punched in the mat board, so they keep the
top aligned as well as keeping the paper aligned.
The hinge is duct tape, of course. Every cheap DIY project needs
some duct tape.
I've made hundreds of prints with it and never had a problem, works
great.
For borderless prints, I leave the top open, and hold the print down
with a really cheap vacuum easel -- there's a small hole in the
center of the base, which runs to a small rubber tube that comes out
the side, and I just suck on the tube to hold the paper down. Works
fine, at least for short exposures.
--
jo...@phred.org is Joshua Putnam
<http://www.phred.org/~josh/>
Updated Infrared Photography Books List:
<http://www.phred.org/~josh/photo/irbooks.html>
David Nebenzahl
> I'm looking to print 20x24 paper, any suggestion on how i can make a cheap
> easel?
Since we're dreaming up all kinds of schemes here, another approach: the
poor man's vacuum easel. Would be cheap but require a fair amount of
construction.
Make a shallow wooden box with a smooth flat top. Drill a bunch of small
holes in the top in a grid pattern. Attach a vacuum cleaner hose to the
side of the box. Turn on the vacuum cleaner before making the exposure.
Main problem here, apart from construction, would be placing the vacuum
cleaner so it doesn't completely fill the air with dust. Outside the
darkroom would be good.
David Nebenzahl
> The base of my 10x16 inch easel is the laminate counter cutout from a
> sink, so it was free.
[...]
> The hinge is duct tape, of course. Every cheap DIY project needs
> some duct tape.
Doh! How could I have forgotten the duct tape?!?
> For borderless prints, I leave the top open, and hold the print down
> with a really cheap vacuum easel -- there's a small hole in the
> center of the base, which runs to a small rubber tube that comes out
> the side, and I just suck on the tube to hold the paper down. Works
> fine, at least for short exposures.
And with that I hand you the DIY Grand Prize, Simplicity Division. Very
elegant.
dan.c...@att.net
>
> I'm looking to print 20x24 paper, any suggestion on
> how i can make a cheap easel?
>
If you need to hold the paper flat then you'll need
something flat to hold the paper. That right there may
be the tough part.
When doing process camera work years ago a
Sticky Back glass sheet held sheets of film in place.
After exposure the sheet is peeled off. Some have
recommended and use the 3M product for
holding paper flat.
I've played with the idea of wetting the paper to
the flat support. Either way, sticky or wet, no frame is
needed but could be placed on top. Dan
Mike King
"pegboard" instead of drilling your own (unless itching to try out the new
drill you got from Sears) and borrow the wife's new vac with the HEPA filter
on the "exhaust pipe" to minimize the dust.
Somewhere I have plans I clipped from Peterson's Photographic back when they
published a lot of DIY articles.
--
darkroommike
"David Nebenzahl" <nob...@but.us.chickens> wrote in message
news:pYklf.78$tO6....@newshog.newsread.com...
Mike King
adhesive from oxidizing. I haven't seen it locally in a while but I suspect
it's still available (Google came up with 2 million hits!), a locally
available alternative might be one of the new high tech easy release masking
tapes.
darkroommike
"Nicholas O. Lindan" <s...@sig.com> wrote in message
news:m7jlf.113$nm...@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
at @the-wire.dotcom Lloyd Erlick
Putnam <jo...@phred.org> wrote:
>and I just suck on the tube to hold the paper down. Works
>fine, at least for short exposures.
>
>--
>jo...@phred.org is Joshua Putnam
December 7, 2005, from Lloyd Erlick,
What a terrific idea. And I used to feel
pretty special because I took Rodinal out of
the bottle with a mouth operated pipette!
How many human powered vacuum easels are
there, anyway?
regards,
--le
________________________________
Lloyd Erlick Portraits, Toronto.
voice: 416-686-0326
email: port...@heylloyd.com
net: www.heylloyd.com
________________________________
--
at @the-wire.dotcom Lloyd Erlick
dan.c...@att.net wrote:
>I've played with the idea of wetting the paper to
>the flat support.
December 7, 2005, from Lloyd Erlick,
Interesting idea. Have you ever exposed a wet
sheet under the enlarger? There must be many
interesting issues.
PATRICK GAINER
dan.c...@att.net
>
> dan.c...@att.net wrote:
>
> >I've played with the idea of wetting the paper to
> >the flat support.
>
> December 7, 2005, from Lloyd Erlick,
>
> Interesting idea. Have you ever exposed a wet
> sheet under the enlarger? There must be many
> interesting issues.
>
> voice: 416-686-0326
> email: port...@heylloyd.com
> net: www.heylloyd.com
>
Out of the wash I sponge dry FB and RC upon the counter.
I've the counter space for that. Using a single tray for processing
has helped. Also a help is my now well lite Graded paper darkroom
which should work to reduce the issues involved.
Essentialy pre-wetting, pre-drying, and placement are
the factors involved. I can imagine several approaches. For one, the
entire proceedure might be carried out on the flat support which, with
guides, is positioned on the baseboard.
To be practicable, techniques would need to be developed. Little
more than a thought at this time. Of course, setting a wet, pre-dried,
entirely flat piece of paper on a baseboard is no problem in itself.
Drip drying likely wouldn't do although the ideal of the untouched
always has some appeal. Dan
Ken Hart
"PATRICK GAINER" <pga...@rtol.net> wrote in message
news:43975...@news.vic.com...
Actually, I remember my first grade teacher using such a device/system for
printing pages for us to color! The original was drawn with a piece of
something like carbon paper turned wrong way, so that there was a mirror
reverse image on the back of the original. This was placed on the moist
gelatin for a few minutes, then removed. Much of the carbon (?) was
transferred to the gelatin. Blank paper was pressed onto the gelatin and
some of the carbon (?) image trransferred to the blank paper. The system was
good for about 25 or so copies. I think the process might have been called
something like "multigraph".
--
Ken Hart
kwh...@aec.nu
>
David Nebenzahl
> Actually, I remember my first grade teacher using such a device/system for
> printing pages for us to color! The original was drawn with a piece of
> something like carbon paper turned wrong way, so that there was a mirror
> reverse image on the back of the original. This was placed on the moist
> gelatin for a few minutes, then removed. Much of the carbon (?) was
> transferred to the gelatin. Blank paper was pressed onto the gelatin and
> some of the carbon (?) image trransferred to the blank paper. The system was
> good for about 25 or so copies. I think the process might have been called
> something like "multigraph".
Close; you're thinking of "mimeograph". Remember the way those sheets
smelled, especially when they were handed out still damp? Mmmm, I can
still remember that smell: it was actually some horrible solvent,
probably carcinogenic. And blue printing.
Actually, now I'm not sure just what you're describing, because
mimeograph didn't work that way at all: the original was a stencil,
"cut" (literally) on a typewriter, then placed on a drum which had an
inked pad behind the stencil. The ink came out onto the paper where the
typist (or writer) had made marks. So it didn't use carbon or carbon
paper at all. Maybe you just misremembered how it worked.
Joshua Putnam
> In some early editions of the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (ca
> 1956) there was a section of recipes which had a recipe for the kind of
> gelatin transfer medium (what the heck was it called?) that was widely
> used before Xerox. It included glycerine, plain gelatine from the
> grocery store, and a little hide glue. It was also obtainable in cans
> at office supply stores. It made a good holder downer for printing
> paper. I used a piece of plywood with small molding at the edges to hold
> a layer of the stuff. I can't remember the recipe. Now you know what I
> have in common with Methusaleh.
Hectograph Filler
1/2 oz of ground dried glue
2 oz of dried gelatine
18 fl oz glycerine
Mix the glue with water and digest it on a water bath (a double
boiler may be used) until it has the consistency of cream and is
thoroughly melted. Soak the gelatine in cold water till soft, free
it from as much water as is possible by pressure in a cheesecloth and
then melt it on a water bath or in a double boiler. Pour the three
liquids together, and after they are thoroughly mixed, pour them into
the pan. If any bubbles appear on the surface of the filer, scrape
them off with the edge of a piece of cardboard while the filler is
hot. Do not use the filler until at least six hours after it has
been poured into the pan. The materials gel slowly. Keep the pan
level and covered until its contents is no longer fluid.
(*NEVER* let go of a good reference book! Handbook of Chemistry and
Physics, pocket-sized edition, 1959, pp.3288-9.)
--
jo...@phred.org is Joshua Putnam
<http://www.phred.org/~josh/>
Updated Infrared Photography Gallery:
<http://www.phred.org/~josh/photo/ir.html>
Joshua Putnam
nob...@but.us.chickens says...
> Close; you're thinking of "mimeograph".
Too modern -- Hectograph.
> Remember the way those sheets
> smelled, especially when they were handed out still damp? Mmmm, I can
> still remember that smell: it was actually some horrible solvent,
> probably carcinogenic.
Actually, "mimeograph" was a misnomer for those machines.
If the pages came out damp, that was a "spirit duplicator." Lightly
wash the paper with alcohol before impressing it on a "ditto master"
made with special carbon paper, and just enough of the ink transfers
to the paper.
Finally got rid of my spirit duplicator a couple of years ago. The
solvent was isopropanol and methanol. Conveniently, it burned quite
well in my methanol camping stove after the machine was no longer
useful for anything.
Mimeograph was an older process than spirit duplicators, the mimeo
used a stencil that was porous where you typed on it. Wrap that
around an inked drum and the ink came through the stencil cut.
(Mom was a teacher, Dad's an architect, I know *way* too many
obsolete printing techniques.)
--
jo...@phred.org is Joshua Putnam
<http://www.phred.org/~josh/>
Books for Bicycle Mechanics and Tinkerers:
<http://www.phred.org/~josh/bike/bikebooks.html>
dan.c...@att.net
>
> Close; you're thinking of "mimeograph".
>
T. A. Edison thought first and invented the mimeograph. Dan
seog
> I'm looking to print 20x24 paper, any suggestion on how i can make a cheap
> easel?
Plan A:
1. Plywood cut to size. Screw 3 2x4 pieces to the back to keep it from
warping.
2. Glue cork veneer http://mantoncork.com/.
3. Marker. Draw borders for 16x20, 20x24
4. Thumb tacks
"Walla"
Much better than sticky easel as described in Darkroom Cookbook but not as
tasty.
Natural Light Black and White Photography
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze76ane/
-George-
seog
> "DuffMomma" <evok...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:o8KdnehmtL3...@rogers.com...
>> I'm looking to print 20x24 paper, any suggestion on how i can make a
>> cheap
>> easel?
>
> Plan A:
> 1. Plywood cut to size. Screw 3 2x4 pieces to the back to keep it from
> warping.
> 2. Glue cork veneer http://mantoncork.com/.
> 3. Marker. Draw borders for 16x20, 20x24
> 4. Thumb tacks
Plan B:
PROOF READ!
at @the-wire.dotcom Lloyd Erlick
Putnam <jo...@phred.org> wrote:
>-- Hectograph.
December 9, 2005, from Lloyd Erlick,
... and on my hard drive I find I have a
folder called Hectography ...
------------------------------
here are some links:
Hecto Links/Sources/References
Literary source: Stephen Kingís On Writing:
A Memoir of the Craft (Scribner, 2000)
relates a saga starring Kingís brother, Dave,
and Daveís hectographic adventures (pp.
43-44). Unfortunately, my request to
Scribnerís to reprint three paragraphs from
Kingís work was denied. (Thanks to M. Brown
for the tip.)
Literary source: First sci-fi fanzine
http://www.comic-art.com/bios-1/siegel01.htm
Literary source: H.P. Lovecraft
http://www.yankeeclassic.com/miskatonic/englishl/hpl/hplbio/chaptr02.htm
World War II materials: Abo Library,
Estlander Collection
http://www.abo.fi/library/pres/samlspee.htm
Recent hectographic art work (by Mae
Strelkow):
http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/quatermass/87/mae
Dead Media (moribund, but fascinating
source/site): http://www.deadmedia.org
Russian hectography (book by Rozanova &
Kulbin)
http://www.schicklerart.com/exh/12_rare_books/HTML/3_rozanova.html
Russian hecotgraphy (book by Lenin)
http://www.stel.ru/museum/Leninc2e.htm
Russian hectography (book by A. Kruchenykh):
http://www.rarebook.ru/ei001.html
Turn of the century "Hektograph," text and
illustrations (clicking on search, refining
your search using Boolean options and listing
"hectograph" and "new" as search terms):
http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/index.html
Alaskan Newspaper
http://www.helios-carbex.com.br/usa.html (Go
to Products--> General Purpose section)
Additional ink recipes (from Steve Glover):
http://www.fell.demon.co.uk/steve/inks.html
Anti-Nazi Hectographer
Spirit Duplicating/Mimeo Supplies
REPEAT-O-TYPE Mfg. Corp.
665 State Rt. 23
Wayne, NJ 07470 U.S.A.
http://www.repeatotype.com
------------------------------------------------
http://english.boisestate.edu/ttrusky/hecto.html
GELATIN RECIPES
The Hectographic ìPressî, Bed or Pad
A recipe from the web, used by yours truly
and his students:
Turkish Delight Duplicator Recipe
Copyleft Steve & Jenny Glover, 1993,1995
We still use a "Turkish Delight" duplicator
for small print run stuff (apa contribs,
small con newsletters of the informal
persuasion) and security printing (Postscript
output -> ghostscript -> 9 pin printer ->
coloured Banda paper --> unduplicatable
tickets for whisky tastings, etc).
Anyway, here's Jenny's recipe (as obtained
from a friend of a friend of a "freedom
fighter" who apparently used to run across
the veldt duplicating leaflets with one hand
and scattering them with another...)
You will need:
1 large roasting tray, big enough for a sheet
of paper. This is going to be the 'bed'.
Preparing the "'bed"':
(This recipe uses gelatin, which *can* be
produced from non-animal sources, but which
usually isn't. Somewhere we have an
equivalent recipe that uses carrageenin gel
or agar agar, but you will have to work these
ones out for yourself by trial and error, as
we're not so practised with these ones)
In a large saucepan dissolve 100g gelatin in
375ml water
then begin to warm it gently while adding
385g of sugar. When it has dissolved,
add 715g glycerol and slowly bring the
mixture to the boil. Stir gently for one
minute while boiling to avert the wrath of
the Foam Ghods.
Remove the mixture from the heat and pour it
slowly into your tray (care! this mixture
boils at a higher temperature than water --
for the purposes of rug rats and house apes,
treat it as molten fat).
Make sure that the tray is on a flat surface
where it can be left for a few hours until
the gel sets.
While the gel is cooling, the Foam Gods can
be further appeased by using tissue paper to
remove bubbles, foam and 'bits' from the
surface.
This file is sort of shareware: if you use
this recipe, we'd like to see a copy of the
zine, flyer or artwork you produce. Our
address is: Steve & Jenny Glover, 3f2 (t/r) 2
Trinity Court, Trinity, Edinburgh EH5 3LE,
Scotland, UK.
Another press/bed recipe (untested):
Recipes for Art and Craft Materials, by Helen
Roney Sattler
(New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shephard Company,
1973)
Thanks to Matthew B. for bringing this text
to my attention.
Hectograph Pad
You Will Need:
2 cups water
4 packets (1 ounce) unflavored gelatin
A baking pan, 8 x 11 inches
2 teaspoons boric acid solution
How to Make It:
1. Pour water over gelatin and let stand for
2 to 3 hours.
2. Pour softened gelatin into baking pan.
3. Slowly bring to a boil, then reduce heat
and let simmer over a low flame for 20
minutes. Add boric acid solution.
4. Set aside overnight.
-----------------------------------------
INK RECIPES
from Fortunes in Formulas for Home, Farm and
Workshop. The Modern Authority for Amateur
and Professional. Containing Up-To-Date
Selected Scientific Formulas, Trade Secrets,
Processes, and Money-Saving Ideas, edited by
Gardner D. Hiscox and T. O'Connor Sloane (New
York: Books, Inc., 1907; rev. ed., 1956).
(citation supplied by Earl Noe)
Purple
Methyl violet, 2 parts
Alcohol, 2 parts
Sugar, 1 part
Glycerine, 4 parts
Water, 24 parts
Dissolve the violet in the alcohol mixed w/
glycerine, dissolve sugar in water, mix both
solutions.
Ingredients for purple hecto ink.
Black
Methyl violet, 10 parts
Nigrosin, 20 parts
Glycerine 30 parts
Gum arabic 5 parts
Alcohol, 60 parts
Ingredients for black hecto ink.
Red
Fuchsin, 10 parts
Alcohol, 10 parts
Glycerin, 10 parts
Water 50 parts
Ingredients for red hecto ink
Earl Noe also notes two intriguing hecto
facts:
I saw a Nova program about WWII escape
attempts from Colditz Castle, and one
survivor demonstrated how the prisoners used
their gelatin desserts to make a hectograph,
used for making maps. Good luck!
The Fancyclopedia, by Richard Eney, 1959,
(mimeographed) has the following entry (right
before HELICOPTER BEANIE): HEKTOGRAPHER'S
HANDS is a strange malady afflicting users of
the above process. Handle hekto carbons,
inks, pencils, ribbons ever so carefully, yet
smudges of purple will appear on the ends of
the fingers, and by some mysterious process
spread to the backs of the hands and up the
inner side of the forearm. Then, tho the
hektoer never touch his face with arms or
hands, purple splotches will break out on the
nose and one cheek, and on the nape of the
neck, tho he can't see it there. What is
more, the dye will spread to all
light-colored woodwork in the room, and
deposit in an uneven film over the lavatory
when he tries to wash. The Ditto company puts
out a soap which is supposed to ease the
condition, but really it comes off only when
the skin does.
Hectograph Ink
Another recipe (untested):
Recipes for Art and Craft Materials, by Helen
Roney Sattler
(New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shephard Company,
1973)
You Will Need:
1 1/2 teaspoons water-based pigment, such as
Prussian blue, iodine-green, methyl violet,
and so on. (Do not use and oil paint pigment.
Aniline dye is best but poisonous.)
1 teaspoon glycerine
4 teaspoons distilled water
2/3 teaspoon peppermint or lemon extract
How to Make It:
1. Mix the pigment with glycerine until
smooth and well blended.
2. Add water and extract. Stir or shake
until thoroughly mixed.
Makes about 2 tablespoons-enough for several
projects.
How to Use It:
Store in a tightly capped bottle. Shake
bottle well before using. Draw or write with
a lettering pen or a fine brush on typing
paper.
-----------------------------------------
anyway, I've never done anything like this so
I know nothing.
regards,
--le
________________________________
Lloyd Erlick Portraits, Toronto.
voice: 416-686-0326
email: port...@heylloyd.com
net: www.heylloyd.com
________________________________
--
at @the-wire.dotcom Lloyd Erlick
dan.c...@att.net wrote:
...
>Drip drying likely wouldn't do although the ideal of the untouched
>always has some appeal. Dan
December 9, 2005, from Lloyd Erlick,
I've been drying my prints (FB) by drip
drying for years. Easy and effective.
I've found it's easier to achieve the
'untouched' (at least for the face of the
print while it's wet) by means of the single
tray, than it is to set out a long line of
trays and lift and lower the wet sheet many
times, especially if drying screens and
squeegees are involved.
To expose a wet sheet under the enlarger, I
guess a dry sheet could be placed on a dry
sheet of glass or rigid plastic and carefully
submerged in water (hosed down?). The sheet
would be stuck to the glass, and easily
handled. Maybe the glass can be wet to start
with.
regards,
--le
________________________________
Lloyd Erlick Portraits, Toronto.
voice: 416-686-0326
email: port...@heylloyd.com
net: www.heylloyd.com
________________________________
--
dan.c...@att.net
>
> I've been drying my prints (FB) by drip
> drying for years. Easy and effective.
>
> I've found it's easier to achieve the
> 'untouched' (at least for the face of the
> print while it's wet) by means of the single
> tray, than it is to set out a long line of
> trays and lift and lower the wet sheet many
> times, especially if drying screens and
> squeegees are involved.
>
> To expose a wet sheet under the enlarger, I
> guess a dry sheet could be placed on a dry
> sheet of glass or rigid plastic and carefully
> submerged in water (hosed down?). The sheet
> would be stuck to the glass, and easily
> handled. Maybe the glass can be wet to start
> with.
>
> voice: 416-686-0326
> email: port...@heylloyd.com
> net: www.heylloyd.com
>
A brush application may work well. Positioning
of the paper after wetting would not likely be possible.
The support itself could be shifted about. Exact placement
of the paper on the support then would not be needed.
On another tack, any of the single-size easels
could serve as a model for constructing an easel. That
would include Saunder's swing frame.
The planes described by the negative and the paper
are to be parallel and the two perpendicular to the optical
axis. Exact alignment, glass carriers, and perfectly flat
paper will extract the most possible from those costly
enlarger and camera optics. Dan
Gilbert
<nob...@but.us.chickens> wrote:
>DuffMomma spake thus:
>
>> I'm looking to print 20x24 paper, any suggestion on how i can make a cheap
>> easel?
>
>Since we're dreaming up all kinds of schemes here, another approach: the
>poor man's vacuum easel. Would be cheap but require a fair amount of
>construction.
>
>Make a shallow wooden box with a smooth flat top. Drill a bunch of small
>holes in the top in a grid pattern. Attach a vacuum cleaner hose to the
>side of the box. Turn on the vacuum cleaner before making the exposure.
>
>Main problem here, apart from construction, would be placing the vacuum
>cleaner so it doesn't completely fill the air with dust. Outside the
>darkroom would be good.
A cheap small aquarium airpump dose he trick too, with a lot less
noise, and a lot less dust.
Gilbert
_____________
http://www.apug.org