Ive gained so much useful knowledge from this forum, it's only right that i try to give back to the community. Before making this I read every single pre reg thread I could find here, saved every photo of what other members have built already, and sketched this out in my head before finally making a materials list and getting down to business. It is a lot of work, and we have only had it up for 3 weeks, but it has already made our lives so much easier here. 100% worth the late night fabrication and weekend work, metal shaving splinters included. This works on my old M&R gauntlet, but should be compatible with other presses with slight modification.
Tools you will need:
1) drill press
2) miter saw
3) blade for miter saw, i used a diablo non ferrous blade
4) Taps, 5/16 x 18 (both tapered and flat) spend the extra $$$ on these and get the ones that are coated with titanium. It is worth it.
5) drill bit, 17/64"
6) good countersinks
7) a good square, scribe, center punch, digital calipers, feeler gauge and a few other measuring devices.
8.) clamps, and little bit of rope for rigging if you want to use the drill press for the FPU
Materials:
1) 3003 alu plate .250 x 36”L x 28”W
2) 3003 alu plate .250 12”L x 5”w
3) 3003 alu plate .250 x 10”L x 5”W
4) 6061 Aluminum Flat Bar 3” x 4” (cut length = 1.25”) *** i ended up cutting these in half and I have leftovers
5) old pallet bracket to modify for use as a stop block
6) mcmaster carr spring stops x3
7) 5/16 x 18 x 1/2" long hex drive machine screws
8.) furring strips (you can probably could substitute metal here)
9) plexi glass, # of sheets dependent on how thick you need to build up the FPU.
10) backlight, optional. We used a low profile LED from lowes.
11) almost forgot, you'll need an old pallet to modify for the reg pallet.
So I started with the easy part. First you need to make a stop block so the pallet stops in the same place every time you put it on the press. I used an old pallet bracket. Measured, center punched and drilled with a 1/4" bit.
Next I cut an old static to size, drilled that out, and secured it with some 1/4 bolts and washers. Not pretty, and pretty rudimentary but it works every time. I have just enough clearance for the pallet to stop, and for the actual pallet bracket to go on in front.
Next I started on the registration pallet. This took quite a bit of measuring, but it isnt that difficult. Once you have lines marked, you can attach the "wings" to the registration pallet. Make sure you clamp in your pallet to your drill press and center punch your holes. Do the same for the pallet extensions. The aluminum drills easily, but you really quality countersink to do it well. I used short 5/16 bolts to they fit flush with the pallet and dont poke out the back end. Added some red loc tite for good measure
Next you need to measure out where your stop blocks need to be located. I used a flat screen in head 1 as a guide. Measure carefully and mark the location with a scribe, then measure to X / Y to the center and center punch two holes on both the wings, and the stop blocks. Then make your stop blocks, I used some aluminum bar, which ended up being too big, so I had to cut it down with a miter saw. Carefully drill the holes in the wings for your stop blocks (and countersink), then drill the blocks themselves using the 17/64 drill bit. Clear out the shavings and put your starter tap in the drill press. Make sure its centered (helps if you drill & tap one hole at a time) and then turn on the power, cut it off and bring the tap down so it just starts itself. Put the block in a vice and finish the threads by hand. Use lots of oil with all of this and finish with a bottoming tap.
Once this is done, I measured the measured the tolerances with a feeler gauge. Its too tight for the smallest feeler gauge, so ill take it! If its off you can probably oval the holes a bit and use some red loc tight. I would recommend keeping the screen in head 1 until this is fabricated.
**** NOTE I did cut the height down on the stop blocks, they were too tall to index around without interference, so i took off just a bit with the saw and rounded off the tops with a bench grinder.
After you have the reg pallet finished up, you can set that aside and get started on the hard part.
I took the big sheet of aluminum measured everything out very very carefully and scribed the lines / center punched the holes. I drilled a few extra holes in the bottom so I could run some parachute cord through it. That supported the weight while it was on the drill press.
Once you have your FPU stop blocks drilled / countersunk and installed, you can place the spring stops. I didn't count on the springs being so strong, and had to oval the holes quite a bit to get the action right. Once thats done, it should look like this!
After more careful measuring, I used some wood strips to build up the FPU thickness. Wish I was better with the miter saw, but I just suck at angles. Drill another hole for the LED backlight power cord, and a couple more for a zip tie mount... at this point I just want to get this thing done.
Add the correct # of plexiglass sheets so you dont have to push the mesh down to FPU grid secure with gorilla glue and we're almost there. I used gorilla glue (clear) to attach the plexiglass to wood, and the subsequent plexiglass sandwich. Afterwards, use a file and make sure to chamfer the edges so they dont catch the thin thread. After everything was filed and finished, I printed a illustrator template, measured very very carefully, and secured it with tape to the FPU board. This way If i every want to revise the way we do the reg marks, we have the option. After the template was secured, I opted for the wall mount option in the darkroom. It was simpler than building a stand, and it takes up less room.
Once thats done, line up your films and enjoy! This thing has saved us so much time all around. Just being able to burn screens accurately is a huge time saver. When our frames are flat, it is close to dead on. I do have to go through our screen inventory and flatten some of our rollers. If the frame is not 100% flat it will skew it in one direction or another due to the angle difference. Even with that, it is a huge time saver. Usually just one or two touches with the micros and we are there. I have already recouped all of the time / money spent on this, in setup time alone. And this thing took quite a bit of time / effort to build. To everyone who shared photos and info about their pre reg units... THANK YOU! This has certainly been a big help for me, there is absolutely no way we would have been able to crank out the amount of production without it. I built this just in the nick of time
