sheldon hambrick
26-Jan-1999, 18:27
This weekend in my parents garage, I discovered an old Ansco 5x7 wood field cam era that belonged to my Grandfather .
The front, rear standards, and rails are in decent shape. They could use some r e-gluing/re-aligning here and here, but are basically in tact. One of the sprin gs on the back is missing, but it looks like it could be easily fabricated. The re is a metal ground glass frame, the glass has a grid pattern but one corner of the glass is cracked. The hardware is tarnished, and could be replated, but is all solid and working. The lens board has an Ilex 6.5 inch barrel lens on it t hat is in surprisingly good shape. On the back side of the front standard some one has mounted a Packard shutter. It's pretty dirty, but leaves appear to stil l function. I don't know if the piston is still air-tight. And of course, ther e is no bellows, but all of the mounting/anchoring points are still there.
All in all it looks salvageable; a nice spring/summer project.
Id greatly appreciate it if any one out there could give me advice on:
- some restoration hints/tips.
- a suggestion for a source for a bellows replacement (I already know about Uni versal Bellows)
- a source for spare parts (i.e. the spring for the back, 5x7 ground glass)
- any suggestions on texts/web sites on refurbing old wooden cameras?
aTdHvAaNnKcSe
Sheldon
The front, rear standards, and rails are in decent shape. They could use some r e-gluing/re-aligning here and here, but are basically in tact. One of the sprin gs on the back is missing, but it looks like it could be easily fabricated. The re is a metal ground glass frame, the glass has a grid pattern but one corner of the glass is cracked. The hardware is tarnished, and could be replated, but is all solid and working. The lens board has an Ilex 6.5 inch barrel lens on it t hat is in surprisingly good shape. On the back side of the front standard some one has mounted a Packard shutter. It's pretty dirty, but leaves appear to stil l function. I don't know if the piston is still air-tight. And of course, ther e is no bellows, but all of the mounting/anchoring points are still there.
All in all it looks salvageable; a nice spring/summer project.
Id greatly appreciate it if any one out there could give me advice on:
- some restoration hints/tips.
- a suggestion for a source for a bellows replacement (I already know about Uni versal Bellows)
- a source for spare parts (i.e. the spring for the back, 5x7 ground glass)
- any suggestions on texts/web sites on refurbing old wooden cameras?
aTdHvAaNnKcSe
Sheldon