needing to make lensboards...for a complete idiot with tools

[kaiyen]

Hi all,
I have a B&J 5x7 in great condition. Problem is that I have a single lensboard for it, and it's not the right size for the lenses I have. So I need to make lensboards. But I am a complete idiot with tools, etc.

What's the easiest way to make some lensboards, or have someone make some? I can probably find someone with a hole drill, though I don't know how accurately I can get those openings with the "bits" available out there.

I appreciate any advice. I'm in the SF Bay Area FWIW. Anyone local?

[John Koehrer]

Hobby or craft shops will have aircraft plywood in 6" X 12/24/36" lengths. Pretty easy to cut with a fine tooth saw. If it requires a stepped light trap use two layers. IE 4" sq outer piece & 3 3/4" inner, glue them together & use a hole saw to drill the shutter cutout.
If you have a hand drill, hole saws are inexpensive & a fine tooth saw is a long time investment.
Don't worry too much about accuracy I've seen holes that look gouged out with a bayonet.

[kaiyen]

thanks John. That sounds very manageable even for me.

[jp]

If you make your own or drill a blank one, sandwich it between scraps of wood when drilling. This will prevent the lensboard from getting all splintered. You can buy a hole saw kit or a single high quality bit for several times the cost of what someone is selling new drilled lensboards on here right now. Check out the classifieds here.

[papah]

A dealer on the big auction site makes undrilled lensboards for many different cameras. Search for photofinder. I have bought several boards from him for my Linhof III; they work well.

[Bill_1856]

http://cgi.ebay.com/5-1-4-Burke-James-Lens-Board-5x7-4x5-/250650343443?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Film_Cameras&hash=item3a5becb813

[DanK]

I'd actually advise against hole saws for drilling your boards...

As mentioned earlier, they can be quite expensive and are typically limited to standard diameters....(and can be difficult to properly use in thinner, softer woods)

A simple coping saw, and normal 1/4" drill bit to start the hole is more than adequate...

Drafting compass, or similar, to scribe/draw the hole size required...

Thanks,
Dan

[Tim Meisburger]

Dan's advice is good, as it allows you to cut any diameter hole with simple tools. A hole saw only drills one size hole, and usually not the size you need. If you have a lens without a flange you can cut the hole tight and screw the lens into the wood.

For people that make a lot of lens boards its worthwhile to invest in an expansion bit, but remember to clamp the board tight to a bit of waste to insure a clean hole.

Cheers!

[Jack Dahlgren]

My method - using either hobby shop plywood or sheet aluminum:

Find the location of the hole to be drilled. If it is centered in the lensboard then draw diagonals from opposing corners. They will cross in the center. Use a compass or scribe and using this center mark the circle you want to cut.

Drill a pilot hole to put the saw blade through.

Use a coping or jig saw starting at that hole and work around just inside the circle that you have drawn.

Using a scrap of sandpaper wrapped around something round chucked in a hand drill, sand the hole right to the line that you have drawn.

Bevel the edge as necessary where the board fits into the bottom slot and where any locking device engages at the top.

[Richard Rankin]

If the lens isn't some brass monster, there is an easier for way for us with no crafty skills... Buy some foam board - it's a poster board with a little foam sandwiched between 2 pieces of black poster paper. I get mine at Walmart, but then, Walmart is the only store IN this town.

Use an exacto knife to cut out a rectangle to fit your camera where the board goes. Them smash the rear of the lens into the center of your 'board' to get the circle you need. Cut it out with the knife. Then either screw the lens right into the board (if you did a nice cut) or use some Blue Tack to hold it in there.

Five minutes, no skill, nearly free.

Cheers, Richard

[domaz]

Hole saws are a bit pricey (well if you consider $14 pricey) but if your not skillful with tools it's probably worth it. It basically means that making the lensboard is a single step process- cutting out the board to the right size. The actually drililng of the hole is child's play from there. Also if you are making aluminim boards- hole saws may be the only reasonable option unless you have a drill press.

[EdWorkman]

What Jack said
Using sandpaper allows/forces one to go slowly toward the pencil marks without going way too far and having to start over.
!/8" 3mm plywood cuts well under a hobby knife and a straightedge.
The lens hole can be carved without a drill/coping saw too if you have the time and not the tools
Since the worst part of the work is cutting the circular hole, and some lenses don't have enough thread to reach a retaining ring thru a double thickness [ 1/4 inch] the light trap can be made from say 1/8 x 1/4 stripwood- again easily cut-so the lens goes thru only 1/8 in.
The hole needn't be perfectly round nor within small decimal inches in diameter- just big enough and not too big. Testing as you get close to big enough, plus the boredom of sanding, should prevent you from making it too big- That also works if one must screw the lens into the wood if the retaining ring is not available.

[Ivan J. Eberle]

Hole saws in plywood or sheet metal can be quite dangerous if the bit is used with a hand drill and not chucked in a drill press with the work piece secured in a vise. The lensboard is likely to suddenly grab the bit and rotate or be flung across the room (hopefully not into a body part).

It's about a ten minute job for anyone with a machine shop to bore out a hole in a plate to the precise dimensions of your lens, in a piece of plate aluminum or proper lens board. Many machinists would be glad for the side work right now, I'd expect.

If one doesn't wish to go to the expense, it's probably easiest to find a close but undersized bore lens board and enlarge it with a rasp or rat tailed file.

[evan clarke]

These are all cutting tools that are being discussed. If you do this the first step in the procedure is to count your fingers. I think you should be able to buy some...EC

[steven_e007]

I've just made a whole set of lens boards for my Speed Graphic. I would post you a picture - but Flickr has announced that as I've exceeded 200 pics, my earlier pictures are now held to ransom until I pay them $25... or something like that :-(

Basically I used 3mm polystyrene sheet, in black, to build the boards up in layers. This is extremely easy to work with - just score with a modelling knife and then snap. I used a dremmel (rotary mini-router) to cut the holes, but you could use a sharp pair of dividers to score and then break the circle out (cut the excess out as a square, first). No need to cut rebates as you just sandwich a smaller square onto a larger one. They are glued together using polystyrene cement - the sort used for model aeroplanes. Provided your lens insn't a 5LB brass monster - they are plenty rigid enough and the black gloss finish looks very professional.

Here's where I bought mine from:

http://www.eagleplastics.co.uk/hips

It is a UK site, so you'll maybe need to find a local supplier, but it shows the type of plastic (HIPS). Excellent stuff, I've also made filter holders and other widgets out of it. It is easier to work that wood :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22006418@N03/4830145214/

[Jim Michael]

When I made the lens board for my 2D I used 1/8" mahogany (planks, not plywood) and glued two pieces orthogonally. The outer piece fit the outside part of the light trap and the inner part completed the trap. The solid wood has less tendency to splinter than plywood and stains nicely. I use tung oil on top of the stain (10-20 coats, buff with 000 steel wool between applications).

[Andrew Plume]

Hi all,
I have a B&J 5x7 in great condition. Problem is that I have a single lensboard for it, and it's not the right size for the lenses I have. So I need to make lensboards. But I am a complete idiot with tools, etc.

What's the easiest way to make some lensboards, or have someone make some? I can probably find someone with a hole drill, though I don't know how accurately I can get those openings with the "bits" available out there.

I appreciate any advice. I'm in the SF Bay Area FWIW. Anyone local?

kaiyen, if you decide that making your own boards is too much of a hassle, SJ Grimes carry B&J boards as a regular stock item

andrew

[Vaughn]

Richard -- I go a little more permanent than that (foamcore). I have a few I made dry-mounting a piece of 8 ply mat board to a piece of black 4 ply mount board (for the back). Mount board tends to curve in one direction, so I dry mount the two pieces so the curves fight each other -- keeps them on the straight and narrow!

I use to use an exacto knife to cut the holes, but that mount board is tough stuff. I bought a cheap coping saw for the last couple I made.

Takes longer than 5 minutes, but still nearly free...and I have been using some of those lens boards for years.

Vaughn

[Wade D]

I made my own lens boards using basswood from the hobby shop. Easy to cut with an exacto knife. Can be glued together for the proper thickness and light baffle.

[richarddsippel]

Hello All! Saw this old thread about DIY Lensboards, and decided to add my 2 cents. I've been making them from Craft Plywood from Midwest 1/8" X 4" X 12" (found at hobby shops that specalize in Model R/C Airplanes) for my CC-400 & 401 Calumet. Mitre back Hand Saw,Power drill & 1 /16 " Drill bit, Sanding block, and small Hole Saw, to get the hole centered and started. I ususally add a strip of 3mm balsa or basswood to the milled edge of the plywood because the 4" dimension is about 1.5 mm shy (due to the saw kerf). Even built a recessed lensboard using a balsa wood & 3"X3" square of an old clipboard for an extension. Titebond glue and flat black spray paint and I'm good to go!

[rjmeyer314]

I've made many lensboards for my various cameras. I've tried the coping saw, didn't like it. I have a table mounted jig saw. That's better than the coping saw, and I do it that way sometimes. What I usually do is use either a hole saw if there is one available in the size I need, or I use a fly cutter if the hole is an odd size. Both the hole saw and the fly cutter require a drill press to be used safely. It's usually best to practice on scrap wood first to be sure the hole turns out the size you want, before doing the good lensboard. By the way. with the fly cutter you can make a snug enough fit (after a little trial and error) to screw the lens directly into the wood if you don't have a lens flange.