Two new cherry 12x20 filmholders from Sandy King! Aren't they beautiful?
Two new cherry 12x20 filmholders from Sandy King! Aren't they beautiful?
I'm still working on fabricating the new 12x20 spring back...had to wait until the holders arrived to make sure I made the back to fit the new holders.
Here is an inside view of the rear frame and spring back--nothing has been stained or painted yet.
Second pic is the inside of the spring back showing the light trap glued in place....
Meanwhile....Rudy has finished the bellows and it is on its way to me....
So, Yikes (!), I've still got to strip and refinish the old 8x10 2D wooden parts and fabricate, stain, paint and finish the new 12x20 back....
At least, I thought that was all. I took the 8x10 2D to a custom metal plating company weeks ago to get an estimate on cleaning and recoating all the brass. Guy looks the camera over, cocks his head, and tells me....$100. Great! I thought.
Two-three weeks later, I completely disassemble the camera and take four zip-lock bags of brass parts back to the plater. An hour later he has counted and inventoried each part and 1/4" screw. He then takes out his calculator and adds it all up--$425!
We then proceed to have a discussion of different degrees of cleaning and polishing, blasting and buffing....
Darryl was nice enough to demonstrate how the different degrees of work would look:
These three pics show how the brass looks after blasting, blasting and buffing, and all of the above plus polishing to a mirror finish...
Love is never cheap. I hope you have made the right decision...Originally Posted by Michael Roberts
Tin Can
Also--and this may be of interest to other 2D owners--according to Darryl, the brass appears originally to have been given a matte finish, possibly to reduce glare. What I have always heard was pitting of the brass due to exposure actually seems to be the original, matte finish.
These are two close-ups of the blasted vs. blasted and buffed sides....
lol! truer words....
Darryl and I talked, and he suggested he could just blast everything clean for $80, or blast and buff, but not polish to a mirror finish for $165...or I could just buy a bench grinder for $40 and do it myself.
Well, this is the DIY forum, so....
I actually found this bench grinder for $29.99 on a Black Friday special. With attachments, I'm in for under $65, and I have this to work on other restoration projects as well. I'm telling you, it's like christmas every other week with this project....
As for the original 2D mahogany and cherry, this pic shows how nice the original finish still looks on the few places that have been covered up for the last 75 years. This spot is underneath the front rise/fall knob.
So far, I have tried Howard's Restore a Finish (Mahogany). It cleaned somewhat, but the old shellac is still cloudy. Next, I will try denatured alcohol to dissolve the old shellac.
There are a bazillion ways to refinish wood. Everyone has their favorite. That said, I use Formby's Furniture Re-finisher. It's solvent based so it doesn't raise the grain of the wood like a water based stripper will. Downside is that you have to use it outdoors or someplace that is vented to the outdoors because it's solvent based. Only very light sanding is needed after stripping. For a finish I use a Minwax product they call tung oil. It's not real tung oil like die hard woodworkers use, but it does an acceptable job. You wipe it on with a rag. Keep adding coats until you like the finish. The finish seeps into the wood, it doesn't sit on top of it like so many urethanes do.
All my opinion. Now you get to hear everyone else's favorite.
I agree about the brass parts being matte originally. All the 2D's I've seen look the same.
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