3D Printed Lens Boards Anyone?

[Beevo]

I just acquired a Nagaoka 4X5 which came with no lens boards. Having a machine shop in my garage (and no room for cars) I whipped one up out of some 2024 aluminum sheet that I had sitting around.

At work I was showing a coworker the lens and board and his comment was "isn't the aluminum heavier than the wood ones?" He knew I was working on a wooden lens board.

THAT, got me to thinking. I fired up Fusion 360 and pounded out a lens board for the 90mm and printed it this afternoon. Looks and fits fine. It is printed in matt black PETG which is pretty durable stuff.

Bill V
Tempe AZ

[Graham Patterson]

You have to be careful of two things with 3D printed boards - the flexibility and the density of the plastic. Density should be OK with black layers of 0.6mm+ top/sides/base of the print. Flexibility can be a problem with heavier glass and thinner boards. Adding some careful thickening on the back of the board can help. I prefer metal for the Linhof/Wista type. I have used wood happily, and 3D printed the odd one. I have mostly 3D printed lens board adapters. I find that some flat black paint is a good idea for interior surfaces of 3D printed items as and the plastic an be quite reflective if any stray light does get in.

Pick what you have and can work easily. Yours looks nice.

[Beevo]

The raised part on the back is almost 0.250" thick and extends out as far as the opening in the camera will allow. Flange is as thick as the camera allows at 0.965. Four top and bottom layers and 75% infill.

Material is PETG, which is an easier to work with, less smelly, substitute for ABS. This will be plenty strong, I have been making a lot of parts from this material and have no qualms about its use in this application.

While the "flat black" filament I am using would best be described as satin black it will still get painted. This material is quite strong and I have used it to print 110 film carriers for my Plustek film scanner.

Bill V
Tempe AZ

[paulbarden]

I have about twenty 3D printed lens boards, all but two were designed and made here at home. I use ABS. They work beautifully (let’s face it, they’re not complicated) and cost very little. No, they’re not pretty, but that’s irrelevant. My first ones, I glued wood veneer to the fronts and stained them to match the Deardorff but I don’t bother doing that these days when I need a new one.

[Graham Patterson]

I have to admit that I painted my Graflok-compatible back for my Wista to match the colour of the wood rather than leave it original black. It will probably wear off, but I felt I had to make the effort. I have some 3D printed cameras and I'm happy to leave them as raw plastic. Odd, but I'm the one who has to use it!

[Beevo]

I have to admit that I painted my Graflok-compatible back for my Wista to match the colour of the wood rather than leave it original black. It will probably wear off, but I felt I had to make the effort. I have some 3D printed cameras and I'm happy to leave them as raw plastic. Odd, but I'm the one who has to use it!

With the rainbow of Krylon spray paints I bet I could find a can that closely matches the older cherry wood of this camera if I was so inclined.

Bill V
Tempe, AZ

[jga]

I have a M.P.P. VIII camera, and every single board I have was printed (by me) in PLA. The boards are quite thick (5,5mm, or 7/32" in medieval units), but they are lightweight and strong. I've mounted reasonably heavy lenses, including a Planar 135mm 3.5, a Xenar 210mm 3.5 and a Steinheil Orthostigmat 32cm 6.8.
Probably PET-G is even better, but I never had an issue with PLA, and I've been using them for the last 9 years.

[Beevo]

I switched away from PLA due to pieces being exposed to our desert heat and warping. I work strictly in PETG.

The material I used is Matt Black but actually comes out satin. Looks very nice. Only breakage I can imagine is knocking a corner off where it is thin in order to fit the camera.

[grey-lensman]

I recently finished a board for a 15" Tele Optar to go on my Pacemaker Speed Graphic. Due to the weight of the lens, I added material to stiffen the board and maximized the dimensions that would fit on the front standard. I'm pretty happy with how it came out. It's straight PLA, so I'd be careful about using it in high summer.

[jga]

I switched away from PLA due to pieces being exposed to our desert heat and warping. I work strictly in PETG.

The material I used is Matt Black but actually comes out satin. Looks very nice. Only breakage I can imagine is knocking a corner off where it is thin in order to fit the camera.

Oh, I never thought about that. I lived in Germany and now I'm in Chile (central part), so that was never a concern. I will anyway pay attention to the heat from now on.