My Ganz doesn't like the Kentmere DW paper I'm using and my only other easel is a wonderful, huge Saunders four blade which I can't use easily in the cramped confines of my dark room----for 8x10 prints it is overkill. I just won one of those little Lietz Wetzlar wooden easels at that auction for $12. I've never used one but I always thought they looked cool and besides it matches my Valoy II. Anyway here are my questions:
Does anyone here use one of these? What are your thoughts?
And
This particular easel was very crudely spray painted black, so is there some kind of an issue with these easels reflecting light or fogging film? If not are there any suggestions on how to go about restoring the original finish?
:confused:

If it's rattle canned you can probably strip it with "the worlds safest stripper",
Citristrip. It's a citrus based thick liquid that you brush on & leave to let it work.
It doesn't work as fast as the methyl chloride but it is more gentle. The local hardware or big-box should have it or another label. Just be sure it's a citrus based stripper.

I just used CitriStrip for the first time on a very ugly looking black enamel paint job on a petzval magic lantern lens. Great stuff! After 30 minutes most of the paint just wiped off and a little rubbing with a 3M scour pad took off the rest. It was good sized mess taking off that black paint, but the CitriStrip was ok to work with inside.

I thought about buying/refinishing that easel. $12. Show us how it turned out one day