I'm cheap. And I sometimes make things. I could not bring myself to pay $80 for a decent ground glass loupe; one that allowed me to leave the viewing hoods on my Graflock holders, which I use on all my LF cameras (4x5 Speed and Crown Graphics and 5x7 Rittreck View). So I ordered this lens from the Surplus Shed, and made my own loupe around it. I chose the lens for both its diameter and focal length. I figured that a focal length of 150mm would allow me to make a loupe that would both magnify just the right amount, and keep the lens far enough out from the ground glass. I figured the diameter would be big enough for nice, wide views, and also fit into some combination of PVC plumbing fixtures. I was guessing on all counts, but I guessed right!
The photos will show most of what I did. I went to my local hardware store and found all that I needed. I was surprised, since I live in a small town (population 1500) and our hardware store is accordingly tiny and low-stocked. I just walked through the plumbing aisle, and found some 1-1/4 adapters that fit together over the lens, and another that slid into this combination to provide the proper focusing distance against the ground glass.
Here's an image of the raw materials.
And here's another, showing the order they go together. The red arrow shows the distance I found for best focus on the slip-fit piece. I marked it with a pencil and then used PVC sealant to glue it in place. It works very fast, so care is needed to get it in and straight quickly. I've re-habbed five homes, so it was withing my skill set!
I then screwed the front piece on (without the lens), sanded the smooth surfaces on the inside, taped up the outside, and spray painted the interior with 'chalk board' black paint to reduce reflections. It actually worked fine without this, but hey, why not make it better?
Here it is, complete:
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