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CNC machined Pacemaker lens boards... Worth the price?

 
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fecaleagle



Joined: 11 Apr 2012
Posts: 2
Location: Huntsville, AL

PostPosted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 10:38 pm    Post subject: CNC machined Pacemaker lens boards... Worth the price? Reply with quote

I am waiting on a price quote from SK Grimes, but I am about to mount a 6.5" Petzval to a Pacemaker Crown and I am wondering whether the CNC machined boards made by SK Grimes are worth the extra money they're bound to cost. It's not a super-heavy lens (will weigh it when I get home), but it's heavy enough to give me pause in selecting a board for it. For all my other lenses, I use the standard stamped aluminum boards, but I am just wondering if anybody out there has any experience with these machined (out of a solid block of aluminum) boards or can attest to the strength they provide over the standard ones.

Actually, input from anybody with experience mounting heavier lenses to a Pacemaker board/standard would be really valuable!

Now I'm just thinking out loud, but given that the outside diameter of the mounting flange is fairly close to the maximum size that one of these boards can accommodate, should my concern be less about the strength of the board and more about the strength of the locks that hold the lens board to the front standard?

Thanks,
William
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Dan Fromm



Joined: 14 May 2001
Posts: 2119
Location: New Jersey

PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 2:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Its a long story, but I have a 2x3 Cambo with an SKGrimes adapter to let me put lenses in 2x3 Pacemaker boards on it. The adapter is essentially a 2x3 Cambo board with a 2x3 Pacemaker front standard attached to it.

The heaviest lens I've used on the adapter is a 610/9 Apo Nikkor (1.45 kg) front-mounted on a #1 shutter. I had to tighten up the screws holding the lensboard sliders and it really needs a crutch to support it. The crutch is needed because the Cambo board moves a little against the springs in the Cambo's carrier frame. The little 2x3 Graphic board isn't a problem.

I use a 12"/4.0 TTH Telephoto on my 2x3 Speed. This small monster weighs 3 pounds, a hair less than the 610 Apo Nikkor but its center of gravity is very far forward. I put a small crutch -- not the one I use with long lenses on the Cambo -- between it and the outer bed rail (outer yoke, in Graphic-speak) to make life easier for the front standard. The standard's the problem, not the board.

Hope this helps.
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fecaleagle



Joined: 11 Apr 2012
Posts: 2
Location: Huntsville, AL

PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 5:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I double posted over at LFPF, but was afraid it was too Graflex-specific for that crowd. I realized shortly after I posted that the point of concern was the standard's slide locks and the standard itself, so I am going to pick up a standard lensboard and follow Frank's advice of cutting a styrofoam block to rest on the yoke and support the barrel of the lens.

I haven't confirmed the flange focal length of the lens yet, but assuming its somewhere in the neighborhood of 175-200mm, there should be plenty of room for the support/crutch.

Thanks for this and all your previous help, Dan.
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William Hallett



Joined: 07 Jan 2012
Posts: 93

PostPosted: Thu Feb 20, 2020 2:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If I've understood your question correctly, you're worried that the stamped standard aluminium lens board might not be rigid enough to support a heavy lens. I do not see this as an issue, as the flange on the standard Pacemaker board provides enough stiffness. I have, for example, a 15" Teleoptar in shutter with a total weight of about 3 pounds, mounted in the standard board, with no evidence of deflection of the board. You are correct in supposing that a bigger issue will be deflection of the front standard. And as Dan Fromm notes, if you are using a heavy lens which sits near the end of the track you will have to support the lens and the camera bed properly to prevent vibration.

I have successfully made Pacemaker boards of birch plywood or of layers of 1/8" basswood in the style of the board for the Anniversary. The flange of the Pacemaker board is not really required for a light seal provided that the part of the board that sits inside the opening of the standard is a reasonably close fit.
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