Custom Flanges

[Two23]

I see a lot of nice old lenses being sold without a flange. How much would it cost for me to get a flange fabricated? Surely any of my local machine shops could fabricate one? I once had a John Deere dealership machine shop make a camera repair for me. They did great!


Kent in SD

[Brian C. Miller]

SK Grimes does it. I saw it on the website, but I don't remember what they charge for making a custom flange.

[eddie]

i found my local machine shop ends up charging me about what grimes wouod charge me....only difference is i get it the next day with my local guy.

all i ever made was a threaded 8x8 lens board for a pair of 25 inch petzval lenses. i have never made a flange for smaller lenses (and never a flange as we know it).

it all comes down to time and material. my shop is a major shop so i pay the going rate.

best to keep an eye out for a universal iris clamp.....for medium or small lenses.

eddie

[Ramiro Elena]

I once asked for one and got a quote of $150 and one of $200, so I still don't have one.

Recently saw one of those iris clamps for $200 at a local store.

[Two23]

I once asked for one and got a quote of $150 and one of $200, so I still don't have one.

Dang, that's a lot of money for a small piece of steel. I'll ask around I guess.


Kent in SD

[Jan Pedersen]

The price for a Custom flange depends on the size. I recently had S.K. Grimes make a small flange for an 8" Cooke VIIb and i believe it was 65$
150$ to 200$ must be for a very large flange?

[Ramiro Elena]

56mm flange actually, but here in Spain. It wasn't a photography machinist. I've often come to think if it wouldn't be easier to buy the CNC machine.

[goamules]

I've also contacted a few machinists in my city. One mills complex aluminum devices for the military. Of course they were high, over $175. The problem is the setup and figuring out the thread pitch. Once that were done, and if you were making several dozen, the price would go down. But most of us only need one, so the price is high. I still have several premium lenses, like a CC Harrison, that need flanges....

[aduncanson]

I found that SK Grimes keeps a stock of common, and perhaps not so common, flanges. And the cost is far more reasonable than their quote for a custom flange. I got a 58mm flange for something like $35 plus reasonable (and fast) shipping.

[ic-racer]

You can cut screw theads on an inexpensive CNC desktop lathe, not sure about bolt threads, though.

http://www.imsrv.com/deskcnc/lathe/d...cthreading.pdf