Mounting B&J Saturn to Davis and Sanford

[john reed]

My B&J Saturn 75 has a stability problem. As you can see from the photo below, I have it mounted on Davis and Sanford 'jaw-breaker' by means of an elaborate combination of 'stuff'. This arrangement, esthetics aside, lacks stability in what would be the “y” axis viewed from the rear or pitch in an airplane. The sources of this instability are indicated with the arrows.

See insert.




I would like to go to a simpler head such as the one sold by Tiffen, the current owner of the D&S brand, for the cranked portion of the mess. I also need to be able to make the connection with the rail. Since the only rail mount I have (upper arrow) does not tighten sufficiently to hold the camera, I'm at an impasse.

Does anyone know where I could get a solid B&J 1” rail mount? The only alternative I can think of is to braze the one I have so that it will not move. Doable, but not the best of solutions as far as I'm concerned. My skills in this area have not been exercised in decades and, at their best, were lacking.

I also have a Mystic head that has a 1 ½:” shaft mount. Has anyone adapted this kind of head to a D&S model A (I think) 1 7/8” shaft? It is rock stable in all planes.

I'd like to get some use out of this old girl. While my Super Graphic can cover most situations, there are times when only a rail camera will do.

jr

[erie patsellis]

John, best bet would be to have two small holes drilled and tapped, and small shims added to the bottom "V" of the rail holder. You could use some sheet material (formica, chip board, etc. super glued as well, not elegant, but it can be quite functional with little to no cost.

[john reed]

The problem is not at the point where the rail fits to the mount (thing with ugly brown knob). The movement is caused by the mount not being able to tighten up sufficiently to stop the whole thing from pitching. I am loath to use excessive force on the knob for fear of breaking the aluminum casting which would get me back to barzing aluminum (see first part of the thread).

[Tom Monego]

I used a screw mount D&S adapter and attached a Gitzo R4 head to my D&S A. This works fine and I'm fairly sure it could hold an 8x10, much sturdier and easier to use than the D&S LF heads. The D&S legs are great but the heads all have problems.

Tom