Going down the 8x10 rabbit hole

[morecfm]

I've had this Agfa Ansco 8x10 "kit" for a while and now I'm committed to getting it ready. I have the hide glue so I'm ready to reassemble the camera. 218609
It will be scanning or contact printing when the camera is placed into service.

[LabRat]

I'll be working on restoring one of these soon, so good luck on yours!!!

The first thing would be to prepare the work area and surfaces... A very flat work surface is desirable, as you want to lay and assemble parts to be flat as possible when joining together... A piece of plate glass or + 1/2" thick MDF, or some smooth 3/8" aluminum plate is a useful, smooth surface to work on...

I think the most useful tool to use frequently is a machinist's tri-square as you can frequently check the accuracy of angles while assembling (cheap ones from the home store are passable, but I'm hooked on a good Mitutoyo with additional scales up to 24")... A good long straight edge is also very useful...

Bonding together some of the above MDF or aluminum plate to make thick smaller surfaces to sandwich and clamp warped flat pieces together can ease warped wood, and leaving parts together for long periods before starting pays off...

I expect to buy made bellows, so will get a quote from Custom Bellows/UK first, as I am delighted with the last set I got for my Tek III this year... Make sure to identify if camera is the Universal (27" bellows) or Commercial (36" bellows) and if Commercial model, do you have the rail extension to extend it fully??? There are supposed to be some differences in dimensions for different era models...

Look at everything carefully before starting, and let the camera whisper to you what it wants you to do for it... ;-)

I'll start mine when camera arrives, but expect it to be a long, slow process to be worked on a couple of hours a week, for many weeks...

Shout if you have any questions...

Keep it fun and good kamera karma!!! ;-)

Steve K

[ic-racer]

Nice to see these restoration threads again. For a few years it seemed like no one was interested in these old cameras and going to the inexpensive new cameras like Interpid.

Last time I checked, you could still get old view cameras in need of restoration on ebay for reasonable prices. Bellows are easy to come by too. Maybe easier to get a bellows now than 15 years ago. When I restored my 8x10 Century I had to make my own bellows, but today I'd just get a bellows from ebay.

[Conrad . Marvin]

I had one of these years ago and really enjoyed the quirks and the really long bellows. There were a few things that at that time I was not able to fix so I sold it…oh well. Mine had a clamping mechanism on the rear standard which if I remember correctly was a piece of brass with a slot for the extension rail. A knurled screw would squeeze the slot to clamp the back in place. The clamping slot was very badly warn and wouldn’t hold very well. You might want to check yours out before you reassemble the camera to see if it needs a new part or a repair. Anyway, good luck with the project and enjoy.

[John Earley]

To restore to useable condition I had to make a set of gear racks for my 8x10 Ansco.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50044655677_e1c1434cc2_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2jfgWAZ)
Shop Made Gear Rack (https://flic.kr/p/2jfgWAZ) by JOHN EARLEY (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jacketch/), on Flickr
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50140558476_6c13c3a1c4_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2joKtaw)
Ansco 8x10 extension and gear rack (https://flic.kr/p/2joKtaw) by JOHN EARLEY (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jacketch/), on Flickr
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50072669613_bfdf8b0a48_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2jhKwaT)
Shop Made Gear Rack and Base on Ansco 8x10 (https://flic.kr/p/2jhKwaT) by JOHN EARLEY (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jacketch/), on Flickr