Restoring a Century View Camera

[Randy H]

I recently became the proud poppa of an 8X10 Century View. It is the first model, not the 2 or 3. Still has the small rectangular CENTURY tag on the front, the patent date on the bottom rear standard and the circular Century Camera Co stamp on the rear upright.
However....
Camera was pretty trashed when I purchased it. After some online conversations and minor prompting from a couple of members here, I started a blog and picture post to walk through the entire process. From pictures sent prior to purchase, to damage assessment, to dismantle, which is where I am at now. Getting ready to start stripping and polishing :eek: (the camera, not me:D )
If any is interested in following, let's hear it, and I will continue to update on progress here. If nobody cares, I will let it die right here.
AND.. I am always open to suggestions, comments and critiques. As long as it is constructive criticism not condemnation.
Blog is in MySpace. Pics are on Flickr.
Link to blog for those interested:
http://blog.myspace.com/century_camera
Link to Pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/century-camera/

[Scott Davis]

That's really neat. I'd be interested to follow your progress on it.

[Scott Knowles]

Before you delete the blog on the rebuilding process, think more longer term where people will gain interest in your work down the road. You can always delete it later, but I would give it time, and continue the blog on the work. You never know who'll find it and who'll use it with credit to you. Just a thought. Good luck.

ps. And you're right, no one wants to see you stripped and polished.

[Rob_5419]

Well done Randy - that was quick!

I'm not a fan of myspace.com - takes too long too load. There is a facility (I think) to embed photo images into the words so that the viewer doesn't have to cycle between flirtr.com and myspace.com. I think the way myspace.com is supposed to work is that you network with other myspace.com camera repair buds out there and then gain an audience through networking.

I'm a fan of acetone & steel wool too although I use hydrogen peroxide. That's one reason not to repair too many cameras at once, since buying too much will get anyone arrested on terrorism charges in England.

Camera looks like a right mess when it started too.



ps. And you're right, no one wants to see you stripped and polished.

Ash might...he had a photographic quote with prostitutes or something in it.

[Randy H]

It was kind of a toss up on where to put this. I don't care for either one of them(myspace, flickr) personally. I did not like flickr blog no way, no how, not now, not ever. I do not, will not have yayhoo in my programs, on my desktop, and damn sure don't want it running my browser. And I did not like the way myspace set up the pictures. And it limits daily uploads on pics. Sooooo.....

I will leave the blog and the pics up for a while. I am also doing the typing and the pics on my personal comp, then just loading them. That way, down the road, I still have them, just in case I become rich and famous and can afford my own site.

Yeah, I am beginning to kinda wonder about Ash......:rolleyes:

[Rob_5419]

Randy - you do realise that visitors can't leave comments on your blog unless they are registered with myspace.com?

I'm not keen on myspace.com because it seems to take a long time to load up on my computer.

Have you tried Livejournal? Some writers recommended it to me once. Its interface is more intuitive; can link up to flickr. and you can customise it too.

Part II of your wooden frame looks like a mess! What a repair job!

[Randy H]

I will definitely check out Livejournal. I agree. I detest myspace. It locks up, and more times than not, I get "an unexpected error has occurred" when trying to post.
I guess when you are 15 trying to pass yourself off as 21, you can wait all night.

[Rob_5419]

I guess when you are 15 trying to pass yourself off as 21, you can wait all night.


Lol! When Ash wakes up (UK time 16.00 hours) and realises British Summer Time has kicked in, he's going to do us grandpaws in for picking on the forum teenager...

You mean to say Randy, your Century View don't fit in with all those Emos and goth kids on myspace.com? ;)

[Ash]

Lol! When Ash wakes up (UK time 16.00 hours) and realises British Summer Time has kicked in, he's going to do us grandpaws in for picking on the forum teenager...

You mean to say Randy, your Century View don't fit in with all those Emos and goth kids on myspace.com? ;)

HAH!

Yea I'm only the forum teenager for another... *counts* 4 1/2 months. Then I hit 20.

And in fact, I awoke shortly before 8am, when my father was about to leave for the Bath Half marathon. I've been out the house from 11am til just now. But I'm sure you can guess what a young lad would find interest in on a sunday afternoon. No, not photographing landscapes - I did have my beat up Leica with me though!


Definitely look into LiveJournal. I use Myspace for my blog because I have done for a year now. I'm used to the layout and it loads fast on a mac ;)

[Randy H]

I will leave myspace where it is at, but will post a major big link to the livejournal. Thanks for the tip. I do like it. A lot better than the other. AND I can post the pics within the blog AND it did not crash on me three times this morning (like another).
I will post the link as soon as grand-dad (me) remembers what the hell his user-name and password is!

[John Cahill]

HAH!

it loads fast on a mac ;)

You MAC users are all alike in your smugness when you address we PC users!! ~(:+>)}.

[Ash]

John, I need all the ammunition I have to defend my young and fragile mind </irony> from you lot ;)

[Randy H]

For those of you that read this far into the post, I have moved from myspace due to the trash and continuing "unexpected error...." crap every time I try to post.
Thanks to the tip I have moved to LiveJournal. It is indeed a lot easier, and a lot quicker (even on an old pc :p ) and I don't get invited to add half the hookers in the US to my friends list.
AND you do not have to join L-J in order to post comments, etc.

Link to LiveJournal posting is:
http://century-camera.livejournal.com/

Thanks for interest
Randy

[Rob_5419]

Congrats Ash - have a Tiger Beer on us OAPs on the forum. But first a question on the
website:

http://www.tigerbeer.com/index.html

It's unusual to find a forum teenager so keen on LF view camera restoration. There can only be one explanation for it: not enough dosh to buy a proper LF camera ;)



I don't get invited to add half the hookers in the US to my friends list.

Glad you like the new Live Journal set-up. It looks good, but without your intro, the Live Journal entry kind of shoots off fast.


I use Myspace for my blog because I have done for a year now.

Wow! Think of all those invites to the US that you get! I see the link... Ash likes Myspace...Randy gets invites ....

Will follow the Century-camera-man journal. A question Randy - I have never come across Shellac finish. This must be a USA finish. I'm used to Polyurethane, although I would like to try proper lacquer. Which type are using?

[Randy H]

I use a product called "Deft" wood finish lacquer. It seems to give the best finish that I personally have found. It isn't a real hard finish like a poly. I tried a few other brands of lacquer, but this one suits my skill level the best.
The shellac is what a lot of the old cameras had. If you google shellac, you will find a variety. Some are pre-mixed and you brush it on. I do not recall having seen it in a spray. Some hard-core enthusiasts get the flakes and mix it as they go. Bravo to them, I am not that good. But they will swear by the stuff. It indeed gives a fantastically beautiful finish if done right. Mine just looks like s**t.

It is neat that a teen would be interested in old cameras and LF. My baby is 17 and he enjoys photography. He prefers the 4X5 and the quarter-plate. Likes spending time in the darkroom, developing pics. (at least I hope that is what he is doing in my darkroom) Has a real good eye for shooting, and for print detail. Gotta lock up my papers though. ;) He will go through a goodly lot to get one picture that he likes. Oh, yeah. He laid claim to the "Brand" camera I bought from Mr. Galli. Since it is 4X5 and refinished, he decided it is "his"

[Rob_5419]

Thanks Randy. Brand-specific lacquer is probably hard to find in the UK. I'll have a look next week. I had thought of cheating and bringing my camera to a French polisher and see what they could make of it (other than a lot of money).

Googling shellac gave me 78 rpm and vintage vinyl!

I wonder who else on the forum has an adolescent locked away in the wardrobe ;)

Will have to set up a live-journal plate photography log. Since getting into plate photography, I've fallen in love with book-form holders. I'm worried in 1 generation's time, no one will know what these were used for anymore.

[Ash]

My grandfather (dad's side) was well into his photography. Unfortunately he gave away or sold the majority of his stuff, but thanks to him one of my favourite cameras is a Zeiss Nettar 515 that is almost always in my bag ready to take a snapshot, and alongside a few other bits I am the proud owner of that Dagor as well!

My mother loves photography, but Ehlers Danlos means that her muscles are deteriorating and although she has the mental capacity and dexterity, she doesn't have the ability. ((That's why I'm lucky to have a 10x8 tailboard camera sitting on the shelf if I ever wanted to try that format.)) She has since turned to digital photography because of the ease and lighter weight of the equipment. Of course the 1DmkII is too heavy, so I must use that on occasion ;)

I do love traditional photography. You're right, I'm totally skint! Between spending money on travelling, food, and the opposite sex, all my remaining money (the majority) is spent on film-based equipment or chemicals or film.

Can't blame me!


I really hope I'll be able to convert the shed into a darkroom by the summer, or else a HUGE area of my room will need to shift to accomodate the Beseler CB7 that I should be a proud owner of shortly! :D

[Rob_5419]

Sorry to hear about your mum Ash.

Fay Godwin was an amazing English landscape photographer who also went down the digital route as her illness progressed.

Good luck with the shed conversion - it's the right season to get things going. Spring is in the air - that means getting rid of junk, not collecting more ;)

[Scott Knowles]

You MAC users are all alike in your smugness when you address we PC users!! ~(:+>)}.

Loading fast isn't the computer but the connection. I use a G5 and pages load slow because I'm on a dial-up line to the local telephone company. They only got high speed lines into the area recently and I refuse to give the cable company anymore of my money for their lousy service. And yes, I'm still smug about being a G5 user.

I agree about MySpace but it's handy at times to visit friends and quick posts or rants about the news or the world. I also use eBlogger which is pretty good about embedding images in posts. It's kinda' slow in the setup, but once you're going it's fairly easy and straight-forward to add or edit posts.

[Doug Howk]

I've restored two Koronas this past year and US Camera History (http://www.fiberq.com/cam/index.htm) site was very helpful. I used Formby's Shellac with multiple coats ( finest steel wool between coats). Had to take both completely apart because the original glue had deteriorated. I was lucky that both bellows were reparable (did order Barry Young's book on Bellows for future use). Your bellows looks like needs replacing plus it seems to be a smaller size than your rear standard. Your wood looks like either cherry or walnut which is good thing. My 7X17 Korona has walnut stained cherry wood which doens't tend to split. My 8X10 Korona has mahogany or some other type of tropical redwood which has a tendency to split if trying to increase size of screws. You might try subscribing to the camera makers list on Yahoo, whose members are a wealth of information on making/repairing older cameras.

[Randy H]

Yes somebody had garbaged a set of 5x7 bellows into the frame. But bellows were trash anyway. I have read about Barry's book, but have not yet come to grips with spending the cash on it.
The wood in this camera appears to be mahogany upper with cherry base rails. All the original screws are good (not twisted out) so I will repolish and reuse. Dip in a drop of wood glue just prior to putting in helps hold really well.
My ISP is now also in a round-about fashion connected with yayhoo. I will definitely check out the camera makers list. That is a new one on me.
You are right. I have seen Formby's shellac, just never thought to try it. I know their other products are really good. And yep, I have been lurking around US Camera for a couple years. Thanks for input.