What type of hardwood do you recommend?

[sumo]

Theres like a bazillion species of "oak" out there. Some are really porous and some can have almost none.
Jatoba is crazy heavy. Durable but you'll end up with a heavier camera. Mahogany is a good choice because although it generally looks bland (to me anyway) and mybe not the most durable choice, its very dimensionally stable and easy to work. Whatever wood you choose make sure you buy straight stuff and if you can, quarter sawn stuff. You don'twant your camera warping on you creating light leaks and unwanted movements.

[goamules]

Since most of the American cameras I've seen and owned from the 1870s through the 1930s are mahogany, and have been used by generations of photographers, moved around, stored in attics, etc, I'd say mahogany is very durable.

[Steven Tribe]

They are plenty of previous threads (some extremely recent) which are looong and have covered the subject extensively, including sources.
What is called Mahogany these days (since 1945) is only very occasionally a near relative to the commercially extinct real article.
For real wood go for recycling sources - the genuine article and well seasoned to boot!

[Colin Graham]

I always thought curly cherry or pear would be nice. I actually found some fiddleback maple once (someone had cut it into firewood blanks) but the 4x5 folder I made from it looked a little garish when I was done. Since then I've made a point of using less-figured wood like quartersawn cherry or mahogany on camera projects, but that's just personal taste. Cherry is probably the best compromise that I've found between tight grain, light weight and stability. But it's fun to browse and I try to keep an eye out for interesting stuff at the lumber yard. If you have access to it, lignum vitae is a very dense self-lubricating wood that is great as an inlay for bearing surfaces.

[John Jarosz]

On this subject there always will be a wide variety of opinions.

I feel walnut is too brittle as it easily splits. If you do use it make sure you pre drill all screw holes.

I have used cherry and mahogany for guitars and my 8x20 conversion. I use Cuban Mahogany from Blue Moon Exotic Wood . Their Mahogany worked very well for solid body electric guitars - and they can provide big billets if needed. Mahogany is somewhat open grained and it may take more effort than other woods to get a furniture-like finish if that's what you are after.

Hard Maple is also very tough, but it can be very difficult to work with and it's heavier that most woods. Tools must be sharp.

John

[linhofbiker]

I was planning to make a 5x7 from plans in View Camera magazine from the 90's. Rather than used a hardwood I found a supplier who sold me a small quantity of ABS plastic sheet of 3/8" thickness. ABS sheet is very expensive compared to wood, but has the advantage of being impervious to just about anything, and can be cut/routed like hardwood. I have lost the plans and have not built the camera yet, just one more project to do now that I am retired.

[Wojtekred]

ABS is great BUT I dislike the idea of LF camera made of plastic...(I like exotic wood and brass myself)
BTW,how do You want to cut it? CNC router?

[Drew Wiley]

Highly figured wood is nice if you want a camera to sit on the fireplace mantle rather than
use, like some of Wisner's fancy pieces, but it will be harder to machine and less dimensionally stable. ABS is dirt cheap and will attract dust like bears to honey. If you want plastic pick a relatively dimensionally stable grade of fiber-reinforced phenolic like Garolite, then hire an mahout and elephant to help you carry it around. Plain dry cherry is abundant, lightweight, and easily shaped. Don't expect to just go out and buy the kind of
mahogany that fine cameras are made of. Oak would be relatively worthless. But whatever.
I'd rather use a dimensionally stable laminate, that is, if you can tolerate the Scandanavian
look of wood. I'm too buy shooting to care about whether the camera is fashionable or not.

[Marc B.]

On the subject of sourcing wood for cameras, ideas from a previous thread...old pianos.
Probably not too many grands or baby grands out there, but lots of old spinets/uprights.

Besides the species of wood, you want very dry, stable wood.
Fine furniture makers won't use wood that hasn't seasoned for at least 5-7 years.
Wood for music instruments...longer still, 12-20 years is not unusual.

Old piano wood will meet all the requirements for a beautiful, and stable camera.

Marc

[John Koehrer]

Small pieces of hardwood(3-4" X36") can be had from "Rockler Tools"