Meanwhile, work on the new spring back is progressing. I've almost got all of the runners and surround glued into place (pic 1). Pic 3 shows the gg frame set in place, and corner details (pics 2 and 4).
Meanwhile, work on the new spring back is progressing. I've almost got all of the runners and surround glued into place (pic 1). Pic 3 shows the gg frame set in place, and corner details (pics 2 and 4).
I've been down and out with the flu the past few days, so not much progress. I did find this article on reamalgamating old finishes--shellac, lacquer, varnish: http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-i...re-finish1.htm
I cannot find information on exactly what type finish was used on the 2D--shellac, lacquer, varnish, or a combo (shellac/lacquer). According to Bob Vila, shellac was the most common finish on wood furniture in the U.S. in the early 1940s when this camera was made, but I don't know if that's what Kodak used or not. If anyone knows, please chime in. Otherwise, I will continue to experiment with denatured alcohol, lacquer thinner, mineral spirits, etc., and see what seems to work best.
The finish does seem to have the cloudy "blushing" described in the above article as typical of shellac finishes. Definitely has the "aligatoring," too.
After seeing several beautifully restored 2Ds (Nana's, Laurent's, etc. http://www.largeformatphotography.in...l=1#post447832 ), I'd like to take whatever time is required to get the finish right on this.
Bellows are still on their way; apparently the box was too big to get through regular China post so it had to be rerouted back to Rudy in HK.
Hopefully off tomorrow to Saguaro NP and White Sands! Both of which will be new to me. So, this project will be resting while I am out exploring.
Need to make time today to review the Brett Weston archive....
I am restoring my 8x10 2d also and I just went ahead and used stripper. There was so much nasty stuff that came off it I couldn't have seen myself keeping up with trying other ways to get rid of all the crap on it. From what I can gather mine was made in the 20's and it looks like somebody had done some work on it somewhere along its lifetime. After stripping it cleaning and sanding I used a minwax conditioner then a cherry stain and then tung oil as the protectant. I tried to apply poly but this is my first real woodworking expedition and I hated the way it looked.
I don't know what the original protectant was but I would just go ahead and strip it off. It will look much nicer when done, I was amazed at how my pieces are looking after taking the nasty stuff off it.
Hey, that looks great. I really like how the wood grain shows through the stain. Thanks for sharing!
The brass looks very nice, too.
Good job!
how you finish the brass Snay1345. Did you apply some coating or ?
Cheers Shane
I have followed to the T what this guy did minus putting polyurethane and the second color of stain on.
I treated the brass just like how he shows it here.
I soaked the brass in ammonia and then sprinkled some bar keepers friend on all the wet pieces and then rubbed them out, after that I used brasso and got the finish that you see. I tried to polish a piece but the way the stuff was made it didn't do anything. I didn't coat it with anything as well.
https://camerarestore.wordpress.com/
Also I substituted brasso for the neverdull as I couldn't find any.
You can sometimes find Nevrdull where auto cleaning supplies are sold, though I've usually gotten it from a hardware store. It's apparently good for hubcaps.
Back from journeys SW...
Here are the four brass rear corner brackets with varying methods of cleaning:
From left to right:
1. soaking in salt and vinegar (mild acid solution)--helped a little
2. above plus Howard's Copper and Brass polish, followed by Flitz--helped a little more
3. #1 plus Nevr-Dull--nada
4. #1 plus Brasso--finally!
Second pic just shows #2 and #4 above.
I think the Howard's, Flitz, and Nevr-Dull products are excellent, depending on the type and condition of material you are working with, but Brasso is the clear winner here.
I also found a 1938 Kodak catalog description of the 2D that says it originally came with a "dull brass" finish; the 1923 catalog says the brass has a "sand blast" finish; the 1909 says the brass was "heavily lacquered." I was checking to see if the descriptions specified whether the brass was lacquered or not; there are spots on my 1941 model that look like they have some lacquer and are resisting cleaning.
I picked up some lacquer thinner to try on these stubborn spots....
Last edited by Michael Roberts; 11-Jan-2015 at 02:19.
Got the new bellows from Rudy.
I couldn't be more pleased.
Have had troubles communicating front and rear opening sizes on prior orders, so this time I sent him the frames to mount the bellows. Worked great.
2lbs, 5oz for this 12x20, 40" bellows mounted on frames. Compresses to 1.5" including the 1/2" rear frame. This is 1lb more than the original 30" 8x10 bellows with just the rear frame; and the original Kodak 8x10 bellows is 3" thick.
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