I'm making myself some film holders(and I need some dimensions please)

[Daniel Stone]

hey all,

thanks for the boosts of confidence !

Colin: my man, THAT is what I'm talking about! Wowee!!!
I'm going to try to stick with the ANSI standards for now, and since I'll be using 8x10 film for the majority of my work, I think I'll heed your guy's advice and stick with the 8x10 only, for now. I can always CROP, shhhhh..... .

Cherry it will be then. I love the look of your holders Colin, I'm totally happy with the look and color of your holders, I'll go with that. I'm not totally stingy with materials, I'm happy to spend some money(what little I have ) on good quality wood.

Richard: no, I don't have a wood-burning stove, but my parents DO have a fireplace. So the scraps I can burn this winter. Out here in LA we don't get to use it much, but if there is some good smelling wood, I'll happily add it to the fire to keep things smelling nice!

I'll take apart one of my 8x10 wooden Kodak/Graflex holders to get dimensions and tolerances.

thanks again guys, it really means a lot to have some support from photogs AND woodworkers .

cheers,

-Dan

[Michael Kadillak]

hey all,

thanks for the boosts of confidence !

Colin: my man, THAT is what I'm talking about! Wowee!!!
I'm going to try to stick with the ANSI standards for now, and since I'll be using 8x10 film for the majority of my work, I think I'll heed your guy's advice and stick with the 8x10 only, for now. I can always CROP, shhhhh..... .

Cherry it will be then. I love the look of your holders Colin, I'm totally happy with the look and color of your holders, I'll go with that. I'm not totally stingy with materials, I'm happy to spend some money(what little I have ) on good quality wood.

Richard: no, I don't have a wood-burning stove, but my parents DO have a fireplace. So the scraps I can burn this winter. Out here in LA we don't get to use it much, but if there is some good smelling wood, I'll happily add it to the fire to keep things smelling nice!

I'll take apart one of my 8x10 wooden Kodak/Graflex holders to get dimensions and tolerances.

thanks again guys, it really means a lot to have some support from photogs AND woodworkers .

cheers,

-Dan

Good luck with your project. I am sure that Colin can share some of his experience when questions come up as I suspect he enjoys a good bottle of wine that may come his way for his efforts. I call this some cheap insurance (the assistance not the wine).

[Erik Larsen]

Go for it Daniel if you enjoy woodworking, it will be a fun project. Don't do it if you think it is a way to save money though. For the cost of used 8x10 holders I doubt you will really save much money making your own. On the other hand, if you get into 8x20 or any ULF size, you can save substantially by making your own holders as ULF holders are ridiculously expensive imo. I have made a couple dozen 11x14 holders and it was a fun project, but it took a lot of time. There are many, many cuts you have to make for each holder. If you go ahead with the project, my advice would be to make at least 10 or so and do it assembly line style. Set up your tool for whatever cut you need and make all cuts needed at the same time so you don't have to re tool for each holder. This way you can interchange parts if needed pre assembly because inevitably some of the wood will have a defect after you cut it, warpage most likely. Just look at a holder and count all the cuts you will have to do, it really is a lot There is nothing hard about making them, but it is gonna take up a considerable amount of time, but like I said earlier if you enjoy woodworking it can be a fun project. Post your progress as I'm sure others would like to see what you have come up. Colin has a great example of what can be done and he did a great job imo.
good luck!
erik

[John Bowen]

Hey Dan,

This is taken from the AWB site:

Making these filmholders takes a considerable amount of time to produce. It requires about 150 set-ups to produce 1 filmholder. And each holder's parts are custom machined by hand. Purchasing and picking out lumber for these holders can often be tidious and frustrating. After selecting the lumber and bringing it to the shop, cutting it is another nightmare. Sometimes, just when you thought that your lumber is straight-grained when you picked it out, it bows and bends on you, and when that happens, it's of no use. A wasted piece of material and money. Each piece of wood has to be straight and straight-grained (quarter-sawn). Not always does a piece of wood straighten out when clamped in the opposite direction for correction and stay put. Weather and the amount of moisture in the wood determines what it will do after it is cut.

Were it me, I'd build a table and purchase the film holders :-)

Have Fun!

[Michael Kadillak]

Hey Dan,

This is taken from the AWB site:

Making these filmholders takes a considerable amount of time to produce. It requires about 150 set-ups to produce 1 filmholder. And each holder's parts are custom machined by hand. Purchasing and picking out lumber for these holders can often be tidious and frustrating. After selecting the lumber and bringing it to the shop, cutting it is another nightmare. Sometimes, just when you thought that your lumber is straight-grained when you picked it out, it bows and bends on you, and when that happens, it's of no use. A wasted piece of material and money. Each piece of wood has to be straight and straight-grained (quarter-sawn). Not always does a piece of wood straighten out when clamped in the opposite direction for correction and stay put. Weather and the amount of moisture in the wood determines what it will do after it is cut.

Were it me, I'd build a table and purchase the film holders :-)

Have Fun!

My sentiments completely John. At the price of hard wood these days I would think that there is a fast point of diminishing returns that would only be offset by experience in working with this material. But as they say sometimes the prospect of a romantic journey can overshadow the adverse possibilities. The older I get the more inclined I am to listen to the voice of experience. Plus the closer we get to spring the less time I want to spend in the shop or in front of a computer. The field is where photographs are made. Onward!

[cosmicexplosion]

what a great bunch of humans all getting all getting a long

good luck with the quest Dan

and be very very patient

oh and be patient some more.

i think the first one will take about a million years, but after that you will be taking orders...


very nice holders colin

i have book marked for future, and will check out your site, you sound like a leprechaun!

[Nathan Smith]

I wonder if there's some type of plastic that can be worked like wood, but would be dimensionally stable, and without any grain to deal with. Any ideas?

[Michael Kadillak]

I wonder if there's some type of plastic that can be worked like wood, but would be dimensionally stable, and without any grain to deal with. Any ideas?

I am sure that you can get colored acrylic, but working with it is a highly specialized skill that few have the tools and experience to put to use. Yes, it is dimensionally stable, waterproof, strong and durable. Injection molded dies are the choice of applying this material into a final product and the high costs of set up are only recovered with large numbers of manufacturing. Relatively speaking the current injection molded film holders in 8x10 and 4x10 are absolute bargains because they are an investment that returns dividends to a photographer for a very long time because they perform perfectly.

[Daniel Stone]

what a great bunch of humans all getting all getting a long

good luck with the quest Dan Thanks! I'm looking forward to getting started!

and be very very patient (hard for me, but something to master, maybe this is the perfect project for it ?!)


oh and be patient some more. (yes, patience is key, rushing makes mistakes)

i think the first one will take about a million years, but after that you will be taking orders... (now, now, lets not get ahead of ourselves here )

[doublezero]

HELLO

SOME DATA HERE

http://canhamcameras.com/Film%20Holder%20Specs.html

GOOD LUCK