Home-Brew Super Graphic Lens Board...

[Scott --]

Hey, all -

Ok, so I've got on loan the Raptar 90/6.8 in a funky little Rapax shutter. I had it kind of wonkily installed in the Super board that had my Optar 135/4.7 in it, but it was sloppy and, more importantly, limited me to only one lens option at a time. I went trolling for lens boards, but the off-sized Rapax would require me to get a blank Pacemaker board, which is surprisingly expensive. And I'm cheap.

I found this guy on eBay, who makes custom "Graflex Graphic" boards. They're 4x4" square (my Super board, which is supposed to be compatible with Pacemaker boards, is 3-5/8"x3-11/16"), but he says he'll make them to any size. They're cheap ($8), but ugly, made of plywood, and have only a rabbetted edge to supply the light seal. The rabbet might actually work, but the edges of the standard on my Super are rounded, and there are some inclusions around the edge which would require special fitting.



Having a well-stocked woodshop in the garage is advantageous sometimes. I'm also an incurable do-it-yourselfer. I had some 1/4" resawn cherry sitting around, so I figured I could cobble something together myself:







This board took about 45 minutes to make. About 40 of that was consumed with cleaning the tablesaw off, digging out the drillpress, and finding the appropriate Forstner bits floating around the mess I call a garage. But it was pretty easy. Almost brainless, really. Cut the board on the tablesaw, rounded the edges with a rasp, rabbetted the edge with a horizontal router table and straight bit, fit the rabbets with a rabbet plane, and made the cutout with a 1/2" chisel. The recess for the shutter retaining ring is 1-1/2"; the hole for the shutter is 1-1/4". The cherry needs a coat of oil on the outside, and some flat black spray paint on the inside. But, surprisingly, it seems completely light-tight. Should it prove otherwise, I figure a strip of Interslice foam around the perimieter of the rabbet will seal it off nicely.

I'm fixin' to cut out a few more blanks while I have everything set up. The cherry looks a little funny on the Super, but I think I'll be able to deal with it.

Thanks for looking.
Scott

[Ash]

Ooo... I happen to need some 100mm/4" square lensboards.

I need to find some nice woods (not fibreboard/plywood) and get my neighbour to cobble up a few for the Kodak I've half-restored.

[Bill_1856]

The Anniversary Speed Graphics had only a rabbatted lens board, which will fit the Pacemaker and Super models, but they have an additional flange to help prevent light leaking.

[BradS]

I once made a lensboard for the crown graphic out of corregated cardboard and black electrical tape. Worked great. So well in fact, that I never bothered to replace it with a "real" lensboard. The cherry wood looks much nicer though.

[Mark Sampson]

Don't forget to paint the inside and the edges flat black.

[BrianShaw]

I bought one of "that guy's" boards for my Anniversary Graphic not long ago. It is inexpensive and good-enough made... but yours is PRETTY! Nice work!

[Dave Moeller]

Very nice work Scott...congratulations. If you're anything like me, I suspect you'll be making more lensboards than you need.

[Scott --]

Thanks, everyone. Backside's been painted (ought to take forever to dry at our current temperatures), front's got a coat of wax on it (a few dozen more after the paint dries - I'm impatient...). Planning on trying it out for good on Friday. I'm pleased.

Dave, I was outbid tonight on an old Wollensak 7-1/2" lens in a beat up Betax. I was really looking forward to mounting it in a new cherry board...

[Brian Wallen]

Scott, now you've infected me with the need to try to make recessed boards for a couple of short lenses that I can't focus with the SG because Graflex removed the articulated rack that they used in the Pacemakers. How thick did you make the front flange portion?

Are you now considering a veneering project for the case???

[Scott --]

Brian, the board edges are right at 3/32" on mine, but I'd get it down to about 1/8" and start fitting from there. Easier to remove material than put it back.

Also, here are a couple pages with suggestions on recessed boards:
http://www.prairienet.org/b-wallen/B...ecessedLB2.htm
http://uglx.org/homemadelensboards

I need to see if I can come up with something for the Raptar - I still can't get infinity with the bed dropped.

Scott