Hi everyone,
I am the proud owner of an old Improved Seneca Full Plate view camera, by way of its last owner, Mr. Galli.
According to this site, http://www.fiberq.com/cam/seneca/sennew.htm, the camera is made of mahogany (with a cherry base) finished in black pigmented lacquer. For a second I was thinking about removing the paint and refinishing the mahogany. My assumption is that the paint has lead in it, so I am not sure I really want to do that. After looking at it for a while, I think that the black is kind of cool looking. It makes a nice companion for my black Walker Titan! It would be nice to touch it up and spray the wooden parts with lacquer or some other finish. Do I have to remove the original finish first? I really don't think I want to do that if I don't have to. Any suggestions on what to use on the finish?
The hardware is brass with a polished nickel finish and it looks like it will polish up nicely. Some of the screws are rusted. Any suggestions for sourcing appropriate replacements? I might just forget about this, but maybe?
The rear extension rail is missing. Anyone have one laying around?
The bellows is workable now, but it will need replacing. I am pondering a DIY job, but have not yet convinced myself that I will A) have the time, or B) do it right if I have the time. Of course, I don't have any holders yet, so I may have time to build a few bellows to get it right. (Of course, that may end up costing as much as a professionally made bellows.) If it was a square bellows, I might be less apprehensive, but this one is tapered, and for some reason I am less confident in my ability to do it right. For a pro-made bellows, my first thought was Camera Bellows in the UK. I have heard nothing but good things about them. Then I found out that Western Bellows is still around. I work not too far from Western Bellows, so I wonder if anyone here has used them recently, or has any comments about them. It would be nice to know before I make a decision on this part of my project.
Any other suggestions on anything relevant to this are welcome.
Thanks in advance.
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