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Thread: 14x20 camera build

  1. #21

    Join Date
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    Re: 14x20 camera build

    I got the mahogany veneer for the spring back ripped, chopped, and cemented into place. Came out rather well, I think.

    Also glued the 1/4 deep light trap onto the inside of the back.

    I've got one more piece to chop and glue in to finish off the rib channel, then I'll move on to the rear frame fabrication until time to circle back with flat black paint for the inside and finish coats on the mahogany.

    Progress.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails IMG_0617.jpg   IMG_0621.jpg   IMG_0622.jpg   IMG_0623.jpg  

  2. #22

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    Re: 14x20 camera build

    Looking good !!!

  3. #23

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    Re: 14x20 camera build

    Thanks!

  4. #24

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    Re: 14x20 camera build

    Finished the ground glass frame! This took a little while--it is five layers thick, two 1/8th and one 3/32 to get the correct T depth under the GG, then 1/16th and 1/32 mahogany veneer to fit around the acrylic GG. The bottom three layers each have 9 pieces and each layer overlaps the joints on the layer below. I stained the bottom four layers of basswood red mahogany before gluing.

    I screwed up--lost track of all the little pieces--and made the right side 1/4 too wide by using 1/4" pieces I had designed to go on the left side, and had to fill in 1/4 on the left. Based on reported film rebates, I think this will not only be ok (it still leaves a L-R opening of 16 11/16), it will actually be better than my original design b/c it will give more support for the big GG.

    During the glue-up, I used spring clamps and a melamine shelf to keep the frame flat and covered the melamine with kraft paper to absorb any glue squeeze out. After about 10min, the excess glue can be scraped off with a nylon putty knife.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails IMG_0632.jpg   IMG_0633.JPG   IMG_0634.JPG   IMG_0637.JPG  
    Last edited by Michael Roberts; 15-Sep-2020 at 07:18.

  5. #25
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    Dec 2011
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    22,387

    Re: 14x20 camera build

    Excellent!

    I also found off the shelf hobby woods that stack up for correct GG
    Tin Can

  6. #26
    LF/ULF Carbon Printer Jim Fitzgerald's Avatar
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    Aug 2007
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    Vancouver Washington
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    Re: 14x20 camera build

    It is an easy way to do it. A little more time consuming for this very important step. I've done this in the past as well.

  7. #27

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    Re: 14x20 camera build

    I should probably explain why I'm resurrecting this thread after nearly three and a half years. Shortly after my last update I began noticing the camera base was beginning to warp. The base, made of seven to eight 3" mahogany planks glued together, began to bow. I tried all the recommended woodworking techniques to correct the warpage--heat, wet towels, ironing, etc. I could get the warp to reverse, but after drying, it always came back. The more I tried the worse it got. This went on for week after week. Finally, I gave up and purchased a 3/8" baltic birch plywood piece and a product called Pre-Glued Iron On Edge Banding 2" x 25' from Sauers & Company Veneers. So this took the rest of 2020 and into 2021. In early 2021, my sister was diagnosed with glioblastoma, stage four brain cancer. She was the primary caregiver for our then 93yo father who still lived at home, drove, and was mostly self-sufficient. Nevertheless, our dad had a lot of health issues--diabetes, congestive heart failure, profound hearing loss to name a few. This was during the mask-up-whenever-in-a-medical-facility phase of the covid panic, so I needed to get on-board with all his medical issues and go to appointments with him because he couldn't read lips with doctors and med assistants all wearing face masks. To make a long story short, two years went by in a care-giver role. Then my wife and I repeated this process with her dad. We finally got home in December 2023. Her dad's estate is still wrapping up, but we are (mostly) getting back to our lives.

    So...I got back to work on this project about six weeks ago, along with the 5x8 Camera Build I'm documenting here: https://www.largeformatphotography.i...=1#post1704816

    First, on resuming work on this build, I measured, cut and ironed on the veneer (I had cut the plywood base and stained the upper side with red mahogany wood stain back in 2021). I managed to salvage the rear brackets and the keeper rails from the earlier, warped, base. But I still needed to rip, chop, and glue sides for the new base, cut and install new 3/8-16 tripod sockets, and assemble everything. I also needed to assemble the rear frame, fabricate an all-new lens board frame, assemble the front standards pieces I cut and routed years earlier. The spring back and GG frame were ready to go but all the wood parts needed finishing. I documented the resurrected build last week after applying two coats of glossy polyurethane. I put the third coat on over the weekend.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails IMG_20240203_055933510.jpg   IMG_20240203_055942656.jpg   IMG_20240203_060016565.jpg   IMG_20240203_060112512.jpg  

  8. #28

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    Re: 14x20 camera build

    The title of this thread is somewhat misleading. The camera is big enough for 16x20 with reversible back. Or even 20x20 plates. My friend currently has 14x17 film holders and x-ray film, so the current spring back is for that format.

    It is big--22 1/2" square o/s and 22" inside the rear frame. As you can see, it takes up half of a queen-sized bed.

    Shown beside the 5x8. I figure it would take nine of these 5x8's stacked up to equal the real estate of this near-mammoth 20x20.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails IMG_20240203_060202247.jpg   IMG_20240203_060312052.jpg   IMG_20240203_060413051.jpg   IMG_20240204_124236445.jpg  

  9. #29

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    Re: 14x20 camera build

    Oh, one more thing--weight. I'm guestimating the bellows and frames will add another couple of pounds, but I am hoping the final weight will be close to 15lbs.

    I'm ordering a 45" long bellows from Custom Bellows.

    Just got the acrylic frosted yesterday. Will post that later.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails IMG_20240203_055641738.jpg  

  10. #30

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    Re: 14x20 camera build

    Yesterday, I chopped, pre-drilled, and painted the rear bellows frames. I used 3/4x1/2" basswood. I let these dry overnight, then mailed the front and rear frames to Custom Bellows in Birmingham, UK. Now that the bellows are in process I can turn my attention to fabricating the rest of the brass hardware and turn this stack of pretty mahogany into a proper view camera.

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