Restoring brass on a Sanderson Tropical

[LabRat]

Yo Roger,

With the "whiteout" job on my camera, I'm not surprised... Here in the states, we have had an excess of stuff for a long time, and a lot of "junk" that had done it's job long ago... So we had a lot of stuff left over from the wars, use/abuse, etc... (A lot of inventions from the "analog" days came from things made from junk from "behind the barn", as this was the material that one had at hand...) Look at something like Hot Rods... (Old cars spliced together...) So not surprising to find something that cost almost nothing then, and since it was theirs, they had the "right" to do ANYTHING with it!!! Sad, when done badly, but it would happen all the time... But back then, (mostly) no one wanted old stuff much, but now is cherished (and $$$$$$$!!!!)

Look up the "french polish" as it is not in a bottle, but a process to make an applicator and apply a VERY thin coating of shellac to a surface...

Have fun!!!

Steve K

[Rover90]

Hi Steve,

Aha... Now that makes sense... We do have stuff in bottles marketed as French polish or similar, so I must admit that I thought of it more as the product rather than the process. It also refinforces IanG's comment about making up his own in three different colours - so thanks to both for that idea!

StevenTribe commented that the bellows would be my biggest challenge. DON'T MENTION BELLOWS to me..!!! I made an embarrassing cock-up whilst removing them... They weren't great to start with - they're not quite that good now Ah well, I learnt a lot that day!

I'm posting four pics of it in its 'as found' state after a wipe down...

Roger

[Drew Wiley]

Shellac on brass is intended to be very thin. But "French Polish" really refers to slowly building up multiple coats of it, swabbed on one after another, with abrasive polishing in between. Traditionally they use pumice and rottenstone in paraffin oil. Now you buy some commercial polish or do like me - fine Scotchbrite pads. Shellac flakes can be obtained in various degrees of amber. It's all based on how much the flakes were bleached first. In paint or hobby stores you generally only get the option of clear or amber (orange) shellac. Some of it contains wax to slow drying. Best to mix your own if you can. I cheated a couple week ago and used penetrating marine epoxy with a tad of true can rust mixed into it - I wanted the "look" on a particular piece (to match my weathered tripod), but the performance of a modern permanent waterproofing. There are all kinds of tricks.

[Jim C.]

That's interesting, Jim. So you cleaned and polished the brass, and then left it bare to just tarnish naturally? Whilst the brass on my camera is looking much better for being cleaned and polished, I'm aware that if I lacquer it (or whatever) to preserve the shine it is going to look a bit glitzy. Once I've figured how to post pics I'll post some of it in its as found condition.
All the best
Roger

That's pretty much what I did, it looks pretty decent considering I didn't clear coat the brass three years
ago, sweaty fingers do leave marks !

I do remember that I used a product called Eagle One Never Dull after I cleaned the brass as a final
polish, it's a coarse cotton wadding to with petroleum distillates for polishing metals.
That may be why it looks as good as it does compared to my other 2d's that didn't use Never Dull on.

Your camera looks like a gem in the rough, you might want to try soaking some of the brass
hardware in lacquer thinner to strip off any coating that may be on there to see what the original finish
was like, it looks like the Brasso didn't quite reach the brass in some ot your pictures.

This a just taken picture of my 2d's brass -

[goamules]

Here's a Sanderson Tropical I had for a while, in "semi patina" condition. Nice little camera, I wish I'd kept.

[IanG]

Roger, if it was mine I'd be looking for another lens panel and original lens as the one on the camera has been modified to take the presumably Dallmeyer (Packard) shutter. You do see these lens boards and lens & shutters for sale reasonably often.

Ian

[Pete Watkins]

The brass on your camera would have originally "hot lacquered". The grained or polished brass would have been warmed up and given a coat of shellac based lacquer. Various coloured lacquers were still available in the 1960's. the workshop where I worked favoured Hot Gold lacquer from a shop named Gedges in (I think) St. Johns Street in Clerkenwell. If the brass was too hot the lacquer boiled on contact and the brass was quickly dunked into some meths, cleaned up and it all started again.
Pete.

[Rover90]

Thanks again to you all for more interesting comments: IanG - Yes, you're right. A Packard-Ideal shutter had been installed (badly!) I have removed it, and the lens panel is restorable. However, if I can find a suitable replacement whilst I'm working on the rest of the camera, then that's the way to go. It didn't come with a lens anyway, so I'm after a Unicum or Koilos shutter with a lens. Peter Watkins - I've tried to track down Gedges, but unfortunately after trading since 1958 they have now gone. Drew Wiley also seems to favour home-brewed lacquer, so I think I'll dig up a few recipes and start experimenting! Then again, JimC's camera looks good without any coating on the brass... Incidentally Jim, the more I look at my camera, the more I think I was lucky. It is a gem - but it hasn't been well treated. You can see the state of the lens panel and some broken/missing brass bits, but you can't see a couple of splits in the wood, etc. By the way, the pics I uploaded were taken before I did anything to it, bar a wipe down to clear some of the thick dust. The dark marks on the brass are the 'corrosion' I spoke of in my original post, and it's difficult to remove. I mentioned Brasso - it's just a tradename. I've no idea how good it is in the great scheme of things (!) but it has a job shifting those marks. That's where the tomato ketchup trick comes in!! I've got a busy week ahead, but I'll take some more pics of the brass as soon as I can to show you. Lastly, thanks to goamules for posting the photos of your old camera. It looks like it was a really nice one - and complete with the Adam's viewfinder and Taylor, Taylor & Hobson spirit level. Mine does at least have the level - but it's all bubble and no spirit, if you get my drift?! These were made to special order for Sanderson's, so whereas I've seen the viewfinders on eBay, I imagine these might be a challenge? Then again, it must be possible to refill them..? That's a question for another thread though..!

Cheers
Roger

[LabRat]

Also, let me add a little something a little OT about this operation you are embarking on...

I suggest going about this restoration step by step, as you are making a user camera, try to make it work first, before making it too pretty, or you will be "babying" /fussing with it too much in the field, where if you had a "beater" type camera, you would spend much less time coddling it and more time pounding out shots without worrying about it at all... (If it's for solely for display, that's different!!!)

Another thing is to beware of is "over-restoration", as the camera has earned it's scars over the years, and if you clean it up too much, it will start looking "NEW" (but sometimes knock-off fake), so allow some "character" of the ages to live on...

Re-mounting the Packard shutter nicely is a big+++, so you can use odd barrel lenses + Petzvals, etc, for low money + fun...

Make a lot of extra lens boards so you can try whatever lenses you find... Save the board the came with the camera for display, but for test boards that you can make on your kitchen table (that work VERY well), follow these instructions (for the process) I posted on this page (#6), using your lens board sizes;

http://www.largeformatphotography.in...uper-D-Graflex

There's no law that you can't use modern or classic lenses on it... (Old photographers often adapted their gear due to changing needs or gear they got their hands on over the years... Yours has hints of that!!!)

And take careful measurements of your bellows ASAP (before they fall apart), as you should buy or make another set before you use this camera, because fixing bellows this old quickly becomes a frustrating game of "wack-a-mole"... Search this site for many comments/reviews of current bellows suppliers... (Not a lot of money, sometimes!!!)

It will be a worthwhile journey... You will learn a lot, and the camera will love you for it!!!!!!

Steve K

[Pete Watkins]

This might help:-

Hot Lacquer

½ oz of Annatto
½ oz of Saffron
2 oz of Turmeric
6 oz of Seed-Lac / Shellac in coarse powder form
2 Pints of alcohol (metholated spirits)

Mix the first three ingredients in the alcohol and leave for several days shaking daily.
Strain into a bottle containing the Seed-Lac / Shellac and shake until the shellac is dissolved.

Extra colouring can be obtained with the addition of:-
More Saffron
Gamboge
Dragons Blood
Aniline


Pete.