Toyo 45A extended lens board

[Dave Hally]

I recently bought a Nikkor 300 M lens to use on my 45A. The camera doesn't have quite enough draw for what I like to shoot. Toyo doesn't make an extended board for this camera. I thought about a new camera, but decided to make my own extended board first. I've done fiberglass work before, so I was looking around for a mold. What did I see but an end support for a roll of Epson paper, made out of ABS plastic! Who needs fiberglass? The support was blow-molded in a double layer. I split it with a utility knife, and traced around the outside of a Toyo board. The first one I cut was too small, so I tried again, this time being more carefull. The corners of the support are rounded, so the corners of the board are slightly clipped. I then traced the hole onto the raised center and cut it out. It worked! I'll try to attach some pics, but I' sending this from my phone, so we'll see.

Dave Hally

Well, I can't figure out how to attach a picture from this phone to this message. I'll have to try some other way. For a cheap and very quick board, it should work great, although it only adds about 20mm extension.

[Gem Singer]

Toyo makes metal recessed lens boards for the 45A series.

Merely turn them around, and you have nice sturdy extended lens boards.

Unfortunately, they are milled for Copal 0 shutters, and the holes would need to be enlarged if you wanted to use them for for Copal 1 shutters.

[Dave Hally]

Yeah, but this was quick, cost me nothing, and I like DIY if possible. I would have had to drive 50 miles to a store that may have had one in stock, or order it online, a nd I still would have had to modify it.
Dave