Flange Troubles

[Ben Calwell]

+1

Another vote for hot glue - I have several older lenses without flanges that I've hot glued to a lensboard. No failures yet.
That is not to say there isn't a learning curve to using hot glue effectively and cleanly. It can be very messy and the burns it can cause are nothing to laugh at...

I’ll have to try the glue idea. Currently, I’ve been duct-taping an old Wolensak lens to my Kodak 2D lens board.

[Two23]

No one has mentioned SK Grimes. why is that?

I thought of them, have used them before, but didn't want to wait several months and send a rare lens half way across the country. I also like to support local business when possible.


Kent in SD

[Two23]

Not to mention that hot glue works great;-)

Lens weighs over five pounds. I wanted a more solid connection.


Kent in SD

[Two23]

~Solution is to have a flange made specific to this lens barrel's threads by a skilled machinist with the proper machine tools and tooling.

This machine shop is one of the best in the multi-state region with experienced people and state of art machinery. They've made a couple of flanges and lens parts for me in the past. It wasn't someone working out of a garage. Will take it back for them to look at yet this week.

[Tin Can]

They will make it right

Sometimes apprentices are given an odd job

Age 14 I had a shop class where I was told to make anything on a huge WWII cannon auto taper lathe

I made Slot Car wheels 1/24 Scale

It was a good learning experience

This machine shop is one of the best in the multi-state region with experienced people and state of art machinery. They've made a couple of flanges and lens parts for me in the past. It wasn't someone working out of a garage. Will take it back for them to look at yet this week.

[Bernice Loui]

GOOD! IMO, this is the proper way to get this done. While at the machine shop, ask then to fit this flange to the lens board. Machine tools can do a remarkable job on wood or metal. If possible, remove the lens cells from the barrel before it's trip to the machine shop to limit damage to the lens cells.

As for home garage machine shops, it varies lots. Some are hobbyist tinker types trying to learn how to used their midget sized machine tools. Others, quite serious in every way. Years ago this story in Silly valley was told about a highly skilled and specialized artist who made quartz spheres for space flight gyros in his garage. These quartz spheres must be spherical to the extreme as the performance of these space flight gyros depend on it. Turns out, no "company" was able to produce these quartz spheres are good as this guy in the garage machine shop..


Bernice

This machine shop is one of the best in the multi-state region with experienced people and state of art machinery. They've made a couple of flanges and lens parts for me in the past. It wasn't someone working out of a garage. Will take it back for them to look at yet this week.

[Two23]

Finally got some time today to take the flange in. One of the machinists played with it for about 20 minutes and when he was done it works great! He said they did have it cut to too fine a tolerance. There was some variation in the threads on the barrel. It' goes on and off easily now.


Kent in SD

[Tin Can]

Great news!

I once bought a giant lens from a faraway country, seller said no flange

I asked how much to make one

Glad I did

Cheap

$

[Greg]

Once found and acquired a large Petzval barrel lens in an antiques shop for little money (so wish that I had kept it) in the 1990s. Went to a local machinist shop to have a flange made for the lens. Quoted price was several hundred dollars. Next went to my local High School's machine shop, and was quoted a price of only $20.00. In the end paid the school's machine shop $100.00.