One thing I have learned from my DIY activities is that making a plate/film holder is one of the more demanding activities, which I have never been able to do well with the level of skills/tools I have available. Fortunately, I have quite a large number of "back door" holders in good condition. But these are mostly from 8x10" up to 14x16" and have not been used a lot by the original owners who were mostly making CdeV and the 4x6" sizes.
Anyway, I have become more interested in the capabilities of the the smaller sliding box cameras of the 1850's onwards. The lenses from this period are really relatively easy to get hold of - but the cameras are either very expensive (like early stereographic equipment - too many collectors!) or in really bad condition. There are quite a few nice replica cameras "out there", but the simplicity of the design and the availability of suitable vintage boxes makes a DIY appealing.
So I have the "box" (photo 1,2 and 3) - american white oak - and the lenses (Ross CdeVs, Horne & Thornthwait and Bland & Co). But I needed a suitable camera back or plate holder to show me how to construct the rear end of the camera.
I bought a wetplate holder which is called a 4x5" and which is approximately that size. It is more like 4x5 1/2" . It was very well described as "needing a lot of work". It is the slide down type with a "bridge" across the top. It will serve as a model for the GG insert.
So this short thread will be about revitalising the wetplate holder. I am not quite finished, but it is not a tale of woes!
Any doubt about what the holder was used for - and caused the damage - is removed as the bottom lip of the dark slide has a deposited layer of silver!
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