Fixing warped wooden parts

[IanG]

Last weekend I bought a whole plate camera from another member of this forum to restore, so priced as such (no complaints). However the front lens standar has a stron bow in it and I will need to straighten. This is what it's like -



I'll remove the bellows but any suggestions on how to straighten this, the curve is quite pronounced, until it's straightened I won't be able to add a lens board easily. I've a slight warp in a back on another camera so plan to do them both at the same time.

After that I've got to graft in a new piece of mahogonay where the front rail has been repaired in the past but this should be less problematic. I've plenty of vintage bits of wood that will match.



Any advice would be appreciated.

Ian

[vinny]

eessh. run it through the planer!

[cosmicexplosion]

One thing you can try is putting two chocks of wood under each corner and clamping down the middle. Then apply heat from a bar heater or heat gun if you have or mate has.
Soaking the con curved side on water will help.
It may also require setting for a few days and a bit of encouragement from aforementioned techniques.

When done give a good oil or varnish
As it could be a no good bita timba
That's prone to warp. Keeping moister out is top priority.
If it fails you need to make a new bit.
A furniture maker will help you.

[Richard Wasserman]

Any chance you can make a new replacement standard? It might be easier than trying to straighten the warp (I don't know how you would do that) and do the other repair.

[Drew Wiley]

It would be easier just to make the whole piece from scratch. Otherwise you can remove it
and try to weight press it for maybe six months, but that's no guarantee it won't warp in
the same manner again.

[E. von Hoegh]

Make a curved lensboard.

[Drew Wiley]

Photograph Einstein's curved universe.

[Steven Tribe]

I personally think that the bow is so great that making a replacement is necessary. This must be one sick piece of wood - grainwise.

Otherwise you could make up a temporary steaming container (like steaming vegitables in the kitchen) and then clamp it flat. My experience is mostly with ash which is a dream to work with. Remove the lacquer before steaming.
Don't worry about wetness, the item has to be clamped before going in the oven to dry.
It is the initial drying of fresh timber which has to be done carefully and slowly.

[E. von Hoegh]

You need to use an anamorphic lens on that camera.

[E. von Hoegh]

Photograph Einstein's curved universe.

Wow. What kind of shutter would you use?