Graflex.org

[vic valis]

...a little off-topic but still related. Couple of weeks ago I was contemplating on these boards adapting a Speed Graphic into a more versatile field camera, and have finally gotten things going. Bought a pre-anniversary camera with working FP shutter that was in such bad cosmetic condition I didn't have the slightest hesitation to start making major modifications to it (cracks in the frame, rotting leather, painted over, etc... just BAD). Recycling lots of small parts, bought the front standard to a Zone VI 4x5, and am using the Wisner Traditional as the basic inspiration. My prblem is that nobody seems to know (or at least the customer service people are unwilling to spill the beans) the dimensions of the Wisner bellows when it is compressed. I want to leave more than enough room for the bellows when the camera is folded closed, and would guess the bellows to be about an inch thick when folded closed all the way, but not sure. Anyone out there happen to know, or happen to have one they might take a ruler to? The project has begun progressing quickly in spite of the fact I have no power tools of my own (take them to my father's workshop to do the work) and don't want to leave too litle space, so as to end up with a camera that will not close completely. Thanks folks! Pictures will follow maybe sometime soon.

jeff

_________________
That money talks,
I'll not deny.
I heard it once;
It said "good-bye."

[disemjg]

I pulled the bellows out of my Technical Field (I think all the 4X5 cameras use the same bellows) and it is 2 1/8" thick over the wooden frames. There is no further compression; it is stacked at that measurement. The small wooden frame is 4 1/2" square, and the big end is 7 5/16ths.

[vic valis]

Okay, good to know... if I had gone by my assumption of 1 inch, I would have been way off. Thanks. I think the frame dimensions happen to coincide pretty closly with what I'll end up with. One criteria I had set for myself was a square and easily removable bellows. Has the drawback of limiting shifts because it sets the bellows mount in front of the curtain roller housings, but I can live with it.

jeff

_________________
That money talks,
I'll not deny.
I heard it once;
It said "good-bye."

[vic valis]

well a followup to my previous observation that my wish to hade a square bellows requires me to move the plate to in front of the curtian roller housings: I note that the inside walls of the camera in the small space between the GG and the curtain have V-grooves, I assume to keep light from reflecting off flat sides and fogging the film. I'm making inserts to line the inside of my camera between the roller housings. My question is, how critical does anyone think it is to have V-grooves in these inserts? Anyone have a problem with fogging using, for instance, pinhole cameras with flat insides and long exposures? My hope is that I can leave them flat and just make sure I do not paint them with a gloss black enamel.

jeff

_________________
That money talks,
I'll not deny.
I heard it once;
It said "good-bye."

[vic valis]

Well a followup to my own question, I decided that flat surfaces perpendicular (spelling?) to the film plane are probably a bad ide, and so was able to cut a series of v-grooves int the inner surfaces I will install on my project. Pictures will follow soon, when I get more done... sorta half-assed documenting the process in case anyone wants to try one themselves.

jeff

_________________
That money talks,
I'll not deny.
I heard it once;
It said "good-bye."