Which hardwood used for this 4x5 camera body

<p>Agree with Jack. That is not cherry. Cherry has a very tight, closed grain. This wood is open grained. Look closeley - the surface is not totally smooth like Frank's cherry example. Rather, it you can see the open ends of the tubular vessels that once carried sap through the tree, which appear as dark spots and shadows.<br>

It is a tropical hardwood. It could be mahogany, or it could be any of a number of other tropical hardwoods. The common name Mahogany is now applied to a large group of unrelated tropical hardwood timber species from around the world. It could also be padauk, an African hardwood with an orange color like paprika, that is popular with woodworkers and luthiers. Beautiful stuff.<br>

Your mirror is oak or ash (probably oak).</p>

<p>I don't know about 4X5 cameras; but, if identifying the wood is important; I'd recommend the book "Understanding Wood" by Bruce Hoadley. I believe he was a PhD of Timber Frame Engineering at Yale. His book is a good plain language work on the properties of wood. In it is a section of examples of end-grain patterns, as they appear through a magnifying glass. It would take an up-close examination to really, really know for sure. </p>

<p>That said, I'd suggest that the quality of the joinery and overall appearance of the camera appear to be very good as far as the wood frame goes; to the point that the kind of wood involved, specifically, might not be that important. It's such an unusual piece, it's thought provoking. Those large dovetails, with fills instead of pins and tails, is unusual. Nifty idea. The joinery and the brass on there kind of make it a fashionable piece among woodworkers. Displaying good joinery is important to people into woodworking; probably very much the same way as a good view camera photograph is to advanced photographers. Overall, it's very intriguing. </p>

<p>It can't be Padauk, I only used it on one instrument, still have some in that attic. It is a deep red color, that like Purpleheart, turns brown in the sun. The mirror? And, I can only guess, since the photo doesn't show the grain as well as the others. It could probably be Maple, or maybe, (slight chance) poplar. Maple, because of it's characteristics, is used on some string instrument necks.Which would make it desirable in this situation. It is a very dense wood. I still say the other wood is Honduras maghogany, with African maghogany a distant second choice.</p>

 

<p>Thank you so much for your suggestions, very good of you all to take the time. - Catherine</p>

<p>Hi Frank, finally I have a pic of the other side and a closer look at the wood. Regards Catherine</p><div></div>

<p>Closer looks at the wood</p><div></div>

<p>2closer<br><div></div>

<p>So the next question is this, the size of the front opening are equal to those black metal plates?.<br /> So, do you going or itend to work on it and finish the camera?</p>

<p>There should be plenty of fine woodworkers or hardwood supply shops around Durham that can identify the wood species, I think NC has the highest per capita wood workers than any other state :). I'm guessing you want to know the species, so you can match it with a base you will build, to make a working camera? You can argue til the cows come home about wood species on the net, but I'd go to wood forums like wood magazine or fine woodworking for verification, but in person is your best bet.</p>

<p>It's almost certainly maghogany. Most likely from South America because the type from Cuba is now rare and expensive.</p>

<p>If you study the book, you can probably figure out what parts are missing: Some sort of bed to allow the camera to focus? Ground glass for the back. A lens board.</p>

<p>It really can't be anything but Maghogany. I've seen enough of it, and worked with a lot of it,to know it even on the internet. Got a maghogany banjo neck I've been working on. Have an eight foot board of it to make musical spoons,and bones, now.The wood of the mirror, that one , I still say it is maple. Look at the small "L" shape piece in the lower left hand corner.</p>

<p>Another vote for mahogany as material for the 'camera' body. As for the mirror, I can't really see it that well.</p>

<p>I wouldn't go so far as to call mahogany a hardwood, though. Regardless of its classification, it's a rather soft wood and easy to work with.</p>

<p>The funny thing about how they classify wood as "Hardwood" or "Soft". They go by the shape of the leaves. So, Balsa is classified as a Hardwood!<br>

But, as Frank pointed out. Maghogany is easy to work with.</p>

<p>Yeah it's a kind of strange thing, I often thought about it to why they call it for a hardwood. But it could be so that the definition of hardwood begins with Mahogany. Good density so it's float nicely on water.<br>

That mirror thing had nothing to do with the camera but could been used for a kind of side projection for ex. light or picture. They used to do that a long time ago in the motion picture industry. The created effect could be nice. I can't think of anything else realy.</p>

<p>Softwood versus hardwood is actually do with the seeds of the tree, but more simply generally corresponds to evergreen vs deciduous (shedding leaves in winter). Despite the names it has nothing to do with the hardness of the wood! So that is why balsa is a softwood.</p>

<p>Jon Grepstad has information about his book at http://home.online.no/~gjon/jgcam.htm , including some figures. At the upper-left there are some links to photos of the camera. The camera is a monorail. Obviously Catherine doesn't have the monorail.</p>

<p> </p>

<p><a href="http://forestry.about.com/cs/treeid/f/Tree_ID_wood.htm">http://forestry.about.com/cs/treeid/f/Tree_ID_wood.htm</a></p>

<p>Here's a link on Balsa being a hardwood.</p>

<p>Another part of the camera I've come across is:</p>

<p>frame 1</p><div></div>

<p>back of frame</p><div></div>

<p>Another book I believe was used in the construction is: How to build a 4 x 5 large format camera by Yvon Bourque, First edition 2003. The only online reference I can found on this is:</p>

<p align="center"><a href="http://www.mail-archive.com/cameramakers@rmp.opusis.com/msg00159.html">http://www.mail-archive.com/cameramakers@rmp.opusis.com/msg00159.html</a> - the book is extremely details and as it mentions 'here' it is to scale.</p>

<p>Thank you very much for the link to Jon Grepstad book, most informative. I have found some pieces of wood and brass knobs, perhaps meant for the monorail - Catherine</p>

<p>Hi - can anyone tell me how the frame above connects with the camera? Regards Catherine</p>

<p>Hi, I originally thought that this camera (in the making) is for 4x5 format, but seems rather large. It is 18.5 x 18.5 cms on the outside square and 11 x 11cms on the inside square. Can anyone clarify please? Regards<br>

Catherine</p>

<p>Please note that in October 2015 my webpages on building large format cameras move to: jongrepstad.com</p>

<p>Jon Grepstad</p>