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Thread: Tips/Ideas For Hand Making Lens Caps For Vintage LF Lenses?

  1. #11
    Drew Bedo's Avatar
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    Re: Tips/Ideas For Hand Making Lens Caps For Vintage LF Lenses?

    Drew Bedo
    www.quietlightphoto.com
    http://www.artsyhome.com/author/drew-bedo




    There are only three types of mounting flanges; too big, too small and wrong thread!

  2. #12

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    Re: Tips/Ideas For Hand Making Lens Caps For Vintage LF Lenses?

    Quote Originally Posted by John Kasaian View Post
    I followed those instructions and made a very good lens cap for my B+L Magic Lantern Petzval.
    I had to work around not having a drill press, but craft stores have plenty of wood circles in stock and in diameters close enough to work.
    They look pretty cool when completed.

    Tandy sells soft leather scraps in their stores and I've found some usable pieces---you'll want a scrap of garment leather, which is the thinnest and easiest to stretch into shape over a wood form
    No drill press needed. Dremel now makes a circle cutter which works for plastic, wood, metal and other materials. If you have a Dremel,the setup will cost you less than$20 including cutters for ferrous and non-ferrous materials. I have no investment or interest in the company.

  3. #13

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    Re: Tips/Ideas For Hand Making Lens Caps For Vintage LF Lenses?

    I am fortunate enough to own a 3D printer. I originally bought it to construct some plate holders for my 4x5 glass negatives but since then, I've used it for custom lens caps, boxes and lens boards as well as lots of other odd one-off stuff. Design software (Tinkercad) and slicing software (Cura) are free online and relatively straightforward. Other more powerful options are out there if you're designing something really complex.

    Before I bought the printer, I played around with the software (available online) and sent the design file to our local library for proof of concept. They have a maker section and will print out your design for just the cost of the material. That might be an option for someone with no printer but the downside is that you get in the queue and wait times might be fairly long. In my case it was four weeks so once I knew it worked, I bought my own. I just checked and the last cap I did (49mm) used around 19 cents worth of material ( 3m). It's a slip-on type that I print a bit oversize and line with felt.

    There was an earlier thread on 3D printing lens caps and some posters had differing opinions but everybody is entitled to their views. For someone who likes tinkering and diy stuff, I've found this to be really enjoyable and complementary to other stuff I do.

    Anyway, good luck
    Dave

  4. #14
    Between here and there
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    Re: Tips/Ideas For Hand Making Lens Caps For Vintage LF Lenses?

    I happened to pass by another description of how to make a lens cap: http://www.foto-net.de/net/dyo/gross_deckel.html

    I tend to make them out of cardboard and blackout curtain (thin, I think mine is the same as the stuff theimagingwarehouse.com sells). Not pretty, but rather more functional. Getting slowly better at it, though.
    "Be still and allow the mud to settle."

  5. #15

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    Re: Tips/Ideas For Hand Making Lens Caps For Vintage LF Lenses?

    I turned one lens cap out of pecan on my wood lathe. As my skills improve I may try this again. Lining it with felt or velvet would help, too.

  6. #16
    Ron (Netherlands)'s Avatar
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    Re: Tips/Ideas For Hand Making Lens Caps For Vintage LF Lenses?

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  7. #17

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    Re: Tips/Ideas For Hand Making Lens Caps For Vintage LF Lenses?

    If you need/want camera-grade leather or "leatherette" try cameraleather.com in Vermont, USA. He mainly sells pre-cut kits but will sell pieces of stock material for most things. Web site isn't as user-friendly as it once was but the products are good. I have two Leicas re-covered in his stuff - one M4 in real leather, the other an M4 in "GripTac" rubber material.--alfredian

  8. #18
    Roger Thoms's Avatar
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    Re: Tips/Ideas For Hand Making Lens Caps For Vintage LF Lenses?

    Quote Originally Posted by Roger Thoms View Post
    Ok, finally started my first cap. I followed Wagner Lungov's instructions in the above link pretty closely. I think my leather is a little on the thick side as it was a little hard to form it over the card board cap but it should work. Just waiting for it to dry thoroughly before I finish it. I did order some thinner leather from a seller on eBay for my next cap. Lots of choices, I ended up ordering 1 oz (.5mm) from an Italian seller. They had a photo with a thickness gauge which was nice.

    I used PVA glue for everything so far, with the exception of priming the cardboard. For priming I used spray shellac which soaked into the cardboard nicely and made it really easy to sand for the final cleanup before applying the leather. I tested the bond with some scrap leather and the PVA glue sticks well to shellac and that was without sanding.

    I will use contact adhesive for the velvet liner inside the cap because I’m afraid of the PVA soaking through the velvet.

    Roger
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 39B4794A-102F-4DA4-9FAF-678181F51AC8.jpg   C292BE76-257D-4533-9D91-04F815B8C43A.jpg  

  9. #19

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    Re: Tips/Ideas For Hand Making Lens Caps For Vintage LF Lenses?

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Bedo View Post
    Instead of leather, I have found that several coats of a spray ripple/textured paint also work.

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