Best source for the following darkroom printing item: a 16x20 easel

[filmfan]

So I have one of those yellow border-less easels for 16x20, but I need to make a mask for the glass negative holder to keep the thin black border around the image that I like so much. In summary, it is a pain in the [insert 3-letter expletive here].
I want an easel for 16x20 that has those very useful sliding mask things on all 4-sides, but I don't want to pay $450 or whatever it was that I saw the other day for a new one.
Thanks,

-S.

[muser53]

S~For starters I'd give Craigslist a look. There always seems to be a variety of darkroom goodies that are being sold inexpensively.

[filmfan]

Originally Posted by muser53

S~For starters I'd give Craigslist a look. There always seems to be a variety of darkroom goodies that are being sold inexpensively.

I tried CL... nothing as of the last 4 months unfortunately.

[drewbarb]

Look everywhere that you might find used photo equipment, and be patient. They sometimes come up on ebay and sell cheap, clearly under the radar of the buying public. Shipping might not be too cheap, but you never know. So- sources: CL, and ebay, of course; KEH; B&H and Alkit (sometimes they appear there in the used departments, and can be much cheaper than buying new...). Colleges, universities and high schools that still have darkrooms, or are liquidating their equipment are great sources. Spend some time calling around and ask; often these places have message boards where for sale/want to buy ads can be placed- graduating students are often selling equipment they no longer need. Finally, photo gear shows and swap meets might yield some luck, and you could even get lucky with a yard sale. Again, beat all the sources and be patient. Hope you find one soon!

[muser53]

Not an el-cheapo but here is one

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/pho/3283231125.html

and another @ 100.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/pho/3284555953.html

[MartinP]

You could try using a matt-board as a substitute easel and a rectangle of board as a mask, a few mm smaller than the printed area, to "fake" the black border. Put the rectangle on top of the paper in one corner, leaving the 'gap' on two sides only. Expose for black, move the card to the diagonally opposite corner and expose again - that way you get a symmetrical black border, but you could mis-align the card deliberately for some asymmetry if preferred.

Doing it like this means you probably have a very even black line, and of course no sprocket holes. Sprocket holes can be easily added with a second exposure however, see my post in Taylan's thread in the darkroom section. If one is careful with alignment it is also possible to reverse a piece of exposed film leader on the interneg and simplify the described process further.

[Dwig]

Originally Posted by MartinP

You could try using a matt-board as a substitute easel ...

Better yet, used a matt-board in combination with the 16x20 borderless easel. Cut the outside of the matt to match your paper size (16x20, ...) and the window to the proper size for the image+black border. The matt should be made from black core board or carefully blackened so that there is no bleed through on the thinner portions of the bevel cut window. You could have several different sizes cut for far less than the cost of a decent 4-blade easel.