Help please!

[Paramount bokeh]

Guys, can I pick your vast resource of knowledge please...

I have a Agfa Ansco 10x8 with the large wooden mounting plate at the bottom – as you can see in the image, it has three holes, none of them have any inserts – they don't look standard and I have a Cambo SCH head which has a 3/8 bolt for mounting.

However, search as I might, I cannot find anything which is suitable to get the camera to mount onto the SCH head. The simple solution would be to allow the bolt to go through the wooden plate and fit a washer/nut – but the bolt isn't long enough, and I can't seem to see a way for the SCH to come apart (don't really want to go there as whenever I take things apart I always seem to end up with spare bits!)

Surely I can't be the first to have encountered this problem, so what solutions did any of you guys come up with. I don't have engineering facilities, so hoping something simple yet substantial can either be constructed or purchased.

Thanks for your advice in advance.

[RichardRitter]

For the strongest and best way to mount the tripod would be with a "T" bushing thread from the top side of the tripod block. This would mean sending it to someone with the know-how and equipment to do this. You would only have to send the tripod plate.

[Jim Jones]

Richard is right. One neat alternative is a hardware store threaded insert with 3/8" internal threads that can be screwed and perhaps epoxied into the bottom plate.

[Jody_S]

Both of these should be at your local Home Depot or equivalent in the hardware section. Both will need some care to install, I recommend straightening the tabs on the 1st and gluing it in with epoxy. Trying to hammer it into mahogany will cause the wood to split. The other will probably screw into one of the holes, but again you'll need some glue to lock it in place.

[Paramount bokeh]

Thanks guys, this is very helpful.......

[SergeiR]

Both of these should be at your local Home Depot or equivalent in the hardware section. Both will need some care to install, I recommend straightening the tabs on the 1st and gluing it in with epoxy. Trying to hammer it into mahogany will cause the wood to split.

Isnt epoxy kinda iffy for the wood?

(there is easier option than hammering - you can heat it up and press into wood.. then spikes will just burn into it, and stay - a bit better torque control than just glued flat surface)

[BrianShaw]

I've also found that inserting the T-inserts slowly by drawing them in with a bolt&washer is much less destructive than hammering them in. I also spend the few seconds required to straighten the "claws" before using; it really makes a difference. I've also ground then down to be smaller, but that makes less of a difference. Either of those two approaches, though, will likely be quite effective. I'd probably go with the insert before the T-bushing, though, becuae if it works it will be virtually invisible once installed. Plus, if the insert doesn't work out it still allows the hole to be reamed bigger, which will likely be required to install the T.

[Jody_S]

Isnt epoxy kinda iffy for the wood?

The glue isn't required for any mechanical strength, just to prevent the insert from falling out/off. I have used epoxy for this sort of thing because it can be drilled or filed down and colored to match the camera wood. I'm sure there are wood fillers out there that can be worked as well.

[lenser]

Paramount,

From your photo of the camera, that seems to be the very desirable sliding tripod block which should be dirt simple to remove by just backing it off of the rails. There will probably be some sort of small guard to remove, but none of that will affect the camera.

Two thoughts then come to mind.

One is that you will be able to much more easily deal with the inserts once this is off the camera. If you are choosing the toothed one, take it to a skilled machinist or woodworker as it will not only need to be dealt with for the teeth, but also the fact that it will need to have an inset created so that the bottom does not protrude beyond the wood.

The second is that the camera itself likely already has a threaded mount for the tripod (likely 1/4x20) for which you could get one of Manfrotto's or others' adapters for either the camera or the tripod to go from 1/4x20 to the 3/8 inch for the tripod. This solution would not allow for the convenience of sliding the camera on the tripod like the sliding block will, but it would keep you from having to go through the modification.

Keep in mind that the sliding block is far more useful in close-up and studio environments that it would be in the field except for extreme close-ups.

[Paramount bokeh]

Lenser (and everyone else),

Thanks for the information and help... it really is appreciated.

Yes, the camera rail block itself does have a threaded brass insert already in there... problem is, if I mount that to the tripod with an adaptor, as you say, it somewhat limits movement.

I would much rather mount to the sliding tripod block, as you say.

It will only be used for studio portraiture.