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HELP! MY HOLE IS TOO BIG!!

 
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suburban grafic



Joined: 01 Feb 2004
Posts: 19
Location: Arizona

PostPosted: Wed Feb 18, 2004 5:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Now that I have your attention, permit me to expound on my situation. I have two -S GVII's. One I use in the field/street and the other I use with a graflarger in my darkroom. I have been using the taking lenses as enlarging lenses, but I recently splurged and picked up a mint Schneider Componon on E-what-cha-ma-call-it. Ready to go, but the hole in the only spare, original board I have is 2.25 inches in diameter and I need a hole that is no larger than 2.00 inches. How can I make my hole smaller? guess I could find someone who has a hole that is too small.

I won't even begin to tell you my woes about locating an original recessed board to mount my little 6.8 90mm Schneider.

If anyone has any dynamite suggestions please post them here or email me at:
engishdr1@cox.net

Boo-hoo-hoo and bye,



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Nick



Joined: 16 Oct 2002
Posts: 494

PostPosted: Wed Feb 18, 2004 12:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote



This is just the classic 4"x4" board? Not exactly hard to make. The lens is what 50mm?? You could find a 50mm lensboard from an enlarger and figure a way to mount it to the front of your current board. Personally I'd just make a new board. Mock it up with cardboard-)
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Les



Joined: 09 May 2001
Posts: 2682
Location: Detroit, MI

PostPosted: Wed Feb 18, 2004 2:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

you might want to look for lensboard for the Calumet 400. They too the same boards and their finish is the same.

but Nick is right, don't let the lack of a lensboard stop you. While you are looking for a board, make one out of bouble sheets of black matte board ( a total of 8 ply) or even birch plywood which you can get in small quantities at the hobby store.

As to getting the right size hole, I've use those thin, multipiece hole saws for your hand drill, I've even used a brace and adjustable bit. Both work without the need for a drill press.

I was in your position with my Cambo camera at one time, the only recessed board I had was drilled for a 90 f8 Super Ang. and I wanted to used it for a 65mm f8 SA. I drilled the right hole in a piece of sheet metal, cut it out and epoxied it to the back of recessed board, then painted it flat black. It doesn't look all that bad, but to my benefit, the cambo boards were black to begin with, and I got the job done. Never did buy a new board for the 65.

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Nick



Joined: 16 Oct 2002
Posts: 494

PostPosted: Wed Feb 18, 2004 4:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Will the Calumet boards fit? I don't remember which works with which. I do know that I have made boards that fit both. Right now I think the View is more tolerant of the board it takes then the 400. Or is it the other way?

If the 400 boards fit they can be had brand new from Calumet. Including the recessed that sells for less then the used ones do sometimes.
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RichS



Joined: 18 Oct 2001
Posts: 1468
Location: South of Rochester, NY

PostPosted: Wed Feb 18, 2004 5:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:

On 2004-02-18 08:33, Nick wrote:
Will the Calumet boards fit? I don't remember which works with which. I do know that I have made boards that fit both. Right now I think the View is more tolerant of the board it takes then the 400. Or is it the other way?

If the 400 boards fit they can be had brand new from Calumet. Including the recessed that sells for less then the used ones do sometimes.

I bought a used recessed board, I believe a Calumet?, and it does not fit. Although the lfat boards work fine, the recessed is too large to fit inside the baffle in the View. Doesn't miss by much, but too much to carve down on the board and who wants to ruin a View just to make a board fit? A shame too because it's more recessed than the View board. I may take a file to it yet


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suburban grafic



Joined: 01 Feb 2004
Posts: 19
Location: Arizona

PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 4:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A REPORT OF SUCCESS!! After reading the replies to my question last night, I got up this morning and drank a couple of cups of anti-laziness and headed out for a little run-down camera store I had once browsed in.
With my big holed board in tow, I asked the owner if he had something similiar. He went to a drawer and pulled out a Graphic View board that someone had painted both sides black. Three bucks solved the problem. Sadly that was the only Graflex item he had in his store.

Rich is quite correct in his assessment of the Calumet recessed boards. I did the same thing you did and they will definitely NOT fit. As he says, the recessed box is too large to fit in the GV standard.

Many thanks for the comments and suggestions!

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t.r.sanford



Joined: 10 Nov 2003
Posts: 812
Location: East Coast (Long Island)

PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 4:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have wondered why Graflex did not adopt a front with top and bottom slides, as on the "Pacemaker" cameras, when they redesigned the "Graphic View II" and introduced the "Graflok" back for it. A front like that would make installing (and making) recessed lensboards a whole lot easier, because you could slide the recessed part straight in, without having to tilt it over the fixed lower retaining strip.

Many years ago, I made a two-part recessed board out of basswood. It was a flat, open box glued to the back of a cutout board sized to fit the inner flange of the camera front, and it was held in place by another board, 4x4 and cut out to lie over the inner cutout board. It was crude and inconvenient, but it worked, and I think the idea could be improved. One of these years, I will get around to improving it; I'm not up for modifying the camera front itself to take a sliding lower retainer.

Incidentally, "Masonite" (if it's still available) is a good material for making durable 4x4 lensboards. It's the right thickness. It's rough on one face, which can be painted matte black, and smooth on the other, taking a semigloss paint well. It's easy to work, but very rigid. Artists used to like it as an alternative to wood in making gesso panels for tempera and oil painting.

Unfortunately, it is (or was) sold in 4x8-foot sheets -- which is a lot of lensboards -- but if you can scrounge a small piece, or you need the stuff for some other purpose and have some left over, it's worth considering.
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RichS



Joined: 18 Oct 2001
Posts: 1468
Location: South of Rochester, NY

PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 5:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I wish I had a local camera store drawer nearby....

My prefered material for boards is plywood. I always have it laying around, and I luckily have the router table to do the rabitting...

But masonite is a great material. It's about the right thickness, easy to work and plenty strong enough. I don't remember what they call it now but I do remember the odd look I got last time I asked for it at my local lumber yard/hardware store. But they did have it and in a 4x4 sheet (uhh, in feet not inches).

If you like a fancy look, you could also try 'luan' (or something like that?). It's similar in construction to plywood but not as structural. Bascially two layers of very nice wood veneer on the surface with some unknown compound between. About the same thickness as masonite. Possibly not as strong. More expensive. Also in 4x8 sheets. Used for bookcase & furniture backings. That's why it looks so good. Never used it for cameras myself and only thought of it now, so I might be trying it soon


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[ This Message was edited by: RichS on 2004-02-18 21:51 ]
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glennfromwy



Joined: 29 Nov 2001
Posts: 903
Location: S.W. Wyoming

PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 4:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have found a great material for making wooden lens boards. It is Weyerhauser Select Woods, sold by major hardware and lumber stores. It will be in a display rack and has small boards up to 3 or 4 feet long in Tulip Poplar (my favorite), Oak and possibly others. Boards run 1/4 inch thick up to 1/2 inch or so and up to 8 inches wide. The 1/4 inch thick material is perfect for lens boards. A little hard to find but great stuff.

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Nick



Joined: 16 Oct 2002
Posts: 494

PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 5:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Luan is Philippine mahogany. It's not really mahogany and for all I know it doesn't even come from the Philippines. It's just a group of tree species.
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disemjg



Joined: 10 Jan 2002
Posts: 474
Location: Washington, DC

PostPosted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 12:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I make my boards with thin plywood found in varying thickness at the local hobby shop. It is relatively cheap, works cleanly and will look good if you do your part. It comes as thin as 1/64, which I use for lenscaps formed over the front flange of the lens.

I have used Masonite (which I have also seen referred to as Temper board) successfully for many projects in past years. I once plugged a Cambo board that had too big a hole with a piece of Masonite glued to the face of the board; while not pretty it worked fine and is still in my Cambo kit. Today I would do that with the plywood as I like the way it works better.
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Henry



Joined: 09 May 2001
Posts: 1636
Location: Allentown, Pennsylvania

PostPosted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 1:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Masonite" is also known as "hardboard" to the trade. Only us old-timers will know what Masonite is. It comes in two thicknesses, 1/8" and 1/4", and two hardnesses, "oil-tempered" (or simply "tempered") and untempered. (You can also buy the tempered 1/8" with perforations ["perf board"] for pegboard hooks---tool holders and the like). I once had the need to buy a sheet of 1/4" tempered Masonite to use as soffit material. When I asked for Masonite by name at the local "73" Lumber Yard (hint: add 11 to get the actual name), the kid clerk didn't have a clue what I meant. Then when he comprehended, it turned out they only had untempered stuff---he didn't know there was any other---definitely the wrong stuff for outdoor use, but I bought a 4'x8' sheet of the 1/4" anyway, and since it was painted and used in a protected area (not exposed directly to water) it has held up OK.

Which brings up my actual point, for those of you still with me: I think you want 1/8" tempered Masonite for lensboards, and no other. You can tell it from the untempered stuff because one side of the tempered is perfectly smooth, hard, and darker than the other side. It is more durable, with less tendency to snap, than the plain stuff. You can also cut holes in it with less fluff flying around. It's made from compressed wood fibers.

Sorry to be so long-winded. It's an occupational hazard. I'm a recovering academic who still finds it hard to lay off the "sauce."
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Les



Joined: 09 May 2001
Posts: 2682
Location: Detroit, MI

PostPosted: Fri Feb 20, 2004 4:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'll add to Henry's comments in that while you can CUT hardboard and tempered hardboard, you can't ROUT tempered hardboard.

I had a client that wanted me to rout a 6" hole in Masonite for him. Sure no problem I thought, I grabbed the router with the circle template and managed to burn up two bits before I decided it really was cheaper to use some baltic birch, which routed 'like butta' compared to Temered Masonite.

Maybe the soft stuf would have made it. dunno.
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