Any advice on making lens board for Anniversary Speed Graphic?

Hi all,

 

Last year, some of you advised me to buy a 203 ektar 7.7 for what I was looking

to do with my Anniversary Speed Graphic. Now I have the lens on the way (in a

Supermatic #2 shutter), but I have no lens board. I have tried several of the

LF stores (Midwest, Quality, Badger) and auction sites and they don't have any

in stock, with none on the way. It looks like, short of somebody offering one

to me for sale, I will have to build one (I have a 7 day period in which to try

the lens and return it if not happy). I was just wondering if anybody had any

helpful hints on building these boards (I am sure that some of you have taken

on the project before). In particular, what material did you use, plywood,

pressed board, oak veneer, etc., and how did you build the light trap (if at

all). I am thinking about just using a hole saw to cut the hole into the

board, but perhaps some of you have found a better way. I have some basic

tools and a 'mouse' sander. No Bob Vila here, unfortunately, although I can be

pretty crafty with what I have.

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

http://www.skgrimes.com/lensboards/index.htm

They may be able to provide what you need. No idea how much it will cost though.

Good luck!

Doug,

 

I went to our local home improvement hardware store (Menards) and purchased a small sheet of 1/4" baltic birch plywood I think it was 2'x2' for less than $4.00. I cut out a 4"x4" board (several actually, plus some 6'x6' boards for my 8x10 cameras) sanded the edges down on a belt sander to fit camera standard. Then I used a tool similar to the one on the right in the following link to cut the lens opening. I bought the circle cutter at the home improvement store also for less than $10.00. Painted the back of the lens board flat black.

 

http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=800-705&LARGEVIEW=ON

 

Hope this helps.

 

Wayne

Actually those lens boards were 6"x6", I hate not being able to edit a post.

 

Wayne

Find someone who does basic woodworking. It is nothing special as demonstrated in the last post.

I am also interested in that lens. About how much did you pay and where if you don't mind sharing.

You can test the lens with a "lensboard" made of corrugated cardboard. All it has to be is light-tight and stiff...

I've made many for other cameras like Shen Hao, wista, linhof from a rigid composite

material. I may have the materials to make what you need. Check in the store section on

my site.

 

www.vinnywalsh.com

The circle cutter(s) pictured in the link above are designed to be used in a drill press and are difficult to control in a hand drill. <br>

from Graflex.org, Lensboards for Anniversary (and pre-Anniversary) are Graphic "C" boards, which are 4x4 inches. <br>

Calument and other cameras use 4x4 boards and may fit the Anniversary 4x5 camera.<br>

I usually go to Tap Plastics and get some black acrylic in 3/16 thickness, clamp a piece of 3/4x3/4 aluminum square to the piece as a guide for my jig saw (Bosch variable speed) and cut it out using a 21 tooth metal/plastic cutting blade. Next I use a Dremel in a router attachemnt with a straight cut bit to rabbet the back edge to fit into the bellows opening so that the front is flush to the board locks. I drill the mount hole with a hole saw closest to the mount ring size an enlarge as needed with the dremel with sanding drum. <br>

If you use board material that is the thickness of the front bellows edge to the lens board lock then cut another piece the size of the bellows opening, cut a hole large enough for the shutter lock ring to fit thru and glue it centered to the back of the front board to create the light trap, and paint it flat black.<br>

Just type in Graphic lens board into a certain well known auction website and you shall find.

Guys,

this is all great information. I was particularly interested in the choices of materials being used, and the tools. I was contacted this morning by somebody that may have one, I will know tomorrow--but if not,then I am going to build one myself with the instructions here. BTW, I obtained the lens on Ebay for $130. It is definitely a user lens ;-) but the shutter speeds seem right on and the glass isn't bad--a few solvents should take care of some of the grime/marks on the elements. Thanks again for your help, I have confidence that even I can do this job!

Wayne Scott has the right idea, although I've only found the russian plywoods at specialty wood stores, not my local HD or Lowes. If you have the time, there are online sources for plywood that is really thin, 1/8" etc, typically used for scroll sawing. I even have some 1/32" but that wouldnt hold up very well. You can also use plastics like phenolics (the black ones not clear :+) ). Warning: once you start making your own lensboards, it translates into other areas...

 

That circle cutting tool should be used in a drill press. You can also get accurate enough by drawing the hole with a compass, cutting out with a coping saw (<$10) or scroll saw, and then sanding to the line.

Try Goodwin. San Diego, CA