Woodworking/Antique Repair Advice

[bunnspecial]

Maybe a bit of a strange question, but I have very little experience with woodworking and carpentry and thought I might get some advice here.

I have the below camera I was given. This is a Kodak Eastman View no. 1 in 8x10, probably from the early to mid 1920s. My real interest is in restoring and using it-I'm not a stranger to this general type of camera-this is what I've typically called a wooden field camera. I've had a few of these in the 4x5 film size, but this is the first I've had in 8x10. Obviously it's missing the lens, but that's really the least of my concerns(I'll call my favorite store back in Kentucky when I'm ready, but I'll see what I can find in the 300mm or maybe 11" range that covers 8x10, whether that ends up being something vintage or something more modern).

In any case, there are basically 3 parts to this-the front standard, rear standard, and the bed. All have brass fittings, etc. The front and rear standards are seemingly fine, as is the hardware on them(other than probably needing a good polish) so I'm not super concerned about them. The bellows are probably fine but will get attention when the rest is set up and I can really examine them and repair or replace if necessary.

The bed is the real issue, and the part broken on it. The bed is hinged to fold(for transport/storage), and also keeps the front and rear standards in alignment and allows them to be moved around. To that end, it has a few features-there are two groves along each side, one for the front standard to ride in, one for the rear standard. There are also two brass geared racks along the bed-these engage with pinions on the bottom of each standard to allow more precise foward/backward movement(and locking in place).

Here's the current condition of the bed, in 3 pieces but loosely put together the way it "should" be

This is how the standards engage, although I realized after I assembled for this that I actually have it "backwards"(the rear standard-the part with the ground glass-should be facing the other way on the bed)

For reference too, the bed is supposedly cherry and the standards mahogony. I'm told that most of the manufacturers, Kodak included, tended to use more "utiltarian" grades of wood, and tended to stain them fairly heavily to get a color match. Wood selections were driven as much by strength/stability as appearance. To that end, I want the finished piece to look nice, but I'm not concerned about the repairs being visible as long as they don't look too out of place and don't compromise function.

It seems to me like I'm dealing with two issues-one that would seem easy to fix and the other a bit more involved. I'm GUESSING that the separated parts of the bed, since they are whole, could be cleaned up in the dovetails, maybe nailed together with some small finishing nails, and glued for insurance? Does that seem reasonable?

My bigger concern is shown in the last photo above, and that's that the lower groove for the rear standard is completely missing on one side on part of the bed.

Here's my thought on fixing that-I'm wondering if it would be best to saw it back some, nail/glue on a piece of cherry that I then shaped to fit there, and recut the grooves where they needed to be. Does that sound a reasonable approach, or is there a better way to go about this?

Last thing too-does anyone have any suggestions for a supplier of small quantities of hardwood like I'd need for this? I've found a couple of online suppliers that have exactly that, but I'm totally out of my element as to where to look. Along those same lines, I need a piece of mahogony, probably 6x6 and 1/4" thick or so(or ideally a couple of them) to make lens boards, although in a pinch I guess that could be any wood or possibly even metal...

Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated.

 

[D60]

I'm zero help but here's a bump for you. I'm always in awe of people who restore stuff like this and do it well.

If I can't weld it, drill and tap it and torque it to 100ft lbs, I'm lost.

This type of restoration requires a broad set of skills and patience.

Please post your progress!

 

[bunnspecial]

I'm zero help but here's a bump for you. I'm always in awe of people who restore stuff like this and do it well.

If I can't weld it, drill and tap it and torque it to 100ft lbs, I'm lost.

This type of restoration requires a broad set of skills and patience.

Please post your progress!

Thanks, I will! Hoping just to get some time to work on it.

Like I said, I'm really out of my element on this one. This camera is also in a weird spot of being worth fixing, but probably not worth enough to pay someone to fix. I'd guess fully functional it's a $400-$500 camera(not counting a lens-which could cost me anywhere from a couple hundred to a couple thousand-I'll be targeting the bottom of that when I go to buy one).

I did find too that I have a lens that is probably usable on this camera at least to try things out. I've had several 4x5 cameras, although the one I've kept is probably the most boring but also the newest/most practical of bunch. It's a Calumet-branded monorail, a thoroughly modern camera(as these things go) and infinitely configurable for different purposes. I have a few lenses for it, but the main one I've used is a 150mm Fujinon. This is a "normal" lens for 4x5, but is actually quite wide for 8x10. Still, though, the one I have apparently can JUST work on 8x10-I'd want something actually intended for use on 8x10(and probably closer to ~300mm) for real use, but at least I know that I have this. Even better. the Calumet lens boards will fit this camera-not perfectly but enough to get it using.

Just as a bit of back story on how this came into my possession too-I have a good friend who I met through watch collecting. Although watches(specifically American pocket watches) have always been his big interest, he has collected a little of everything over the years. He and his wife are now in their 80s, and have just sold their home in suburban Chicago(that they've lived in over 50 years) in preparation for moving close to their son in New Hampshire. I went up a few weekends ago to pack up his camera collection, which I'm consigning for him(in exchange for keeping a couple of pieces, like his Hasselblad kit and a few of the nicer large format wooden folders).

As I was moving everything out to the car, my friend hands me this camera and makes it very clear it's a gift for me. He'd bought it in this condition intending to restore it, but never got around to it and thought I was the person to pass it along to as much as anything as a thanks for helping them a lot with getting their house cleaned out(he also handed me a standard gauge Lionel engine from the 1920s that's to be a Christmas gift for my son this year-really excited about that one too). In that sense, it's special and I want to do it right, and maybe learn some new skills along the way. I will probably pick my friend's brain a bit about how he'd intended to approach it once they're settled, but am also getting some ideas.

So yes I will update, and hopefully can share when I get some results from it too-since I don't just want to restore it and never have it be used for its intended purpose again. No film is cheap these days, but 8x10 is extra painful even for off-brand black and white, and I have almost no darkroom tools to handle it. I have several enlargers, but the largest will only handle 4x5 film, although 8x10 is a really nice size to contact print. My Epson V700 flatbed scanner can scan 8x10 film, although I've never done it and I don't think it's at its best doing it.

 

[bunnspecial]

No progress really with actual repairs, but I did get the bed reassembled with glue and a few small nails. It seems solid, but I realized there are a few pieces in need of repair.

I've ordered some 2"x2" cherry turning stock, which should be just right for actually fitting new wood where needed. Now I just need to buckle down and do it.

I did spend some time also cleaning up the wood, and removed the ground glass to clean it. The glass isn't perfect and I may see about replacing it-I need to cut one for a 5x7 camera, so it might be just as easy to do it here too. There's an argument to be made too for buying something more modern with an integral fresnel lens, although I'm torn on that. The fresnel makes the glass a lot brighter and tends to even out illumination, which is a good thing. There are a few downsides, though. For one, that will be thicker than just plain ground glass(which usually is just window glass ground with a fine texture on one side) and there's always concern about whether or not it will even fit in the frame and, more importantly, if it will sit at the correct distance. The ground glass needs to sit at the exact same location as the film will when the film is inserted so that focus is correct. For another, large format is almost always focused using a 6x loupe, and I sometimes find the lines of a fresnel lens distracting and not as conducive to determining precise focus as not having it there.

I worked on the brass a bit, but didn't really make a huge difference. The brass actually has a "pebbled" texture, so I'm thinking it will probably need a lot of hand polishing with a polish like Simichrome.

The camera body is mahogany. I've ordered an 8" wide, 24" long mahogany board which should allow me to make a few lens boards(about 6"x6"x1/4").

I've been shopping a bit for a lens. Right now what's coming to the top of the list is a 12" f/6.3 Kodak Commercial Ektar. These were made, from what I can find, from the early 50s to the mid-60s, and are still fairly highly regarded. I've had several large format Kodak Ektar lenses(including a few in the 127mm and 135mm focal lengths for 4x5) and have always been happy with them. They're pretty reasonably priced as 8x10 lenses go. They use an old and simple, but tried and true optical formula(the 4/3 Tessar) that I'm actually quite familiar with in a lot of lenses from a variety of makers, including a 35mm-format one made by Nikon in the early 2000s, and so have a good handle on their general behavior.

All in all, though, some progress and I hope I'm at least closer to taking this out and using it!

 

[facility1]

kind of looks like just some gluing is in order to start with, consider a hot glue gun/sticks and apply to warm ,clean wood, then use a clamping strap to tension firmly, and make sure everything is properly aligned up, it does not need a lot of glue, so use sparingly, for the leather strap, go find a new or old leather men's belt the same size ,and carefully remove the holding clips to the wood frame,(hopefully they are screws),take the belt and cut the same size ,using the old leather handle as a pattern like a template , you might be wise to just reuse the same wood, as to totally replace, cut channels & etc. to exact fit maybe more involved as it may distract the existing character of the camera, it would be difficult to match exactly the stain also, to clean the brass disassemble parts from unit & just soak in some ketchup with a dash of Coca-Cola and gently use a old soft tooth brush ,if you want the brass really clean use/get some Tarnex ,its used for cleaning coins/nonferrous metals............ Good luck.

 

[bunnspecial]

kind of looks like just some gluing is in order to start with, consider a hot glue gun/sticks and apply to warm ,clean wood, then use a clamping strap to tension firmly, and make sure everything is properly aligned up, it does not need a lot of glue, so use sparingly, for the leather strap, go find a new or old leather men's belt the same size ,and carefully remove the holding clips to the wood frame,(hopefully they are screws),take the belt and cut the same size ,using the old leather handle as a pattern like a template , you might be wise to just reuse the same wood, as to totally replace, cut channels & etc. to exact fit maybe more involved as it may distract the existing character of the camera, it would be difficult to match exactly the stain also, to clean the brass disassemble parts from unit & just soak in some ketchup with a dash of Coca-Cola and gently use a old soft tooth brush ,if you want the brass really clean use/get some Tarnex ,its used for cleaning coins/nonferrous metals............ Good luck.

Thanks for your post and your comments, and sorry I'm just now responding to them.

I'd already used conventional wood glue(Titebond, the blue label-I forget which number that is) to glue the bed back together. I'd cleaned everything with a wet rag prior to gluing. I clamped it while it set, but also moved the camera standards onto it to make sure it was aligned properly for use. It seems to have held, and the standards move smoothly along it which at the end of the day is most important.

I'm at a bit of a loss at the front, though, as to how I can get the missing grooves back without cutting fresh wood for them. I know it's more work and may never match, but it's also from my perspective the only way to get it functional unless I could build it up with wood putty or something like that?

The brass is going to be a big project. I want to research a bit more how shiny these would have been new, as the "pebbled" finish makes me wonder if they wouldn't have been bright and shiny(older versions of the camera did have polished and laquered hardware). It's a LOT of fittings to remove and clean off the camera, though...

I'm waiting a bit to address the handle. The original has "EASTMAN" embossed in it, and I know I likely can't replicate that unless someone is making them. The other issue is that it's quite thin leather, and all the old belts I have that could be a source of leather are fairly thick. I wonder if it would be worth asking the cobbler I use if he'd sell me a piece(or a scrap) of sole leather or even be able to cut it for me. That's about the thickness of this, and I know sole leather is tough stuff. The handle is nailed in place-most of the fittings are screwed but these are nailed. I don't relish removing and reinstalling those nails...

 

[Elkins45]

Just out of curiosity what is your favorite store in Kentucky that you’re going to call about a lens?