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Ramiro Elena
8-Nov-2012, 06:07
When I got my Eastman View Nš2 I got a few undrilled lens boards. All of them needed to be filed down because they wouldn't fit the frame of the camera. I blamed it on Tucsonian dry weather and Barcelona's humididy. I thought I was set for some time and future lenses though.
One was gone with a lens I sold, the Kinoptik Aquilar. Another one was used on a huge episcope lens. One for the Euryscope, one for the Xenar, one for the Zeiss Tessar...

Last week I got the crazy idea of re-touching the boards. Varnish, black matte paint, filing...
I spent one entire week sanding and trying to find the correct color. Sanding the boards again because the varnish was funky or too dense or too thin leaving streaks and uneven results (crap).
When I finally decided to settle with the results it was time to go over the back with some black paint. Left the boards out in the sun to find them a couple hours later, in the shape of a nooddle.

One I could flatten back to its original shape. The other one broke. These are solid lens boards.
By the way... I also painted a Burke & James board that's made out of three laminated pieces glued together that had no trouble with the heat.

So I looked around for some info on how to make new boards, something I always thought it would be easy. Having made some metal boards, wood would have to be easy. Not.
I found this site which I think belongs to a user here (http://jbhphoto.com/blog/index.php/2009/08/23/making-a-lens-board/) and followed his steps. I wasn't very convinced at first because the plywood I got is very thin and seems fragile (3 mm). The 1mm veneer adds a little strengh and glued to the backing block makes a quite solid board.

Drilling the whole was also a dilemma since I was sure it would chip the veneer but as you can see in the photo, the cut was clean.

A few years ago I got veneer scraps of all kinds just because they look beatiful and so I intend to use them on some extra boards.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7252/8166549603_f9a13819e0_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rabato/8166549603/)
Lens board drama. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rabato/8166549603/) por rabato (http://www.flickr.com/people/rabato/), en Flickr

I used Mahogany veneer and some other wood that has a similar color but not same grain. I might try combining different types and color too.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8207/8166656664_a6b2a0b050_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rabato/8166656664/)
Lens board drama 3 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rabato/8166656664/) por rabato (http://www.flickr.com/people/rabato/), en Flickr

Jim Jones
8-Nov-2012, 08:48
When lensboards were made from solid wood, the ends with different orientation of the grain were necessary to prevent splitting. The end pieces were glued only near the middle to allow for different expansion of the pieces. Boards built up or milled down from plywood won't split, so veneer facing (if any!) can applied for looks, not to simulate traditional boards.

To prevent chipping the veneer with a hole cutter or fly cutter, slowly rotate the cutter counterclockwise to make a very shallow cut. Then proceed normally.

Ramiro Elena
8-Nov-2012, 12:20
That's interesting Jim. I started the drill at its highest speed and slowly lowered it. I made sure the veneer was on the bottom side and very well pressed.
Yes, the veneer is just to make it look better but it also ads that extra milimeter that makes the board have the correct thickness.

Jim Jones
8-Nov-2012, 19:23
Yes, pressing the veneer tightly against backing material works well, too.