Has anyone made a new housing for an old RB Graflex ??

[Steve M Hostetter]

Hey All!

I was wondering if anyone has made a new wood or metal housing for their vintage RB Graflex SLR's I know many have converted them to 4x5.. If anyone has and dont mind sharing the experiance ,,up's down's and shortcuts maybe a diagram would be nice! This Graflex i bought on ebay has served me well but is kinda on the beat-up side.. I would love to try and make it wood! If possible I am sure it will take some reverse engineering but can it be done without springing the mouse trap as they say..?


Thank you
steve

[rjmeyer314]

The wood under the leather covering is mahogany. There are lots of pictures on the web of Graflex cameras that have had their leather totally removed and the wood has been finished. The ones I've seen have come out very well. Another approach has been to buy new leather or leatherette covering (somewhere I have the URL for someone who sells kits for this) and redo the camera to the original look. Another approach I've seen is to combine the parts from 2 or more partially functioning cameras to get one working camera. I have 2 Press Graflex 5x7 SLR's, one can be made to work (I think) but lacks the proper back part that holds the film holder, the other is pristine outside, but won't work (mirroe broken, etc). When I get time I'm going to try to get one working out of parts from the pair. I've never heard of anyone trying to make a whole new Graflex SLR body from scratch.

[Sevo]

Hey All!

I was wondering if anyone has made a new wood or metal housing for their vintage RB Graflex SLR's I know many have converted them to 4x5..

What for? Sometimes they may need re-skinning, but that is about it. The housing generally is the component with the least issues, the RB owners I know all had to fix shutters, mirrors, hoods or bellows rather than the woodwork...

And the bulk of them were either 4x5 or quarter plate - while the latter sometimes get converted non-rotating 4x5 portrait by attaching a rigid 4x5 back, that does not seem to involve any modification to the housing.