Tips/Ideas For Hand Making Lens Caps For Vintage LF Lenses?

[LFLarry]

Hi, I have been making some prototype lens caps for my variety of different vintage LF lenses over the last month.

I have been using black art board and construction paper to make my prototypes so I can get a feel for what I like and what might work when I start making the permanent lens caps. I mainly make them to act as a shutter.

I am ready to move to the next step and I have purchased some balsa wood to create the circular end cap and the skirt which acts to keep the cap on the lens. I am petty confident this approach will work based on my art board prototypes, but I am thinking about how to possibly cover the cap with something like a soft leather maybe? I have no idea how to even approach that...

I was wondering how many other large format photographers have already gone down this path?

If you have and want to share some of your ideas/lessons learned, please let me know.

Thanks!!

[Roger Thoms]

This link might help. http://www.lungov.com/wagner/DIYLensCap.html

Roger

[LabRat]

I make caps out of black mat board also, and they work fine!!! If you don't have one already, get a compass circle cutter from a good art store to cut the front circle, and for the skirt, put water in a spray bottle to make the strip slightly damp to form the rounded edge, or steam over a boiling tea pot spout...

If you ever took apart a 35mm lens case, you will find a cardboard tube inside with a covering on the inside and outside... They might look like leather, but often not, but is a textured PAPER covering!!! So if you go to a good art store again, some have a large selection of speciality papers, and some look just like fancy leather, so they are easy to work with... Bookbinding or library suppliers have a form of thin leather also...

I leave the insides blank, but some thin felt or velvet can be applied too...

[andrewch59]

This link might help. http://www.lungov.com/wagner/DIYLensCap.html

Roger

This is the formula I use, I have made a dozen or so this way, works a treat! Nice thin soft leather helps immensely!

[John Kasaian]

This link might help. http://www.lungov.com/wagner/DIYLensCap.html

Roger

I followed those instructions and made a very good lens cap for my B+L Magic Lantern Petzval.
I had to work around not having a drill press, but craft stores have plenty of wood circles in stock and in diameters close enough to work.
They look pretty cool when completed.

Tandy sells soft leather scraps in their stores and I've found some usable pieces---you'll want a scrap of garment leather, which is the thinnest and easiest to stretch into shape over a wood form

[LFLarry]

WOW!! That is exactly what I was looking for! Thanks for the link.



This link might help. http://www.lungov.com/wagner/DIYLensCap.html

Roger

[Roger Thoms]

This is the formula I use, I have made a dozen or so this way, works a treat! Nice thin soft leather helps immensely!

Good to hear, I have a couple of lens that need caps. I had gotten as far as finding the leather. Should be a good rainy day project. Also changed companies and my job is a lot less stressful and less overtime so there is hope.

Roger

[Two23]

This is the formula I use, I have made a dozen or so this way, works a treat! Nice thin soft leather helps immensely!


Looks nice but dang that's a lot of time making one. I just use a black t-shirt. Doubles as my dark cloth and lens cleaner.:D


Kent in SD

[fotopfw]

Great link! I'd like to try that, just for fun.
I use soft pouches and label the cord. Works fast and no parts that can go missing.

[j.e.simmons]

I’ve found PVC pipe caps that fit a couple of my lenses by lining the inside with self-sticking felt.

[Drew Bedo]

Look at this:

http://www.lungov.com/wagner/DIYLensCap.html

[Jim Noel]

I followed those instructions and made a very good lens cap for my B+L Magic Lantern Petzval.
I had to work around not having a drill press, but craft stores have plenty of wood circles in stock and in diameters close enough to work.
They look pretty cool when completed.

Tandy sells soft leather scraps in their stores and I've found some usable pieces---you'll want a scrap of garment leather, which is the thinnest and easiest to stretch into shape over a wood form

No drill press needed. Dremel now makes a circle cutter which works for plastic, wood, metal and other materials. If you have a Dremel,the setup will cost you less than$20 including cutters for ferrous and non-ferrous materials. I have no investment or interest in the company.

[DHodson]

I am fortunate enough to own a 3D printer. I originally bought it to construct some plate holders for my 4x5 glass negatives but since then, I've used it for custom lens caps, boxes and lens boards as well as lots of other odd one-off stuff. Design software (Tinkercad) and slicing software (Cura) are free online and relatively straightforward. Other more powerful options are out there if you're designing something really complex.

Before I bought the printer, I played around with the software (available online) and sent the design file to our local library for proof of concept. They have a maker section and will print out your design for just the cost of the material. That might be an option for someone with no printer but the downside is that you get in the queue and wait times might be fairly long. In my case it was four weeks so once I knew it worked, I bought my own. I just checked and the last cap I did (49mm) used around 19 cents worth of material ( 3m). It's a slip-on type that I print a bit oversize and line with felt.

There was an earlier thread on 3D printing lens caps and some posters had differing opinions but everybody is entitled to their views. For someone who likes tinkering and diy stuff, I've found this to be really enjoyable and complementary to other stuff I do.

Anyway, good luck
Dave

[Jimi]

I happened to pass by another description of how to make a lens cap: http://www.foto-net.de/net/dyo/gross_deckel.html

I tend to make them out of cardboard and blackout curtain (thin, I think mine is the same as the stuff theimagingwarehouse.com sells). Not pretty, but rather more functional. Getting slowly better at it, though.

[Fr. Mark]

I turned one lens cap out of pecan on my wood lathe. As my skills improve I may try this again. Lining it with felt or velvet would help, too.

[Ron (Netherlands)]

http://collodion-art.blogspot.com/2010/08/making-your-own-lenscap-isnt-that.html

[alfredian]

If you need/want camera-grade leather or "leatherette" try cameraleather.com in Vermont, USA. He mainly sells pre-cut kits but will sell pieces of stock material for most things. Web site isn't as user-friendly as it once was but the products are good. I have two Leicas re-covered in his stuff - one M4 in real leather, the other an M4 in "GripTac" rubber material.--alfredian

[Roger Thoms]

This link might help. http://www.lungov.com/wagner/DIYLensCap.html

Roger

Ok, finally started my first cap. I followed Wagner Lungov's instructions in the above link pretty closely. I think my leather is a little on the thick side as it was a little hard to form it over the card board cap but it should work. Just waiting for it to dry thoroughly before I finish it. I did order some thinner leather from a seller on eBay for my next cap. Lots of choices, I ended up ordering 1 oz (.5mm) from an Italian seller. They had a photo with a thickness gauge which was nice.

I used PVA glue for everything so far, with the exception of priming the cardboard. For priming I used spray shellac which soaked into the cardboard nicely and made it really easy to sand for the final cleanup before applying the leather. I tested the bond with some scrap leather and the PVA glue sticks well to shellac and that was without sanding.

I will use contact adhesive for the velvet liner inside the cap because I’m afraid of the PVA soaking through the velvet.

Roger

[Greg]

Look at this:

http://www.lungov.com/wagner/DIYLensCap.html

Instead of leather, I have found that several coats of a spray ripple/textured paint also work.