Looking for advice on restoring my Deardorff

[Willem.B]

Hi, I've got a fairly beat up new-to-me Deardorff 8x10. Its been pretty worn, I plan to get some new bellows, and I want to refinish it and clean up the hardware. Doesn't look like any breaks anywhere and the wood isn't cracked -- just heavily scratched and worn.

I'm not experienced with this kind of work, and so I guess I'm reaching out there to anyone who's done something like this before. Should I just start taking the screws out and disassembling it? Do I sand or scrape the leftover finish off the wooden parts? Will the screws still bite in the same place once I take them out?

Any advice will be welcome. I'm going to be learning in real time as I go, I'm just wondering what the first step should be. Thanks,

W

[John Kasaian]

If you need any parts, you can order them from Ken Hough
http://deardorffcameras.0catch.com/
and he can talk you through the installation over the phone if you get stuck.
I took the frame out of the rear standard on mine and IRRC the old screws fit when I reinstalled it.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Take pictures as you work so that you don't forget what screws, etc. go where.

I use a straight-edge scraper on surfaces. Don't apply with too much vigor. Many gentle draws are better than a few firm ones.

And do not scrape, sand, or otherwise change the dimensions that effect the registration of the film holder to the camera, or back to the ground glass.

Enjoy!

[ic-racer]

This thread may give you some ideas:
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?29267-Here-we-go-Century-8x10-Restoration

[John Koehrer]

It's time consuming but not difficult and VERY satisfying.

You're going to need a properly fitted screwdriver, you may need to file or grind a tip to fit but it saves damaging a finished piece from slipping out of a screw slot it's well worth it.

I've done this only once and it came out very well. As I took it apart, the screws for each section went into a separate plastic bag. Rails, corner braces etc. got rubber banded to the related bag.

The knobs are locked on by deformed threads on their axles a die from your local hardware/real hobby shop will clean 'em up. They're US threads, not metric take the camera along & find a nut to fit and that's the size die you want.

The screws holding the rear bellows frame in place are around the outside of the body itself. Front screws are inside the front standard & a bit difficult to see. Poor light, black board and black screws.

I used Formby's finish remover & a plastic scraper for the old finish removal. Stained all the nekkid bits & wiped on three coats of polyurethane. Varnish would be more traditional though.

Any screws that don't bite can be fixed with round toothpicks glued in the hole and allowed to dry then the screws are reinserted.

The most difficult for me was the GG back simple because it's smaller & not all flat surfaces. Just stay away from the front surface of the GG frame and it's mating surface.

[Jac@stafford.net]

It's time consuming but not difficult and VERY satisfying.

You're going to need a properly fitted screwdriver, you may need to file or grind a tip to fit but it saves damaging a finished piece from slipping out of a screw slot it's well worth

Improperly fitted screw drivers mess up so many things and to finish that issue I finally got a set of 'gun screw drivers' from Providence, Rhode Island. They fit the rare cases. I have all the standards as well.

[cowanw]

The refinished camera that I purchased had some sanding done on the surfaces that the rails screw into, so that the teeth didn't mesh quite right. I put a long thin piece of cardboard between the rail and the wood to fill up the space and make the teeth mate. Stay away from those surfaces too.