Lensboard drilling - Canada?

[tim_atherton2]

Anyone know of someone in Canada who will drill wooden lesnboards?

 

I need a Deardorff wooden board drilled for Copal 0

 

It will be mounted with a retaining ring, not a flange, so it needs

to be nicely cut with space around for the ring and back element.

 

thanks

[eugene_singer]

Tim, is there some reason that you cannot send it to Steve Grimes? It needs to be milled, and he's the best. You could mail it to him in a Jiffy Bag. Just a suggestion.

[james phillips]

Tim

 

I made my own out of black acrylic just by carefully using a performance hole saw bit from Lee Valley. I then used a router bit to route the ledge out for the ring. It was quite easy to make a template for doing this. A piece of acrylic is much harder to work with than wood.

 

Just locate a very proficient cabinetmaker in Yellowknife and have him produce a test one in plywood. If he does it correctly then he can do the job your Deardorff board.

 

Regards,

[patrick_ingram]

Where in Canada? I just put in an order for a new (metal) lensboard from a well-known guy here in Vancouver (his first name is Horst). I can ask when I get it (hopefully Monday) if he does wooden ones, and I can tell you thn how much it was.

[dlabrosse]

2nd the motion about Horst Wenzel in Vancouver. Very competent guy. However, I had a friend drill mine in an aircraft maintainance workshop. Considering the proliferation of bush planes in the areaI bet there is some such facility in Yellowknife. I bet a case or two of beer might get you pretty far...

[robert_davis2]

In the Toronto area you could try

 

http://www.khbphotografix.com/

 

but anybody with a drill press and the right bit should be able to do a wooden board. I forget how big the 0 is but it's not that big.

[tim_atherton2]

"is there some reason that you cannot send it to Steve Grimes? It needs to

be milled, and he's the best. You could mail it to him in a Jiffy Bag. Just a

suggestion."

 

That would be my first choice, but Canada Post seems to have upped it's foreign rate by about 40% (just in time for Christmas), so they are now truly rediculous + Air Mail to and from the US seems to be about 3-4 weeks each way right now...

 

"Just locate a very proficient cabinetmaker in Yellowknife and have him produce

a test one in plywood. If he does it correctly then he can do the job your

Deardorff board."

 

There's no such thing! The one guy I found said he could take a look at it in a couple of months...

 

" Where in Canada? I just put in an order for a new (metal) lensboard from a

well-known guy here in Vancouver (his first name is Horst)."

 

That sounds good - I'm in Yellowknife, so Vancouver is "close" - any more contact details?

 

The bush plane idea might be a fallback....

 

"but anybody with a drill press and the right bit should be able to do a wooden

board. I forget how big the 0 is but it's not that big."

 

It's not just a simple hole though - I'd do that myself (though try finding the right bit in Yellowknife...) - the hole needs to be cut, then the rear needs to be cut out thin enough and with enough space to take the mounting ring.

 

I'll look into the Vancouver and Toronto links - thanks all

[robert_davis2]

" It's not just a simple hole though - I'd do that myself (though try finding the right bit in Yellowknife...) - the hole needs to be cut, then the rear needs to be cut out thin enough and with enough space to take the mounting ring."

 

It sounds like just two holes. Drill both from the back side. Start with the bigger one to the depth it needs. Then swap bits to the smaller one. You can get bits from Lee Valley. Head quartered in Ottawa but they have a few stores across the country and they do mail order. Just do a few tests with scrap wood to get the process down.

 

The problem with doing it yourself is the cost of two nice bits will exceed what some people will charge to do it. So for a one off it might not make sense. But since this is a #0 the small bit shouldn't be that expensive.

[dlabrosse]

Tim,

 

Horst Wenzel, Camera Technician

3996 West 38th Ave.

Vancouver, BC V6N 3Y6

Tel: 604.263.5820

Fax: 604.264.5820

 

I'd call him first to make sure he can do the job. He works out of his house - believe it or not - but does good quality, high level work. He'll even fabricate new parts for discontinued and old gear. Most of the Vancouver Pros use him to maintain & fix their gear. I think he should be able to do the job.

 

Good Luck.

[tim_atherton2]

" It sounds like just two holes. Drill both from the back side. Start with the

bigger one to the depth it needs. Then swap bits to the smaller one. You can

get bits from Lee Valley. Head quartered in Ottawa but they have a few stores

across the country and they do mail order. Just do a few tests with scrap wood

to get the process down.

 

The problem with doing it yourself is the cost of two nice bits will exceed

what some people will charge to do it. So for a one off it might not make

sense. But since this is a #0 the small bit shouldn't be that expensive."

 

Haa... if you'd ever seen me trying to put up a shelf, you wouldn't even think of suggesting it :-)

 

tim

[daniel_grenier1]

Tim;

 

If you don't want to do it yourself I'd take your board & shutter to your nearest wood hobbyist (we all know one don't we?). And surely you can have this done in no time. Believe me, I'm no good with shelves either but I did my two boards myself for my 8x10 Wista. One board was actually a Deardorff board wich I had to cut down to size as well as drill. The other I made - get this - out of a side panel which I ripped out of one of those big 60s wooden floor-model record players! Both boards have been going strong for 20 years and there was/is nothing to it.

 

Good luck with it.

 

Daniel - Ottawa

[john_kasaian1]

Tim, Does your local high school/Jr. College have a wood shop? Getting to know the instructor at such places has its benefits! I drilled a 'dorff board once and if you've got the proper bit it isn't that hard. I found the center by makeing two corner to corner diagonal lines with pencil on the back side (the black side) of the lensboard and where they crossed is where I drilled. Use a drill press with a wood block underneath and clamp the whole enchilada down on the table. Use a hole saw slightly smaller than the hole you'll need, go slowly and enlarge the hole with sand paper(I used a Dremel---impatient!) until it just fits. Most aircraft repair shops have drill presses and guys needing a few extra bucks(or beer) if you show then what you want they can do the job---just don't give 'em the beer until after they've bored the hole!---Cheers!

[paul_coppin]

Wood lensboards can fairly easily be drilled (cut actually) to any size large hole by any woodworker competent with a wood lathe, or even on a metal lathe, or a router, hole saw and sanding drum. The relief in the back can be cut with a router bit. The slickest way is on a wood or metal lathe.

[james phillips]

Tim,

<p>

With the limited amount of daylight your getting, I thought I could at least encourage you to get in trouble by doing it yourself on the kitchen table. :>)) <p>Here is a link to Lee Valley for the SawTooth bit you need. <p>

<p>

<A HREF="http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?page=42245&category=1,180,42240&ccurrency=1&SID=">Lee Valley Saw Tooth bit</A>

<p>

 

 

Next you need the router bit.

 

<p>

<A HREF="http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?page=30110&category=1,46168,46176&abspage=1&ccurrency=1&SID=">Lee Valley Router Bit</A><p>

 

Just kidding, but it really is quite easy for anybody who does a bit of hobby woodworking. I just hope the HTML links work because I'm not much good at this and will not be re-posting to fix it.

[edward_burlew]

Drilling your own is easy. Find centre, use a slow speed in a drill press and use an adjustabble bit. Then you can run into the next problem. The thickness of the board may not let you fully seat the rear element. That requires you to rebate or step ddown the thickness of the board for about .25" around the hole on the back of the board. If you have a router you do this by placing a square cut bit with a pin centre that exnends above the cutting edges in the router . I secure the router and then use the router in the inverted postion like a table and carefully route the edge away. It is easy for a serious wood worker but not a step for a novice. You do need to practice na have a couple of samples done to be sure you do not make a mistake on the custom board. A furniture maker would be my suggestion. I have made dozens of boards for my own cameras and hve several for future lenses , I do not do these for customers. The more precise the hole the better the focus. You can even do extra off set bords so you can extend the shift or rise capabilities of your camera.

[tim_atherton2]

"It is easy for a serious wood worker

but not a step for a novice. You do need to practice na have a couple of

samples done to be sure you do not make a mistake on the custom board. A

furniture maker would be my suggestion. I have made dozens of boards for my

own cameras and hve several for future lenses , I do not do these for

customers. The more precise the hole the better the focus. You can even do

extra off set bords so you can extend the shift or rise capabilities of your

camera.

 

Wood lensboards can fairly easily be drilled (cut actually) to any size large hole by any woodworker competent with a wood lathe"

 

Again, all reasons I was asking for a place to get it done... we have no woodworking shops, cabinet makers, furniture makers etc... the High School may have the gear, but it's much easier to find someone down south who knows what they are doing, bung it in the mail and let Mr. Visa take care of it....!

 

thanks

 

tim