Graflex.org

[SpeedFreak]

I have most of my Speed Graphic apart and I am cleaning and repairing a few things. I am considering just stripping everything away to leave the basic field camera, but I'd like to keep as much as I can, especially the the rear plane shutter. However, the curtain is mostly gone. Is there a source for a replacement? I think everything else for this shutter is OK. I wouldn't be disappointed to see it off the camera since the whole thing weighs nearly a pound. Still it would be fun to get 1/1000 out of this old thing and maybe a nice barrel lens too.

There is a strange problem with the front standard support assembly. This is the steel part that holds up the lens board. It is bent. It is not horribly bent, but it is most definitly bent. I would like to replace it with an unbent unit. Also, I was devestated to find that Murphy's Oil Soap took off the decals or paint on the badges that hold the lens board in place. It's no big deal, but I'd like to replace those too.

But all this if for naught if there is no place to get parts. Any ideas?

By the way, in another thread I said something about having trouble getting a cable release to work. I got the shutter apart and it turns out that a loose screw was blocking the cable's trigger shaft from going all the way in. And I think I mentioned there was a part taped to the back of the lens. Well it turns out that it was not an extra part, but left over from some other repair person who didn't manage to get it installed. Sound familiar to anyone? I won't say anything snide until I actually get the thing back together again myself.

[troublemaker]

There is a set of lens board retainers on the big famous and sometimes controversial auction site in the sky as I write this. the measurement are listed, so you can compare. they do say Speed Graphic on them.

there are also inumerable posts available to you through this site via the search prompt, and service manuals available for down load. I am currently making one realy nice Century Graphic out of two, and you may check into these types if it is a lighter camera you seek.




deffinately keep reading here for there is a wealth of info, patience, and experience that are being freely shared. but not necesarrily spelling proficiency...


[ This Message was edited by: troublemaker on 2004-03-25 12:32 ]

[disemjg]

I have successfully straightened bent front standards; study the assembly and be careful to choose the correct place to apply force in order to move things in the direction you want. The most common area seems to be the bottom, where the base of the standard tends to be distorted downward. You cannot fix this with a hammer; use small wooden blocks to support the work and distribute the force, and use a small c clamp to gradually squeeze the parts back into square. It is rather easy to do, and replacing the assembly is overkill (not to mention what it would cost). I think I even have a photo of the last one I did this way, showing the setup of the blocks and clamp.

If you are lucky you can fix this without removing the standard from the bellows; you will have to remove it from the rails which is easy. Getting it off the bellows is no big deal either, but may not be necessary.

[SpeedFreak]

I put the front standard together before I saw your trick here, but I tried twisting it around a little bit and managed to improve the situation a little.

My real adventure so far has been with the shutter. I completely disassembled it with the help of my excellent old military manual reprint I got on eBay, from user funjolian. This user has another one on sale and seems to keep them on supply. I found out that a piece I found taped to the lens board was not an extra, it was just ommited. It was a part of the flash system and not a noticeable difference for me. It turns out there was a piece missing too from the flash mechanics. I didn't have too many problems, but there was a tool missing to align some parts that would have speeded things up and reduced some thinking on my part. I managed to break a spring and that nearly ruined the whole project, but I managed to adapt the broken spring to its noncritical function. The lack of the special tool required me to back out of assembly and realign a part by hand. But, finally, the whole thing is back together and appears to be functioning just the way it is supposed to and I expect to start shooting within a couple of weeks when I get some film and complete assembly of the case.

[bertsaunders]

email me at
bsaunders1@bak.rr.com
Bert