Couple weeks ago on eBay I won an elderly CP Goerz Dagor Ser. III 210/6.8 in an Ilex No. 3 Universal shutter. It was rather a bargain, possibly because of what it happened to be attached to: a 5x7 Ansco flatbed camera. On the page it looked like a junker; I was buying the lens, not the camera. But yesterday the package arrived -- and it turns out the camera wasn't as bad as it looked. Some wear on the corners, removing the grey paint. One piece of wood in the front standard slightly split, easy enough to repair. Bellows look quite good, one spot taped, but far from worn out. Gear tracks in good shape, all the knobs and other hardware in place and undamaged.
ONE major problem: it doesn't have its original groundglass spring back. The back that is on it is not original; for one thing, it's black, not grey. It sports a 4x5" groundglass Graflex focussing hood; the gg back part is attached by a slidelock, so it won't take 4x5 cutfilm holders. The groundglass has been pencil-ruled with 3x3" and 2.5x3.25" (yep, weird size) frame lines; I suspect the owner had been using some kind of rollfilm back. It's not quite a Graflok back; looks pre-Graflok.
I wonder whether anybody has one of these Ansco 5x7's that they might be parting out? I'm looking for a spring groundglass back in 5x7 or HP for this poor orphan. It's really too good to languish on the shelf; it should be making images. I can't find a model number or ID plate anywhere on the camera. The bottom of the bed is stamped "Made in USA by Ansco" followed with patent numbers. The back frame measures 7 5/8" width by 7 3/4 inch height INSIDE the stepped light trap; outside measurement is 8 1/2 x 8 1/2. I'm only ASSUMING it's 5x7; nothing on the camera proves that. The inside measurement of the bellows at the rear is only 6", but the wood frame just clears 7". The lens is mounted on a 5 3/16" wood lensboard FWIW. The back frame is held to the wood camera body by simple spring clips at the top.
Can anyone help me get this poor orphan back in shape to work?
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