The barrel fo my 14" Ektar!!???

[Jim Fitzgerald]

I think after this one I'm going to go by "Mr. Walnut!!" That's right I made a Walnut barrel for my 14" Commercial Ektar elements. I designed a waterhouse slot so I can stop this bad boy down. Hand finished walnut barrel is pretty cool and the stops from my Voigtlander Hybrid fit very nice. I need to make three more so I can stop down to F-32,45 and I think I'll make a F-64 stop to see what the glass can do. I still need to blacken the inside of the barrel and get the elements to screw in all the way but she is basically done. Am I nuts or what?? Let me know what you think?

Jim

[CP Goerz]

That is sooo cool!

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Andrew, look out!! I may be on the hunt for all of those elements without a home. Building barrels was not that hard. Cool what you can do with some hole saws and sandpaper!! Glad you like it. Can't wait to try it out.

Jim

[Vaughn]

Cool and crazy! I suppose you figured out the proper spacing and all that...amazing!

See ya soon!

Vaughn

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Vaughn, Yes I had the micro tool out and was obsessing over the spec's on the spacing!!!! Yeh, right!! I put the elements close together as if they were in a shutter and then made a guess as to the spacing. Close enough for government work. Will it work? I'll find out soon. See you on Saturday.

Jim

[John Kasaian]

Any possibility of termites? :eek:

[Jim Fitzgerald]

John, I rubbed so much oil in the wood they will drown!! I want to see if this lens will be usable on the 11x14. Should prove interesting.

Jim

[Daniel_Buck]

very interesting! Hope it works well for you! :-D

[Chauncey Walden]

Just so you can see how close you came, the barrel for the 14" Ektar is 50mm in length and the aperture is 31mm from the front.

[Nathan Potter]

Very nice - I love wood. Richard Ritter should be impressed. What about the expansion and contraction of the wood between the lens elements due to humidity?

Nate Potter

[Gene McCluney]

Very nice - I love wood. Richard Ritter should be impressed. What about the expansion and contraction of the wood between the lens elements due to humidity?

Nate Potter


If he has that saturated with "oil" as he says, the surfaces should be impervious to atmospheric moisture changes.

[Turner Reich]

Very nice indeed, you should get years of use for the Walnut "hybrid".

[Jim Galli]

Oh sure. too good for shitpipe eh? Better check out the poor man's Protar (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=37402) elements. I can see them now in dazzling birdseye maple.

[Gustavo]

looks like we may have to send Jim to the special house !

[Murray]

Damn, holy krap, and Great Googly Moogly, Jim!

We've heard of nutcases. but a nutbarrel?

Amazing.

[Turner Reich]

Funny how Jim Galli uses the thread to promote another sale of his lenses. I wonder if he ever sold used cars?

Anyway the "barrel" of Walnut is superb, how will you attach the lens board, glue or wood flange?

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Ok, some more crazy stuff that I had not considered before I made this thing. I posted this on the APUG forum also and got the measurements for the F-stops from a Commercial Ektar. I made some waterhouse stops that go to F-64. The front element to the stops is about 33mm. and the overall length of this thing is about 74mm. I was told that the original is about 74.75mm. Not bad for just eyeballing this thing. Like I said give me Walnut and I can do almost anything. Maybe I should build a Walnut car that runs on sawdust and invade the lens mine at Galli's and get all of those lens elements lying around. Jim will be so amazed with the car (Maybe it will be a truck instead) that he will get out the 8x10 to shoot it and I can make my move! Now that is a plan!! Sorry Jim as nice as it would be to have those elements I'm going to have to stick with my $ 45.00 Ektar. I have a lens board for this by the way. The lens fits very snugly into the opening. If I need to secure it I can put a set screw into the barrel at the back of the board. Very simple and effective.

Jim

[Mark Sawyer]

Quite cool, Jim, and I bet it looks just lovely on your walnut 11x14! I'd worry about the oil off-gassing and sliming the inside elements; not sure what that would do to the AR coating.

Did you thread the wood, or let the lens threads grab onto a smooth surface?

[Hollis]

I made a waterhouse stop out of a business card from a mexican restaurant and blacked out by sharpie. Not as cool as walnut though.

H.

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Hollis, I did the card thing for my stops also. I decided with the Voigtlander that it was worth the effort to make a set out of brass. The door kick plate I have works great. I designed the opening for the Ektar to accept the same size stops. I now have a complete eight piece set that works for for both lenses. I did at one time consider making the stops out of walnut also.

Jim

[Murray]

I think Jim has an open door policy at home now...the kick plate and the antique walnut door have been stripped out for camera work.

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Quite cool, Jim, and I bet it looks just lovely on your walnut 11x14! I'd worry about the oil off-gassing and sliming the inside elements; not sure what that would do to the AR coating.

Did you thread the wood, or let the lens threads grab onto a smooth surface?

Mark, the inside will be finished in flat black paint, no oil. I let the elements self thread into the walnut. It took a while to get the opening just right but it threads in nice and snug now. I think I'll shoot some paper negs with this lens on the 11x14. I should be able to do all eight stops.

Murray, don't ever let me into one of those old Victorian houses or one with a lot of wood and brass. You never know what could happen. I guess it is good that I live in an apartment.

Jim