Ever tried to make a film sheath?

[Steve Goldstein]

A few of the wholeplate holders that perfectly fit my Seneca don't have sheaths. I assume these haven't been manufactured since about the time buggy whips went out of fashion, so I'm wondering if anyone has ever tried this at home, and with what result.

[Marco Milazzo]

Steve, What does a film sheath look like, and what does it do? I have a few unidentified items I've acquired in trades, and wonder if they might be what you want -- they's about quarter-plate size however.

[Steve Goldstein]

Well, I'm not 100% sure, but I'm certain I'll be corrected if wrong. It either converts a plate holder to a film holder, or it makes the construction of the film holder simpler by eliminating the flap.

In its simplest form, it's a thin sheet of blackened metal with U-bends on three sides. The bent-over portion is maybe 1/8", and the opening of the U is not much bigger than the thickness of the film. A sheet of film slides into it and is retained by the U-bends (fine point - the U-bends may not extend the whole length of the long sides, I can't recall the details of the sheaths I've got at the moment). The sheath is held in the holder; in my holders there's a spring-loaded wooden thingus at what would be the flap end. To insert the sheath you need to push in the thingus a bit, when it's released it covers the short side of the sheath.

Since the metal of these sheaths is fairly thin it seems to me one of the big problems would be keeping it relatively flat and unwrinkled.

Does this help?

[Ernest Purdum]

Steve, these are pretty easy for someone with a metal shear and brake to make, but would be difficult as a home project. It could be done, but would be a hassle, and you should be able to find a sheet-metal worker whose charges for this would be modest. You're right about "flat and unwrinkled" being the hard part.

[Glenn Thoreson]

I make 4X5 sheaths out the the innards from old Graflex (Graphic) wood film holders. I buy old beat up hoders off the auction thingie for this, when I need some. I just knock the bottom piece off, where the flaps are. The metal pieces just fall out. With a 1mm thick piece of card stock glued to the back, they're perfect. Exactly the size of a 4X5 plate.
I'm sure not all film holders will work for this, though, and I wouldn't destroy good ones. Whole plate, unfortunately, is going to be a lot harder to get. I have done this with success: If I can't get a film sheath for some reason, I put a piece of card stock, like I mentioned, in the plate holder to build out the plane of focus if needed, then stick a sheet of film to that. It works well. Try Pacific Rim Camera for sheaths.

[Steve Goldstein]

Thanks for the tip on Pacific Rim Camera. They don't list any WP sheaths right now but do show some other sizes. I'm also putting out feelers locally for a sheet-metal shop that might find these interesting to do (i.e. do them cheaply) after a master-machinist friend pointed me in that direction.

[Marco Milazzo]

Steve,

Thanks for the explanation, but that's not what i have. The gizmos I have are thin wooden frames with ground glass inside. As far as I can tell, they're not camera backs, but I have no idea what they're for. Anyway, good luck with your quest.

Marco