Askar Extra 2" Filter Holder for M54 Filter Drawer (M54FH)

I’m quite pleased with this extra filter drawer. I bought it to go with a second-hand Askar 5 in 1 system which I previously acquired online. All you have to do with these drawers is drill and tap them to fit a short knurled screw for a handle so you can pull them out of the holder once they’re in. Easy.

Of course, you also have to modify the Askar filter chamber itself, because it won’t close if there’s a screw-in filter in the drawer — even a Baader filter, which has the thinnest mounting cell on the market, won’t allow the drawer to close. But fortunately the Askar system comes with two M48 filter chamber cover plates, and it’s a piece of cake to cannibalize one to make a shim.

Just use a Dremel to cut the M48 thread protrusion from the extra cover plate, then cut the cover plate in half below the screw holes and keep the half with the holes that match the intact cover plate you’re using on the chamber. File and black out the cut edges and you have a shim to add between the cover plate and the chamber. The holes line up perfectly, and the shim makes the slot opening wider so the drawer can now close when there’s a filter in it. So at that point you may want an extra drawer, like this one I bought, which was fine once I gave it a handle.

Or, alternatively you could just forget about Askar and buy some other make of filter drawer system that actually works.