| Here's an easy way to shave
costs on any homemade camera. Make your own
ground glass. I used the glass out of a standard 16x20 frame, and cut
it
down to 12x20. Try your local Dollar Store for a 16x20 frame, they
usually
come with paper mattes of various shapes to display a series of
snapshots.
I paid $5.00 for mine. Using "Krylon Frosted Glass", I sprayed
on a layer of frosting, that, while a bit coarser than acid etched
glass,
is completely functional.
As you can see from the photo below, I haven't mastered the art of cutting glass. I plan on having a piece cut at a hardware store, and then trying to spray the frosting on evenly |
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| I built the back and the ground glass holder around my old film holder to make sure all parts fit well together. This may seem obvious, but bears mentioning: make sure to mount the ground glass so that it is in the same plane as the film when the holder is inserted. I measured the distance from the edge of the back (the lens side) to the film (with the holder in place). Then I glued spacer blocks to the frame so the ground glass would rest at this same distance. To construct the spring back, I referred to my old Seneca for design elements. I mounted wooden strips to hold 2-1/2" screws that act as pins to attach the glass frame to the springs. The springs are made from 4 cake knives that I bought for $3.00 each. I mounted aluminum strips bent into a narrow "U" to the end of each knife, and attached the knife blades to the camera's back. Fortunately there were two holes in each knife where the rivets held the handles in place. Drilling through the stainless steel blades to mount the aluminum pieces turned out to be an expensive chore. I used twelve drill bits and broke one of the blades in the process, but finally got it. |
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Update: 10-28-02: Thin wooden "caps", barely visible in the less-than-perfect photo, on the top and bottom hide all of the knife mounting screws as well as provide additional pressure on the springs. After being parked on the tripod for many months, I noticed a slight sag in the main "U" bracket that supports much of the backs weight. So I added two half inch thick pieces of wood (not yet stained), sort of like leaf springs on a car. They are visible in this photograph as well Also, I printed out a grid on clear acetate and taped it to the ground glass. I have since found "refrigerator levels" at a camper supply store and will use one to keep the camera and my horizon level. |
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©2002 by W. Underwood