11x14 Premo dryplate holder - repairable?

[BarryS]

My first holder for wet plate was an old dryplate holder, similar to what you've described. The truth is, it was terrible for wet plate because of all the porous surfaces. I varnished everything, but that didn't prevent a lot of issues with edge contamination. Once I switched to a converted modern holder, my problems disappeared. If you can disassemble the holder, remove the cardboard septum, and create a new septum out of plexi or aluminum to hold the plate, it would be 1000% better. I'm in the process of moving up from 8x10 to 11x14 plates and found a used modern Fidelity holder for <$200 that I'll be converting. It's a bit banged up, but should be good for a conversion.

[Joe Smigiel]

Here's how I converted an 11x14 holder to 10x12 wetplate:







Basically, I ripped out the septum and made 4 acrylic corners that slid into the septum groove. Since there is minimum contact with the plate, there are few problems with contamination. It doesn't allow a full 11x14 plate but if I needed that I would probably route out the inside a little and add corner wires or acrylic corners rather than replacing any septum.

[Jody_S]

So, no one has ever tried lubricating older cardboard dark slides with beeswax, furniture polish, paraffin, wax paper, anything?

Basically, the same methods outlined here for sticky drawers? I want to check before doing this, as it's irreversible I think, once the wax goes on, there's no way to get it off of cardboard. Though as I've sealed all the cardboard dark slides with lacquer, I might be able to wipe it off with a weak solvent.

[Joe Smigiel]

I've sanded a few down and then used paraffin when they weren't too bad. But, rather than take that route you might try to find some thin Garolite, styrene, or aluminum sheet and make some new slides. I think McMaster-Carr carries what you'll need.