Mounting LF Lenses on Wooden Lens Boards

[sheldon hambrick]

In short, how do you mount a lens on a new undrilled wood board? I know how you do it with a thin metal board like on my Graphics (cut a hole - slide the back of the shutter in - tighten the retaining ring). But the treaded ring on the ba ck side of the shutter does not have enough thread to handle a thick (about 0.33 "-0.5") wood lens board.

I was thinking of mounting the lens on a square brass plate, then mouthing the p late via screws to the wood board. Any ideas?

aTdHvAaNnKcSe

PS it's Copal #1 shutter.

[Alec Jones]

Sheldon, you have to cut a "rabbit" [a woodworking term] on the back of the board to reduce its thickness. That leaves a ledge to hold the retaining ring. If neither you, nor anyone you know, doesn't have the proper woodworking tools to do that (can be done with either a drill press or a router), why don't you send it to Steve Grimes? He is very reasonable and fast. That way, it would be done right and you wouldn't ruin the board in case you ever want to sell it.

[Alec Jones]

I just have to add I do know proper English, I just don't know how to compose it! Ever wish you had the ability to reach out and get a message back that made you look stupid? I do that a lot.

Since I am here again, getting back to the issue at hand, Sheldon, send me e-mail if you want to discuss this more in depth. I'll be happy to help you if I can.

[Tony Brent]

I always mounted the retaining ring on the front of my Deardorff boards. A good quality hole saw in a drill press makes a clean hole. Twist it with the lens screwed into the ring until it is lined up the way you want, then mark the holes for the ring mounting screws. I am making the assumption that your mounting ring has a wide flange on it with some countersunk holes for mounting screws. If not, then the suggestion about a rabbeted hole (big hole with a smaller step inside) is the way you will have to go.

[Bob Salomon]

Just order the Rodenstock 0 lens flange. It can be mounted to the front or back of any surface.

Then you don't need the jam nut supplied with the lens

[Alan Gibson]

The rabbet has to be quite wide, to be able to get the lens spanner in. My home-made camera (details here) is made of medium-density fibreboard, and I was worried about the resulting strength, so I used a round brass plate as a lens flange, and epoxy-resined it to the front of the front board.

[Chad Jarvis]

I think there is a point of confusion here regarding the difference between a retaining ring and a mounting flange. And at the risk of offending those who know the difference, I will elaborate. (Go to the next paragraph if you know and don't want to read a bunch of stuff from a person who is now standing high atop his soap box.) A retaining ring can not be mounted to a lensboard and is used to hold the shutter to the lensboard from the back side of the lensboard, creating a kind of "sandwich" where the board is the "meat." A mounting flange is mounted to the FRONT of the lensboard, usually using countersunk screws to avoid interference with the shutter, and will allow the shutter to be screwed in without concern for the thickness of the lensboard. You are obviously dealing with the former scenario and just don't have enough thread for the retaining ring to "bite."

IMHO, get a mounting flange for your Copal #1. It will solve your problem and allow you to interchange any other Copal #1-mounted lens on that lensboard.

[Richard Fish]

After twenty years of doing my own mounting, I FOUND STEVE GRIMES! He's the expert in that and so many other areas of LF photography, and I treasure his counsel and expertise.