Graflex.org

RichS · Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2003 2:29 am Post subject:

Henry: Who does the labeling?

Fred: I didn't take any offense. But trying to keep up with my spelling errors would be a life-long project between my progressively worsening spelling and the typos caused by this keyboard.

Good humored and well meant messages for any reason are far better than none at all!

45PSS · Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2003 3:11 am Post subject:

Compaq's key beards aren't any bitter.

And I was just looking to dump all this old stuff and go buy a new Deardorf.

Charles

_________________
The best camera ever made is the one that YOU enjoy using and produces the image quality that satifies YOU.

RichS · Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2003 3:39 am Post subject:

Charels, Go for it!

Sometimes we have to live with our decisions, good or bad. I made the decision to go for the cheap keyboard and hoarding GVII's. If I had to do it all over again, I might have gone for a new Deardorf?

But if you can sell off everything and get a new Deardorf, then maybe so can I? Let me know how iut works out!

RichS · Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2003 5:21 am Post subject:

Not wanting in the least to end this thread as we may be getting close to a record with 4 pages, but I may have found a reasonable source for balsam.
Changing my search words a bit, I found two interesting things. Balsam is not only used for cementing lenses, but also a major ingredient in cosmetics and food supplements.
Then I found two chemical companies who sell balsam, but not directly on-line. But I did find a supplement company who does have it and for what seems a decent amount. 40.00 for a 16oz bottle of pure oleoresin. Stony Mountain Botanicals if anyone is interested. Since they had some other stuff I wanted, I went ahead and ordered it. If it's not right, I'll find another use for it...

This does _not_ mean I will stop searching for an optical quality tree however!

And I have to admit that I'm looking forward more to the Molcajete than the balsam at the moment...

Henry · Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2003 4:57 pm Post subject:

Well, Rich, now that the urgency is gone from your balsam search, I feel so betrayed, let down, violated, etc., etc. But I can tell you that tree labelling is under the auspices of the Optical Quality division of the NY-DEC, with overall jurisdiction by the APA. Or maybe it's the other way around, who can say?

I spent five years in college and grad school in Rochester and I think the winters addled my brain.....

[ This Message was edited by: Henry on 2003-04-21 09:59 ]

RichS · Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2003 6:11 pm Post subject:

Don't feel "betrayed, let down, violated, etc." yet. It hasn't arrived and may have just been a marketing ploy by the company to get me to order something else?

I'll have to give DEC a call and ask. Maybe they have maps? Maybe they'll laugh more than when my wife called about a skunk we caught inadvertently in a have-a-heart trap?

Five years in Rochester? At least you should have a good mental picture of the 18% grey card

Winters here are fun, if and when they're over... But by the time we clean up from the last one, they return. And we may yet have more snow in a couple days... I haven't taken the blade off the tractor yet!

Dan Fromm · Joined: 14 May 2001 Posts: 2144 Location: New Jersey

RichS · Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2003 7:56 pm Post subject:

Funny, there were times when I thought you were dagor77!

I am unfortunately at a major disadvantage here. First, I'm on an unreliable dial-up line and it always seems to drop around the time of auction end. I've come down to just entering what I'm will to go for something and then forgetting it until after it's over.
And second, I don't sell anything... Dagor77 is a dealer, and probably has more money for that stuff than I do, and is willing to sell it...
Well, as Henry (wasn't it?) pointed out, it is just the ooze from a tree. Balsam should be balsam no matter the source. And I would imagine that food quality should be decent? It is all mostly for the experiment of it. If it all works out, fine. If it doesn't, then I'll get a 'real' cement and do it 'right'...
From what I've read, the liquid stuff is either natural (like from the tree) or mixed with a solvent. Either way, you have to let it dry out before using for lens cementing.
And I have to admit that my curiosity has been raise about it being a good cement for glass and ceramics in a non-lens category. Good food-grade cements for such things are hard to find. Although using hot liquids, cooking or microwaving would be out of the question... It won't go to waste and I may wind up buying a UV light anyway

Dan Fromm · Joined: 14 May 2001 Posts: 2144 Location: New Jersey

RichS · Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2003 2:08 am Post subject:

Well you're way ahead of me. Whenever I go looking, my mind narrows down in focus to see only what I need or want. And oddly enough, camera equipment is impossible to find around here. Whenever I ask, they tell me maybe some other place down the road, in a big circle. But noone has anything. So I get it on-line and usually not at a good price. But I never buy to sell even though sometimes I wish I did. I've seen some incredible steals go by. And the few I grabbed for myself have only balanced out with the impule buying at too high a price...

So is this a twin lens (like a C330) you're talking about or something exotic with two lenses?

I gather a lot of people pick things up at shows and I've seen a lot of dealers buying the steals that I have no interest in. What really annoys me is when they place a minimum bid on an item I do want and it knocks off the buy now option...

Maybe I can try selling the balsam, repackaged into 1 ounce bottles for a healthy profit?

Dan Fromm · Joined: 14 May 2001 Posts: 2144 Location: New Jersey

Nick · Joined: 16 Oct 2002 Posts: 494

I want to know how dagor gets the prices he gets.

RichS · Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2003 1:40 pm Post subject:

Now there's an interesting camera. "Totally useless"?? You could always mount it on the roof of your car and shoot while you drive?
Sounds like it would be fun to play with to some extent at least. So let me make another wrong guess here. The 38 lens is suppposed to cover only 2x3 and this takes 5" film. So were the lenses mounted to get two negs across the 5", possibly creating a slightly stereo effect? Or do they actually cover 5" individually and you're holding out on a super wide angle lens?

No demand for balsam? Well, I'll just have to create a market then. I'll not only sell the balsam, but the instructions, fully illustrated of course, on how to recement your very own lens. And maybe even offer the contact info on the company that can fix it after it's been ruined?

To be honest. I've seen and heard about so many old lenses that had separation to make them worthless, I am suprised that more people haven't grabbed them for next to nothing and just experimented with cleaning and recementing. I would love to have a dozen old lenses here, good for nothing but trying to fix. And maybe someday I will since probably all mine are balsam cemented and all will probably separate someday. My retirement project I suppose?

Dan Fromm · Joined: 14 May 2001 Posts: 2144 Location: New Jersey

Dan Fromm · Joined: 14 May 2001 Posts: 2144 Location: New Jersey