Horstman 5x4 enlarger

[stuart_pratt]

Can anyone tell me anything about the company that produced this enlarger? I bought it from eBay about 7 years ago. A Google search has revealed nothing enlightening. It’s a condenser enlarger and I would guess from the look of it and the build quality, it dates from the 50s or 60s. Built like a tank, it was a strain getting it in my loft where the darkroom is. I don’t have any original neg holders, but I have an omega one which does the job.

Thanks

Hopefully, the photos are the correct way up when you view them. On first upload from iPad, they were upside down, so I flipped them and reloaded. Look OK on my screen!

Ive emailed these people, who I assume are the same crowd, in defence, heavy armoured and tracked vehicle defence. Might explain why it’s built like a tank. https://horstmangroup.com/contact/

 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2022 by stuart_pratt
Pictures loaded upside down

[Sandy Vongries]

Tank is an interesting comment, since the outfit in Bath was acquired by a German firm, Renk,  and is now into Military Systems. https://horstmangroup.com/

There is a variety of older photo gear for sale online.  My recollection is that they were a well thought of pro line many decades back

[John Seaman]

There's a great website called Graces Guide which has a lot of historical information about British companies. There are a number of entries about Horstman, who also made cars apparently. I can't see anything about enlargers though.

LINKS:

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Sidney_Horstmann

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Horstman

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Horstmann_Timers_and_Controls

Edited December 17, 2022 by John Seaman

[stuart_pratt]

Thanks John that’s helpful. What a great site! Looks like they became part of the Simms Group in 1961. Quite an eclectic mix of stuff they made, so enlargers doesn’t seem so strange really.

[rodeo_joe1]

Many armaments firms needed to quickly diversify into civilian products after WWii. BSA, Armstrong Siddeley, etc., with Horstman among them. 

The simple sheet and tubular metal construction of an enlarger would have required little tooling cost and been an 'easy target' for a firm like Horstman. 

Numerous British firms competed in the enlarger market in the Post-war years. Envoy, Gnome, Lines & Jones, DeVere, MPP, Wasp, AGI, Blumfield, to name but a few. The market was quite crowded and only DeVere survives today, AFAIK, but I suspect their sales of enlargers are now few and far between. 

I owned two Envoy enlargers that served me well for many years, until I needed the speed and convenience of a dichroic colour head, as opposed to a filter drawer.

To be honest, and sad to say, the LPL that replaced the Envoys was far better designed and built. A joy to use. 

Horstman were better known for their timers, and quite a few professional darkrooms had Horstman(n) clocks and timers in them. I suspect the double-n came and went with the acceptability of German sounding brand names. 

Edited December 18, 2022 by rodeo_joe1