Guypie Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 I started building this camera last Friday because I have a nasty chest infection and cant spend time in the garage at the moment (too cold out there), but I get stir crazy sitting inside watching youtube/reading books/internetsing etc etc. Wifey isnt so happy about all the sawdust Im making but at lease she doesn't have to put up with me whinging about being bored every 30 seconds so she seems to be putting up with it. Heres what I started with: The lens and shutter work nicely and from what I have read online covers up to 5x7 so 4x5 with movements should be all good. The black thing is a film cassette, it holds 2 sheets of 4"x5" film, hence 4x5 camera. A lot of landscape photographers still prefer this format over digital apparently as resolution is 13x that of 35mm film which is said to be around 16megapickles equivalent, and the movements of the camera allow you to change the perspective of the photo in ways normal cameras generally cant. So far I have almost completed main frame of the rear standard. It will hold the film cassette, the ground glass that you use to compose your picture (yet to be made) and will pivot on a rail, and also be able to slide back and forth. I dont have much in the way of woodworking tools so this is all done manually with knifes, chisels and handsaws. Also dont have much in the way of woodworking skills so learning plenty on the way. kitchen counter at the moment: 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guypie Posted July 27, 2015 Author Share Posted July 27, 2015 Got a little bit more done on this now, started off by making a frame for the ground glass. I carved a portion of the inside of the frame so that the ground glass sits on a step on the inside at 5mm from the face of the camera back. this is important as that is where you focus to and it has to be the same point as where the film sits in the film cassette. Next I ground the glass with a combination of fine valve grinding paste and cerium oxide mixed with water. Last time I did this I used medium valve grinding paste and the grind was too coarse. On cutting out the piece of glass it chipped out on one edge, so it was back to the grind stone (or chunk of stainless steel in this case) for round 2. Grinding glass: Chipped piece: 2nd time ok! Glass in frame: This frame will be spring loaded against the back of the camera and you will lift and slide the film cassette underneath once you have composed/focused your image like so: 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuyWithAviators Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Wow - awesome! Also the first post's photos have gone missing. Can't wait to see some photos out of this! I have this one which was my great grandad's, really keen to learn how to use it. Untitled by GuyWithAviators, on Flickr 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guypie Posted July 27, 2015 Author Share Posted July 27, 2015 Wow - awesome! Also the first post's photos have gone missing. Can't wait to see some photos out of this! I have this one which was my great grandad's, really keen to learn how to use it. Untitled by GuyWithAviators, on Flickr Nice! best (by best I mean cheapest) way to learn is probably to use photo paper cut to size until you get the hang of it or get some shanghai iso100 4x5 film. I have not really used 4x5 except at the start of the year I went down to the Masterton and did a wet plate photography course over a weekend. It was fun but so much work and so many points during the process you can stuff up your plate. Also I have a speed graphic that I have put a polaroid back on to take the type 100 pack film. Its a smaller format taken using a 4x5 camera though. Photobucket is useless, I will move to imgur and re post the photos. I wanted to join flickr but screw signing up to a yahoo email just for that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guypie Posted July 29, 2015 Author Share Posted July 29, 2015 Finished the front standard and started work on the rail sliders today. The camera rail is from some kind of clip together shelving system they sell at bunnings. Its 1" square ali tube 450mm long, nice and smooth with anodisation for corrosion resistance. will probably shorten it and get another piece for if I end up getting different lenses that need a longer bellows extension at a later date. Front standard and MDF mock up lens board: The sliders will have a clamp screw at the bottom to pinch the rail and a rotating platform on to hold the fork the standards pivot on. There will be 3 sliders, one for rear standard, one for front and one for the tripod mount. Slider on rail: Mockup of the camera on rail to get an idea of proportions: Slider number 2 glued and clamped: That's all for now, not much woodwork left to go. Will soon be on the lathe making pivots for the rail sliders. Will probably have to invest in some taps and dies though as my budget chinese ones are total poos. Or steal some from a friend maybe, dies are stupid expensive. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roman Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 This is super cool man! Look forward to seeing how this progresses. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guypie Posted August 14, 2015 Author Share Posted August 14, 2015 A bit more progress, though nothing major as sanding takes ages and the recoat time for the varnish I am using is 18 hours @20c so its a coat a day. heres the sliders drying after coating: and the front and rear standards hanging up to dry in the darkroom: I cut out some bits of felt for light seals and installed them: This one has a little groove carved in the wood that the film holder clicks into when slid into place and cut a hole in the lensboard and painted it black: standards nearly finished: Now heres the real hangup, its the pivot point nut that needs to go in centre of the standards for tilt and rise/fall functions. this is one I turned up, its pretty rough, im not great at lathing things. The big problem I have is that I cannot for the life of me get this to part off, is there some special trick to parting off stainless? I have one of the parting tools that take HSS blanks, it has a few degrees of upward rake and I sharpened the bit with no relief scallop on top but in the end I just had to hacksaw it off and face off the ugly bit. It is hard work cutting a piece of 15mm solid ss with a blunt hacksaw! Any suggestions would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 It's hard to cover everything but big ones would be ensuring the tool is set to the correct height (slightly lower than center if you can't get it perfect) plus ensure you use lots of coolant or cutting oil. Cutting it with a grinder and facing off afterward is a good solution though 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downtrail Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 Make sure its a slow speed also for stainless. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 Make sure its a slow speed also for stainless. It looks pretty small in diameter though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downtrail Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 dont know how fast lathe was going tho lol. Hss and stainless = slow and steady. Like 700rpm type slow. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guypie Posted August 16, 2015 Author Share Posted August 16, 2015 Cool, will give that a try. Don't actually know how fast my lathe spins, it just has stepped pulleys. I should probably do the math and figure it out, but might just chuck it in backgear and see what happens. Then if it doesnt work do the maths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvmyvl Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 I have used the old trick of putting part in the lathe and spinning it, while cutting with a hacksaw. Works quite well for small parts. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 Realistically, 700rpm on an old lathe is probably pretty frantic. Anything from 100 - 700 will be fine for HSS..but slower is nearly always better if you don't have lots of coolant. Every time an apprentice fucks a part off at work its due to lack of coolant. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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