tom_johnston4 Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 Can anyone suggest a source for a new ground glass for an Ansco/Agfa 8x10" camera? Because of the design of this camera's back, the corners of the ground glass are cut off. A picture of the camera is attached (or at least should be if I do it right). Of course, I could cut them off a rectangular glass and, for that matter, I could grind the glass myself in a pinch. Now that I think about it, does anyone know what grinding medium should be used when grinding a ground glass? Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denis_pleic Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 Funny, I just replied to same question on the Graflex forum today :-) Anyway, it's not that difficult to make your own - although probably not the same quality as the original. Use a thicker and larger piece of glass as the base, place it on a sturdy table, and put some valve grinding compound with a few drops of water on the surface. The compound would be available in auto shops, I guess... Anyway, put your future ground glas on top of that, and rub hard in a circular motion. Check frequently for even grinding (just pour some water on it to wash away the dirt). You could also use grade 600 sandpaper - grade 600 is often recommended for this purpose. The end result that I got this way was definitely usable, but not fine enough for critical use. See for yourself, it might be acceptable. Denis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denis_pleic Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 Anyway, I'm attaching a photo so you'll (hopefully) be able to see the end result of the technique described above. Admittedly, this was easy, since the size of my Speed Graphic is 2x3 :-)) Denis<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harry_akiyoshi Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 I ground my own glass a while ago. It came out quite a bit better than the original glass that came with my camera. I used a polishing compound, which is pretty fine -- maybe 5-10 microns? At any rate, it's pretty easy, just time-consuming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thirteenthumbs Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 Tom, What you have is commonally called "clipped corner" ground glass, a lot of cameras used it so its common. Daggor77 on e--- or cpgoerz as he is known here sells it regularly. Also Photo Techniques had an article on making you own a while back. Chalres Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
william_whitaker1 Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 The Agfa backs are a little strange because the ledge upon which the glass rests "bends up" in the corners necessitating clipped corners. It's easy enough to make your own ground glass as mentioned already. One of the photo magazines (I don't recall which) had a good article within the last year on making a ground glass. Another material you can use is P95 Plexiglas from Tap Plastic. 1/8" is good, but make sure you get the kind which is ground on one side. It can be cut pretty easily or even scored and snapped. It's cheap, it works well and it's virtually unbreakable. Another option is the Tachihara ground glass/fresnel. It has clipped corners and it's very nice to use. Midwest Photo sells them. I have one on my Masterview and really like it. The grid overlay provides protection for the relatively soft fresnel material, so it's better to go ahead and get it rather than try to pinch pennies. Alternatively, 1/16" Lexan from Tap would probably serve well as a cover piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shotz Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 The corners aren't clipped just to suit the camera back, they are clipped for a very practical reason. You use those little 'windows' to check lens coverage when you shift/tilt/swing. If you can look through the little corner opening and see the entire circle of the aperture (stopped down to shooting f/stop) you have coverage in that corner. Check all four corners and you know if you are covered. I am sure you know that lots of cameras allow much more movement than the lenses permit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jco Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 Try these people. Custom sizes, with or without grid and cut corners. Good prices. I dont see why anyone would attempt to make it yourself considering this guy offers custom sizes / grids / cut corners no extra cost and is very reasonable priced, i.e. "Cheap"! JCO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jco Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 oops: info@alettaphoto.com JCO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jco Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Ignore my previous posts. I actually got my hands on some of their glass and it was very rough grinding. I cannot recommend it. Sorry, JCO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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