Ground glass in Australia?

[justin_chan]

I stupidly broke the ground glass on my Toyo 45C a little while ago.

 

I've called several glass dealers here in Melbourne, Australia

including ones that deal in specialty glass (stained glass for

hobbyists etc) and have been told that the minimum thickness glass

they carry is 3mm. I haven't accurately measured the thickness of the

broken glass but I'd estimate it to be about 1.5-2mm.

 

1. Does the extra thickness matter? The ground glass is held in place

by a metal clamp on this camera. I'm particularly worried about focus

shifts.

 

2. Does anyone have an Australian source for ground glasses? I'd buy

one from eBay but I'm a bit worried about shipping a thin piece of

glass from USA to Australia without it being smashed on arrival.

 

Vanbar here sells the replacement 45C screen for $50, but I was hoping

to find a cheaper source, because I can't really afford $50 if it

breaks again.

 

Cheers,

Justin

[conrad_hoffman]

The ground side goes towards the lens, so the thickness of the glass doesn't matter much. It shouldn't be so thick as to strain the clips or whatever holds it in place. I use ordinary picture frame glass, and grind it with another small piece of glass (about 1" square) and some fine carborundum compound. There was an excellent article in Photo Techniques magazine on how to do this. It isn't rocket science, and you can pick up grinding compound from either an optical supply house, or an oil mix compound from any machine shop supply company (Clover Compound). Something in the 240-600 grit range will work nicely, depending on how fine you want it. Total cost for a lifetimes worth of ground glass should be about $20 for grit, glass, and elbow grease. Do use a new glass cutter, as they tend to give unreliable cuts when they get old.

[colin carron]

I bought 2 sheets of ground glass for my MPP mail order from Stephen Shuart in US. They arrived in the UK well packaged and in one piece and were surprisingly cheap all things considered.

 

www.stephenshuart.com

 

Colin

[michael_briggs2]

<p>Assuming regular ground glass and that the camera locates the ground glass by the ground surface, the thickness of the glass doesn't effect focus accuracy.</p>

 

<p>This was discussed on this forum, along with suggestions on making ground glass, a few days ago: <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=006aS0">Problem with Grid-Lined Screen</a>.</p>

[mike_lyons]

Justin, I know how you feel. I'm in the South of Western Australia and not surprisingly isolated from LF supplies. I made my own GG as per the Camera Techniques article using picture framing glass ( the guy gives me 4x5 offcuts for free since I use him for my framing needs) and 3micron and 5 micron abrasive powder from an Adelaide company. The rest is just patience but dirt cheap to do.

Regards-Mike

[jim_hasapis]

Since I live in the States, and my images are upside down and backward, are they right side up below the equator? ;)