I recently bought 2 x wooden cameras 'for restoration', but essentially because one had a Packard Shutter fitted and the whole lot cost me less than buying the shutter alone. In reality the two 'cameras' turned out to be a horizontal enlarger missing its lamp housing and lens, which has now been passed on to a local 'up-cycling' antique shop to do something with, and a fairly large Soho Studio Camera missing its base (and now shutter). The latter came with 5 x 8" x 8" film holders. These vary in terms of their contents but are currently fitted with half-plate inserts which can be placed either horizontally or vertically. It would be easy to fit other formats though. So the camera has potential and has cost me very little. My question is about what to do with this.
Essentially its missing the base which I can source wood for and the brass strips needed, but most importantly the brass geared rails which would allow it to be used - are there any suppliers of such items and how would I go about specifying what would be needed? I have the rotating gears - one is bent but I have no doubt that I can get this straightened - so I can measure teeth number and diameter but are there other parameters that I should specify? The bellows also need replacing - this is simply a matter of cost as I can get these made here in the UK. The camera has obviously been well used but is still far to good to throw away so I'd prefer to do something with it if I can.
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