I recently picked up a "whole plate" 6.5x8.5" Century No. 2 view camera in very good condition. It has a working Compound shutter and a Goerz 9.5" Celor lens. The bellows are in good shape and are light-tight.
Included were three Century double-sided wooden plate holders. They are in very good shape and are light-tight EXCEPT for the dark-slide light traps.
I took out one of the light traps: it is held in place with three tiny wood screws. The black felt is frayed-looking. The felt is held in place under a spring assembly, which looks something like a double-sided brass comb; the comb teeth act as springs. The felt/comb-spring assembly is held to a small strip of wood with tiny finish nails. I'm afraid to pull the nails out of the ancient wood strip, as it is so fragile-looking.
I tried gingerly expanding the spring-comb assembly to put more pressure on the black felt, and reassembling it, but it still leaks light... A new piece of black felt the correct thickness would probably fix the problem, but I'm uneasy about more dis-assembly...
If I can fix the light traps, I'm going to try to take a 5x7" film sheath and attach it to a 6.5x8.5" insert, and hopefully use 5x7" sheet film in them.
Anyone have suggestions for rebuilding or replacing the old Century light traps? (Yes, I know custom "whole plate" film holders are now being made, but they cost more than the $270 I paid for my whole Century No. 2 outfit.) While the Century view does not have a lot of movements and is lightly constructed, I'd still like to get a little light use out of this old well-made beauty.
Thanks from Leigh in Santa Barbara, Calif.
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