Small fasteners for bellows standards?

[ethics_gradient]

I am in the process of refurbishing a 5x7 Kodak 2D. It came partially disassembled (bellows was removed due to holes by previous owner) but didn't include the fastners to secure the bellows to the body.

I have since replaced the bellows; currently have the rear frame glued/pinned into place. Not sure how it was done in the factory, but after removing the original pins with locking pliers, I used tweezers to hold each one in place and drive it in with a little hammer one by one. Front standard was only glued in place originally, which I'm going to get around to soon.

As far as reinstalling the bellows on the camera, I am concerned about potentially splitting the wood on either the bellows frames or the camera when reinstalling if I use too big of a fastener; the wood is not very thick and is quite old, especially on the bellows frames.

For the front, I have about 6mm (frame, going from back to front) that needs to be screwed into the 12mm thick front standard, though oviously I don't want to go all the way through! For the rear standard, it's somewhat the opposite: the fasteners go through the sides of the bellows frame (12mm) and into substantially thinner (6mm) cherrywood body.

Curious if anyone has a recommended fastener (or fasteners, if I need two different sizes); bonus points if it's available here in Australia!

[Jim C.]

As far as I can remember on my 5x7 Kodak 2D, the original bellow ends were glued wrapped around the bellows frame
which were screwed into the front and rear standard.
They were itty bitty flat head brass wood screws, I think they were either # 0 or # 1 screws.
Doesn't your 2D have the original screw holes ?
You can avoid splitting the wood by using tapered drill bits to start the holes for the screws, and counter sinking for the screw head.

You may have luck locating wood screws Down Under, smaller sizes are harder to find, there is a eBay seller - americanintegratedsupply
that I was able to source smaller wood screws, but the thread form is not as good as the screws from yore.

[ethics_gradient]

As far as I can remember on my 5x7 Kodak 2D, the original bellow ends were glued wrapped around the bellows frame
which were screwed into the front and rear standard.
They were itty bitty flat head brass wood screws, I think they were either # 0 or # 1 screws.
Doesn't your 2D have the original screw holes ?
You can avoid splitting the wood by using tapered drill bits to start the holes for the screws, and counter sinking for the screw head.

You may have luck locating wood screws Down Under, smaller sizes are harder to find, there is a eBay seller - americanintegratedsupply
that I was able to source smaller wood screws, but the thread form is not as good as the screws from yore.

Oh, amazing! I was trying metric and getting nowhere, #0 turned up this seller which looks like they can get me sorted!

It does have the original screw holes, but it looks to have two sets of them at the front standard. I'd read somewhere on here that it was best to do new holes rather than re-use the old ones, so was going to try and do my own.

[Jim C.]

Kodak 2D's were made in the US so no metric hardware, the rack and pinion focusing gear pitch I forget, it's either a defunct
gear pitch or a still in use pitch.
Those wood screws were pretty inexpensive if I recall correctly, you might as well get #0 - #2, but I caution again that the modern equivalent
wood screws thread isn't formed as well as back then, they may not thread and hold as well. A donor parts camera is a source for OEM screws.
Those wood screws are great for making jewelry boxes too.

You can reuse the old holes, I used epoxy putty formulated for wood to fill stripped out holes and predrilled the filled holes with a taper drill.
Going one size up works too, just remember to counter sink for the screw head .