80/20 seems to have everything needed to do a simple ULF build using the T channel aluminum blocks. Has anyone here or on the internets done this? The GG back seems like it would be a concern but other parts seem pretty straightforward. I'm thinking 11x14 or even 16x20, which is my favorite print size.
Where would one find plans for a ULF camera that could be made from T channel and not wood?
Start searching DIY here.
It's somewhere...
Tin Can
Isn't that what Jim Fitzgerald is used on his 14x17. Search Jim's camera building threads.
Roger
I am currently building my second ULF camera from 80/20. My first was a 20 x 24 - 14 x 17. I covered all of the extruded 80/20 with Walnut. My second is a build commissioned by a friend of mine and this time we are building it out of Black anodized 80/20. The camera is based on the Phillips/Chamonix design. It is a 14 x 17 camera. The only wood will be the front lens board frame with a 9 x 9 lens board and a reducer to 6 x 6 boards. The back is wood as well as is the extension rail. Front movements, rear has tilt only and we are waiting for the 42" bellows. As far as design goes look on the web for images of the cameras mentioned and copy them. That is what I have done as did the Chinese when they copied Dick Phillips design IMHO. I posted part of the build here on LFPF.
Have a look here. http://www.largeformatphotography.in...20-x-24-Camera
Thanks for the info everyone!
Jim, your build info is very interesting and I'll probably keep referring to those threads as time goes on. Interestingly, I'm wanting to do a ULF build for doing Carbon prints after watching your videos about the process and wanting to take it on, daunting as it may be.
I can find most of what I need so far but I'm a little foggy on a couple of critical areas of the camera. Things like: how to do tilt, how to connect the bellows, and what in the world are those flat springs on the GG back called?
I'm thinking I'd like a double extendable rail to keep the overall size of the camera down. I think I've found most of what I need to implement swing for the standards (by loosening the bits that hold the standard cross-bar down and swinging and shifting, then clamping back down). I can't visualize how I might do zero detents for 90deg to the rails and 0deg tilt, though.
I see that 80/20 and others have 3d models available but I wonder if there's a free software program that works with Mac OS X that I could use to design this thing? I did some drafting in high school many years ago so I could probably do things by hand but it would be nice to be able to visualize it better with "proper" design software.
The flat springs can be something of a challenge to find or make. My friend Vinny used feeler gauge material from Mc Master Carr. One needs to do many hours of research to find what suits his style of camera. Remember that the back of a 14 x 17 camera will be about 20" square. My frame is about 26" from front to back and the rail extends out about 20 inches. So it could go out about 42" which is plenty I feel. More than that and you will have design/weight issues to deal with. Unless you use a 42 or 47" Artar I don't feel you need more bellows than that. Just my .02. I use a 24" Artar as my standard lens on my 14 x 17. Hope that helps. For tilt you have to build your frame for the lens board. Build in from the inside out. Make it at least 3/4" thick. You can use a threaded insert sunk into the wood and epoxy it in for good measure and then your knobs will screw into that. Or do the reverse like on the Zone VI cameras. Hard to explain that one but it works great as well.
I think the software on the 80/20 site is free but I'm not sure. I just find images on the net and build from pictures of other cameras.
The more you build the more you learn. Bellows attachment is not that hard but need to be built to your camera.
Good luck.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kodak-East...0AAOSw6LBVA~ff - Have a look at the product images - also check other listings by this and other sellers. It will give you an idea of how the bellows are attached. In the case of the Kodak 2D the frames are screwed onto the front behind where the lens panel mounts on the front standard. At the rear, they are screwed through the frame inner edges just coming through to anchor themselves into the rear standard.Naturally for a ULF camera you will need a little thicker frames for better dimensional stability, and more anchor points.
check out my website for pics on building an 8x10 similar to the chamonix design. The feeler guages jim mentioned worked very well on both backs I've made. They're cheap, stainless, available in rolls, and require very little machining, if any. I recommend .031 thickness.
Vinny, that's a terrific camera build. I wish your slide show was a little slower, though.
“You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know
Vinny, what a great resource! Wish I had the equipment and skills to pull off a build that nice.
I'll be going through these again more slowly to see if I can pull off something like this using more off-the-shelf parts since I don't have the equipment or skill necessary to machine the various parts.
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