Back problems with Deardorff 8X10

[Andrew Clearfield]

I just received a Deardorff 8x10 I had purchased on eBay. Everything else looks fine, but there is about 0.5mm of play on one corner of the back. If you rotate it, the play is from the same corner (i.e. the camera body is fine.) Since the inside looks undisturbed, I am assuming that the back has warped slightly. Do I have to replace the back, or can I try to tighten up on the clips which hold it in place (they are otherwise firm) or try to nail in a new retaining pin just behind the existing one? (I am afraid of splitting the wood, however.) Does anyone have some easy fix for a problem like this?

[Steve Hamley]

0.5mm on a wooden camera? That's good! One possibility is that the round hole in one of the clips has worn a bit with use. If it doesn't leak, don't worry about it. Sounds like you have a very fine camera.

Steve

[Bruce Barlow]

Contact Richard Ritter and ask the question. 802-365-7807. Richard restores Deardorffs almost constantly (he always has several in his living room), and should be able to coach you through any minor adjustments.

Good luck!

[Rafael Garcia]

Hmm...from the title I thought your back hurt from carrying an 8x10 around.

I would not worry too much. Just follow the advice above. The backs of my two old cameras rattles a bit, but they are still light-tight, and I just ignore it. If it were to bother me enough I would shim them with gaffers' tape to make the rattle go away.

[Don Hutton]

I just received a Deardorff 8x10 I had purchased on eBay. Everything else looks fine, but there is about 0.5mm of play on one corner of the back. If you rotate it, the play is from the same corner (i.e. the camera body is fine.) Since the inside looks undisturbed, I am assuming that the back has warped slightly. Do I have to replace the back, or can I try to tighten up on the clips which hold it in place (they are otherwise firm) or try to nail in a new retaining pin just behind the existing one? (I am afraid of splitting the wood, however.) Does anyone have some easy fix for a problem like this?

The holes wear with normal use because the pins are much harder than the clips. Depending on how much wear has occurred, there are a few different solutions. In your case it sounds like the wear is very small. Hobby shops usually keep a great variety of tiny brass tubing which is a fairly simple solution. Find a section of tubing which will be a snug fit over the outside of the pins with a wall thickness corresponding to the amount of wear you have - simply cut small sections the lengh of the pins (the portion that is visible), slide the small tubes over and epoxy the tubes in place. I've done it on two old Deardorffs and the solution worked perfectly.

Don't nail anything - those pins are placed in accurately bored holes.

[Andrew Clearfield]

The brass tubing is a good idea. Thanks! One thing I might not have made clear is that the problem is definitely with the back, and means that the corner in question (top left with the back in the vertical position) would almost certainly be out of alignment by a small amount. When you rotate the back, the looseness moves with it--the problem can't be the clips, because then the other corner is tight (the one which was previously loose), and the problem has moved with the corner.

[Don Hutton]

Most likely a pin which has been knocked fairly hard and moved back a little (or possibly bent back a little). If the pin is bent, you can get new ones from Ken Hough. If the hole in which it sits has been enlarged, you could plug it with a small metal wedge to get the pin back to where it should be.

[Brian Ellis]

If it doesn't create a light leak don't worry about it. Having something off by only half a mm on a 40 or 50 year old wood camera is pretty good.