Devere 54 Chassis and masks - Free to a good home!

[Pete Askew]

I have a Devere 54 Enlarger chassis going spare if anyone would like to come and take it away. It has the mask carrier but no head. I bought it a few years ago as someone had sort of fitted an Ilford 500 head onto it (not very well) and it was that I wanted as a spare in case mine ever fails. Didn't have the heart to throw out the chassis as it is such a nice thing. I did toy with converting it into a copy stand at one point an that would certainly be an option for someone. The corners of the bellows at the top of the head have worn through at the corners but could could be taped easily and bellows are available. Heads do appear on eBay and a later head could be fitted with a bit of work. I even have a manual!!

And with a bit of thought you could even convert it into a giant camera for the 'build your own' challenge. Mmm, now that's an idea...

Who could resist such a beauty! Would make a fantastic discussion piece for the lounge (along the lines of, "If you don't shift that piece of junk...". You can tell I'm not a sales person can't you!!

Stand

Negative Carrier

Focus and Column Height Control

Additional Masks

 

[Pete Askew]

Oh, and I forgot to say, it's near Fleet in Hampshire, UK!! Sorry, Chris and Brian (I could ship I guess - but I'd have to evict the spider first)!!

 

[Brian Moore]

LOL,...thanks anyway Pete. Wouldn't want to evict the poor spider and I'm not sure he'd get a visa for USA anyhow.

 

[Matthew Durnford]

Pete,

If the De Vere is still available I would be pleased to give it a new home.

Matthew.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Hi Mathew, welcome to the forum ...
Under the circumstances it may be appropriate to pop into the welcome section and introduce your self
Tell us a bit about your photography, cameras that sort of thing...
Cheers

 

[Pete Askew]

Welcome to RPF Matthew. I'm sure you'll enjoy it here.

Yes the 54 is still available. Not easy to send but if you are ever up near Fleet you are more than welcome to take it away. Do you have a darkroom or are you building something?

 

[Matthew Durnford]

Pete,

Thanks for the reply/welcome. I used to have a darkroom when I worked in France in the late 80s but did not have the time or space when I returned to UK in 93. I sold off all my equipment about 10 years ago so I have now decided to re-build the darkroom with some older equipment. I am in the process of re-furbishing a Kodak Precision enlarger.

Fleet is not a problem, I spent a couple of happy years working there.

Matthew.

 

[Pete Askew]

If you can wait until April I'll be back in the UK by the 18th. It would be nice to meet. But if you are in the area before, let me know and I can gt one of my colleagues to fish it out for you. The chassis of the 54 is quite nice and nowhere near as bulky as a 504. I've just given a 507 chassis to SDS (I think he will scrap it although there is nothing wrong with it but he has 2 others that aren't selling) but they are huge (see http://www.realphotographersforum.com/analogue-processing/672-thats-too-bad.html). Heads do come up on eBay and it would relatively straight forward to graft a later head on or one from another enlarger.

 

[Pete Askew]

Also you look at:

DE VERE 54 Cold Cathode Enlarger | eBay

LARGE DE VERE ENLARGER FOR RESTORATION OR PARTS | eBay

By the look of it my chassis is in better condition and you could combine some of this lot into a functioning enlarger.

 

[Matthew Durnford]

I have seen the ones on ebay and have bid on one of them (99p so far) and I think you are right I could make a working version with some parts from you and one of the ebay units. I do not have the space for a very tall unit as my darkroom is in the basement which I at 6ft 4ins can just stand in.

After the 18th April is fine. I am fairly flexible on days and time so let me know some times that are convenient to you and we will come up and probably combine it with a trip to friends in the area.

Matthew.