Arca Irish 8x10*

[Walter Calahan]

Let's hear it for the Irish. Aren't they the best!!!!!!!!!!

Very cool. Puts my 4x5 Arca to shame, but reminds me of my KB Canham 8x10.

American Black Walnut! Good choice. Grin.

[jb7]

Thanks for the comments-

Yes, American Black Walnut- got to be a favourite.
I wouldn't have used anything else, especially with the black of the Arca-

However, I did google it, and learned that it's the material of choice for making airplane propellers-

I already knew it was light and strong enough, but learning that was pretty cool-

Ok, some pix arriving soon,
no point in making this a long drawn out affair...

j

[Simon Benton]

The bellows are amazing. I must read that article.

[jb7]

Oh, and one other thing-

My folks got a big TV and wall mounted it, and were about to throw out the base.
So I grabbed it, chopped a channel out of some walnut, and slid the Arca Rail into it.
Makes a nice table top or low level base, but there's nothing to lock the swivel- apart from the end stop itself.

The lens in the picture is a Buhl Projector lens 9" ƒ/2.5 - it covers 8x10 at portrait distance. It's in front of a rear mounted Packard shutter- 6" with a 2¾hole - it's the very biggest that can be mounted behind a 171 board.

It's used in these pictures for illustration purposes, but I will end up using it at some stage too-

I picked up an older 45cm rail in the 'Mr.Cad pre-Christmas 50% off all used stock sale', and chopped it in half to make a telescoping one-





The top lock- I mentioned it in the hardware prototypes post-
this is the final version.

The sliding lock worked fine, and was quicker to operate than this one,
but there was a possibility of accidentally opening it,
so I came up with a much better solution.

The two studs are pieces of 6mm part threaded wood screw, with slots hacksawed into them to allow them to be screwed into the frame.

They positively locate the 1/16th angle, and the knurled thumbscrew locks it down.

[wfwhitaker]

Aye, you're a brave man, Joseph. And a damn talented one at that!

[jb7]

Well thank you, much too kind...














So that's about all for now-
though the camera is only part of the project,
and there's more to come, so I'll probably add it here as I go along.

I've no way of processing anything yet, so I haven't even exposed anything-

At best, this is like a proof of concept-
I haven't tested it yet at all-
though I can't wait-

Thanks again for the nice comments-

j

[jb7]

By the way, I've posted text on my local forum, but it was written for a non-lf readership;
it might seem too much like a basic primer for everyone here,
but it does go into more detail about the construction process-

If you'd like some more description, you can find it here

[Darren H]

Great project and looks like a great camera. Cheers!

[PaulRicciardi]

Wow looking good
Can't wait to see what you do with it, that's a gorgeous camera...Something about the combination of the wooden rear standard and the black rail/front standard is really striking. Has a very clean, modern look to it while still having some classic appeal.

Nice stuff.

[John Kasaian]

Beautiful work & engineering! Plus you've got an 8x10 now---congratulations!