Dick Phillips?

[Kirk Gittings]

Any one have current contact info for Dick? I need a part for my 4x5 and I am getting no response from the email I have.

[vinny]

yes, pm sent

[Michael Mutmansky]

What'd you do to my camera Kirk???

I may have a few parts, depending on what happened. I have a small container here with a few items. The levels are prone to drying out, if that camera had them on it, I don't recall. I may have a few.


---Michael

[Kirk Gittings]

Michael, While doing a shot straight down with my 4x5 the focusing rail screwed out completely-hanging the lens by the bellows and depositing the white washer from the focus screw, both alignment springs and both the little grey shoes (guides?) in the mud at my feet. I managed to recover all but one of the grey shoes.

[Drew Wiley]

There isn't anything on those camera that can't be easily replicated in a local machine shop. So as long as you've still got the mirror image part, it should be a piece
of cake to have made if you can't find any more original parts. I've made my own replacement parts for his 8x10 in my own shop using just basic tools and readily
available materials, quite inexpensively, with a tad of help from industrial suppliers like McMaster-Carr. If it's a delrin part you're missing, that kind of material is easy to fabricate. Dick used fairly simple equipment and materials in the first place, which kept his overhead low. Smart guy.

[Sal Santamaura]

Any one have current contact info for Dick? I need a part for my 4x5 and I am getting no response from the email I have.Dick frequently goes on extended travel, especially at this time of year. It can take a while for him to respond, but he will eventually.


...While doing a shot straight down with my 4x5 the focusing rail screwed out completely-hanging the lens by the bellows and depositing the white washer from the focus screw, both alignment springs and both the little grey shoes (guides?) in the mud at my feet. I managed to recover all but one of the grey shoes.By "grey shoes (guides?)" are you referring to a 3/8-inch diameter, 3/8-inch long cylinder with a 1/8-inch clearance hole through it? If so, I have an extra. Let me know your postal address and I'll send it to you.

Note that there should have been a small machine screw installed through a threaded hole at the front of the left-side (looking from the lens end) base channel that prevents the focus bed from moving fully forward and sending everything flying the way it did. Also, there may have been some small washers between the springs and cylindrical glides to fine-tune tension on them. If, after reassembling everything, there's "chatter" while focusing, more glide tension is needed.

[Kirk Gittings]

Drew, Yes even I could make a replacement part but would prefer the original if at all possible.

Wow that's GREAT SAL! I will check out the rest. 1414 Phoenix Ave. NW, Albuquerque, NM 87107. :)

[Michael Mutmansky]

Kirk,

Well, hopefully, the bellows is still in OK shape.

I don't have any of those pars, unfortunately, but it sounds like Sal may. I think what I have fit the 8x10 I had.

There aren't many things in life that I really regret, but selling that 4x5 was one of them.

---Michael

[Kirk Gittings]

Well I'm glad you did sell it. It is my favorite LF field camera to date and it has served me extremely well!

[Sal Santamaura]

...Wow that's GREAT SAL! I will check out the rest. 1414 Phoenix Ave. NW, Albuquerque, NM 87107. :)OK. I might not get it in the mail until tomorrow, but the envelope should be at your mailbox by Thursday or Friday.

If the experience of your recovered glide spending time in mud renders focusing action rough, Dick recommends a little silicone be added to the shaft upon which it rides. He suggests using a toothpick for application and only purchasing CRC Heavy Duty Silicone, which is/was available at Ace Hardware.

[Brassai]

Wow that's GREAT SAL! I will check out the rest. 1414 Phoenix Ave. NW, Albuquerque, NM 87107. :)


OK, let's all meet at 7 PM Saturday over at Kirk's house now that we have the address. I'll bring the snacks. ;)

[Kirk Gittings]

:) Don't come just send checks please. As my home is also my business the address has been out there for 35 years.....

[Kirk Gittings]

OK. I might not get it in the mail until tomorrow, but the envelope should be at your mailbox by Thursday or Friday.

If the experience of your recovered glide spending time in mud renders focusing action rough, Dick recommends a little silicone be added to the shaft upon which it rides. He suggests using a toothpick for application and only purchasing CRC Heavy Duty Silicone, which is/was available at Ace Hardware.

Great info Sal. Thanks I appreciate your help!

[Kirk Gittings]

Thanks again Sal! I got it yesterday upon my return from Chicago. Did here back finally from Dick, but so far just I was just able to describe what I needed. Yes it is called a "guide". Communication is very slow with Dick these days. I'm not sure where he is or what he is doing. Thanks to you though my camera is back in tiptop shape! I'll get some spares from Dick in time.

[Sal Santamaura]

...Communication is very slow with Dick these days. I'm not sure where he is or what he is doing...


Dick frequently goes on extended travel, especially at this time of year...He's really enjoying his retirement. :D


...I got it yesterday upon my return from Chicago....Thanks to you though my camera is back in tiptop shape!...You're very welcome. Now go make some more great images with it!


...I'll get some spares from Dick in time.I think you'd be better off preventing a recurrence rather than sparing the guides. Attached are a couple of images showing what you need. The first depicts a limit stop screw, which goes through a tapped hole in the bed channel on the left side (looking from the lens end). I don't have the exact size information; it could be a #6. Dick will know for sure. The screw prevents you from translating the focus further forward when that chrome, fixed guide comes into contact with it. The second image shows the other side of the bed. When the screw stops forward travel, this is as far as the moveable guide I sent you can go. Enjoy!

[Kirk Gittings]

I'll pull the camera out tomorrow and check that out. Did you put that ruler on the bed yourself??

[Sal Santamaura]

...Did you put that ruler on the bed yourself??No, it was delivered from Dick with the ruler attached. I had one of his earlier 4x5s and, after seeing yours discussed here (before you bought it), asked Dick about supplying parts for mine to "hot rod" it the same way. He suggested selling my old one and buying a new version, since he'd incorporated the changes into then-current production. I did just that and have one of the last ones he made.

[Kirk Gittings]

Cool. What else is different on the last model he delivered?

[Peter De Smidt]

I always attach a mm ruler to field cameras. That way, I can use the focus spread to easily determine the right f-stop, as an article talks about on the homepage. I bought an adhesive one for use on table saws. They cut easily with scissors, but they're pretty tough otherwise. That should be a lifetime supply.

[Sal Santamaura]

Cool. What else is different on the last model he delivered?I can't speak to every difference; Dick continuously refined things over the years. Off the top of my head, when making the "spoons" shorter, he no longer had enough vertical space at the rear for focus tube L-hooks, so there are two soft-coated, pointy studs facing straight back which serve the same purpose. The Modified BTZS hood he delivered with my camera appears to be Fred's standard 4x5 model to which Dick simply added two grommets.

While my first camera had a round knob to lock focus, the new one instead uses a lever for that purpose. This too is probably a result of reduced vertical space at the back. Having experienced both, I prefer the lever.

When we were finalizing my order, Dick mentioned that he had two lengths of front standard arms available. The longer version enabled an extra 3/16" of rise. The downside of the longer arms was that when the camera was folded up, the tips of the arms protruded past the strap handle by roughly 1/4". I opted for standard-length arms, being satisfied with the 51mm direct rise they permit, which is more than adequate for my non-architectural work.

[Kirk Gittings]

He's really enjoying his retirement. :D

You're very welcome. Now go make some more great images with it!

I think you'd be better off preventing a recurrence rather than sparing the guides. Attached are a couple of images showing what you need. The first depicts a limit stop screw, which goes through a tapped hole in the bed channel on the left side (looking from the lens end). I don't have the exact size information; it could be a #6. Dick will know for sure. The screw prevents you from translating the focus further forward when that chrome, fixed guide comes into contact with it. The second image shows the other side of the bed. When the screw stops forward travel, this is as far as the moveable guide I sent you can go. Enjoy!
So in checking out my camera it turns out that the stop screw was backed out about 1 1/2 turns allowing the focus bed to get around it with the added force of the camera with a heavy lens pointed straight down. Don't know why this was such. I never touched it-must have beeb Michael M or maybe Dick when originally assembling the camera.

[Kirk Gittings]

I always attach a mm ruler to field cameras. That way, I can use the focus spread to easily determine the right f-stop, as an article talks about on the homepage. I bought an adhesive one for use on table saws. They cut easily with scissors, but they're pretty tough otherwise. That should be a lifetime supply.

So how do you determine where to mount it on the bed/rail back to front ie what is your start point? Or does it not matter as its the spread that is important? Saul would you please provide a photo that shows where it is mounted?

[Peter De Smidt]

Yeah, only the spread matters.

[Sal Santamaura]

So in checking out my camera it turns out that the stop screw was backed out about 1 1/2 turns allowing the focus bed to get around it with the added force of the camera with a heavy lens pointed straight down. Don't know why this was such. I never touched it-must have beeb Michael M or maybe Dick when originally assembling the camera.I'm betting on Michael. :) Not likely Dick would ship it that way.

Time to remove the screw and re-install it with some Loctite Blue:


http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/t_lkr_blue/overview/Loctite-Threadlocker-Blue-242.htm

Even though your camera's safety stop screw is less than 1/4-inch diameter, I still recommend the 242 Blue version since it can more readily be broken free if necessary. It seems to hold just fine otherwise, even on small machine screws like that one.


So how do you determine where to mount it on the bed/rail back to front ie what is your start point? Or does it not matter as its the spread that is important? Saul would you please provide a photo that shows where it is mounted?It makes no difference which portion of a ruler is mounted since, as Peter pointed out, only the spread matters. Your camera must be older than my first one because even it had the ruler. Attached is a photo of that original camera from among those I shot when selling it. Dick just randomly cut the self-adhesive rule material (which he probably got from McMaster-Carr like many of his components), stuck it on the moving bed and added a couple of pan-head, self-tapping screws for good measure. He seems to apply it from the front to only as far back as where the moving bed starts getting wider.

Note that I laser-printed a focus-spread table and taped it to the front standard upright for convenient reference when checking mm readings on the ruler.

[Kirk Gittings]

I will check that out, but I want one which is white letters on a black background :) . Stylin you know. FYI My camera was an early one which MM updated with newer parts sometime later when Dick modified his design.

[Kirk Gittings]

I will check that out, but I want one which is white letters on a black background :). Stylin you know-want to maintain that Darth Vader look. FYI My camera was an early one which MM updated with newer parts sometime later when Dick modified his design. For example my "guides" are half round-so I had to file the round one you sent me down-works perfect.

What's on the side of your standard?

[Sal Santamaura]

...What's on the side of your standard?


...Note that I laser-printed a focus-spread table and taped it to the front standard upright for convenient reference when checking mm readings on the ruler.

[Cor]

Sorry to deviate above thread a bit, but I wonder: is it correct that above focus-spread table is only applicable to zeroed standards, i.e. just "straight" shooting, and not when using tilt or swing?

Best,

Cor

[Peter De Smidt]

Speaking from practical experience, and not a mathematical understanding of depth-of-field, the focus spread method works when using tilt or swing. It is useful to check when you've gotten the ideal movements, as that's the place where the spread will be the smallest.

[Michael Mutmansky]

I will check that out, but I want one which is white letters on a black background :) . Stylin you know. FYI My camera was an early one which MM updated with newer parts sometime later when Dick modified his design.

FYI, the parts that I replaced on the camera were manufactured by me, not Dick. He was using the longer swivel arm pieces (hinge plates) to accommodate the combination bag/normal bellows model, and when using the thin bellows material option on that camera, you didn't need that much space in the camera when folded up.

I CNC milled replacement hinge plates and replaced the old ones with the shorter ones so the camera was smaller when closed up. I also sent you the original pieces so you have those to put back on the camera, but I can't imagine a reason to do so.

As for the stop screw, it may have backed out over time a bit. I don't recall ever pulling the front standard off on that camera, but it's possible. Even so, I would have tightened it down upon replacement unless there was a clearance issue along the way.

I recall have the front standard deconstruct on the 12x20 I had when aiming downward once. It was a similar design, but not identical. Dick's cameras all showed some evolutionary changes from year to year.


---Michael

[Kirk Gittings]

Thanks Michael. How are you doing?

[Michael Mutmansky]

Well enough I suppose.

No time for film shooting these days, but I'm working with digital a half-decent amount.

---Michael

[Michael Mutmansky]

Oh, and after all the death notices on here recently, I was initially terrified to open this thread... I'm glad to hear Dick is still doing well.


---Michael

[Sal Santamaura]

...He was using the longer swivel arm pieces (hinge plates)...Dick refers to those as the "spoons."

[Kirk Gittings]

Oh, and after all the death notices on here recently, I was initially terrified to open this thread... I'm glad to hear Dick is still doing well.


---Michael

I didn't think of that when I chose the title! Sorry!