Help Needed: Ordered lens shade mounting block, got something else!

[Captain_joe6]

I ordered from Calumet a lens shade mounting block for my Calumet C-1 8x10 camera. Jose in the parts dept. is about the nicest person you could ever want to deal with, and he said he found what I needed and would send it to me. UPS came today, and when I opened the package, I was surprised to see something that looked nothing like the mounting block in the pictures I've seen.

Attached is a picture of the assembly that I recieved.

The 2 wire bales are each 8" long with two 1" bends. The thin plate is 1.5" by 6" and has 2 holes and 2 slots. The thick plate is 6" by 1" and has one central hole tapped for 1/4-20 threads, 2 grooves on the far edges with silver clamping screws next to them, and 2 grooves near the center, but on the other side. None of the holes line up between the thin and thick plates.

Does anybody know what this thing is, how it goes together, or if it will even work with my camera?

If it isn't what I need, PM me if you want it.

[Gary Beasley]

Looks like it could be used to support the darkcloth if mounted on the rear. Maybe there's a bellows or some other part that goes with it that the wires support. It appears the two small holes in the corners of the lower plate line up with the grooves in the upper block, where the wires are mounted. Probably the wires are inserted in these holes and the plate supports something.
So contact Jose and ask him "Whassup?"

[Jerry Flynn]

I had a bellows shade holder on a 4X5 Calumet at one time, and I recall that it had two plates that were tightened above and below in order to clamp onto the top edge of the front standard. There were grooves in the top of the top plate into which held the rods that supported the lens shade. They were held in place by a screw with a large washer that clamped down on the top of the rods.

This assemly looks rather similar, except it seems like the two screws would both clamp the plates onto the fron standard and also hold the rods in place more-or-less permenently with the shade dropping on to them somehow (?)

It is not the focusing cloth holder for the C-1. That was a three-sided wire frame with bent ends that dropped into the two small holes at the upper corners of the back.