Kodak 2D 8x10 camera repairs

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Chase Martin - 26 Mar 2004 05:07 GMT

I've been looking at an old Kodak 2D 8x10 camera as a project - The
bellows have many holes (looks like it is falling apart from age) and
the ground glass is 1/2 broken out. Would it be feasible to refinish
the wood (that is in decent condition) and add a new bellows and
ground glass? The price is cheap for the wood frame. How expensive
would it be to get a new bellows and ground glass, AND how hard would
it be to install them (are there any alignment problems with the
ground glass on the 2D?)
Any help would be most appreciated!
-Chase

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jjs - 26 Mar 2004 05:37 GMT

> I've been looking at an old Kodak 2D 8x10 camera as a project - The
> bellows have many holes (looks like it is falling apart from age) and
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> it be to install them (are there any alignment problems with the
> ground glass on the 2D?)

Ground glass is cheap and easy. Two for $20. A cut on the corners with a
household glass cutter and you are set. Alignment of the GG is not
difficult providing the seating area isn't eaten up. Even then, a little
wood and glue and a good micro-ruler will suffice to fix it.

A new bellows is spendy. IMHO, a wood-worn 2d is not such a great camera
that it's worth a new bellows when you can find another for the price of a
bellows alone. A bellows that's not cracked except at the corners and has
only a dozen (gasp) or fewer light leaks can be patched.

A whole lot of those 8x10 wooden cameras are missing the rear rail, which
limits you to lenses that will focus with the remaining front rail. The
rails are matched (same stamped numbers) so it's handy to have the
original. Making one is a positive pain in the butt - finding the brass
riders, matching the fit, making it easily removable.

One other thing - many old wood cameras' lens board is darned small; too
small to use a modernn lens - if modern lenses concern you then your
selection is somewhat limited. If old lenses are fine (and many really are
good, IMHO) then shutters should concern you. A lot of the original
shutters were crap new, long of tooth or junk now, and there's more money
to spend.

Discouraged yet?

I'd rather you were not disappointed, strung out, spending important
time, remanufacturing a camera using the same money you would spend on a
better camera. Unless you enjoy it.

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Collin Brendemuehl - 26 Mar 2004 14:08 GMT

> I've been looking at an old Kodak 2D 8x10 camera as a project - The
> bellows have many holes (looks like it is falling apart from age) and
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> Any help would be most appreciated!
> -Chase

As jjs stated, ground glass replacement is easy. Just a swap.
My 2D had bellows problems as well. But some black gaffer's tape
and the corners all sealed up nicely. (Duct tape often is NOT
light-tight but, I suspect, most gaffer's tape is.

What you do with it depends on what you want to get out of it.
A 2D with polished brass & finished wood might be really pretty
and impressive to take outside. Chick magnet? :)

Fortunately the 2D has a 6"x6" lensboard so you use most any lens around.
(I don't know of any that are too large for that 5.5" hole!)
My lensboards are made from 2 layers of hobby plywood from the local
hobby shop. Just cut appropriately & glue together. And cheaper.

Enjoy it. They're fun.

Collin

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Argon3 - 26 Mar 2004 15:22 GMT

Before you start stripping and refinishing the wood you might look into the use
of Rennaisance Wax to clean and polish it. There's been a thread running in
the Midwest Large Format Mailing List about Rennaisance Wax for the past couple
of days so I looked up the manufacturer's website and got some info (of course,
it IS the manufacturer's website so I wouldn't expect them to be particularly
humble about the qualities of their product).
It does state that RW can be used to clean as well as polish wooden
surfaces...it's possible that one application to clean the sludge off and a
second to polish up the wood might be all you need rather than the onerous
process of refinishing...even though the RW seems a little pricey, it's
probably still worth a try. The finish on the wood is most likely either
shellac or lacquer; the vehicle for shellac is alcohol (denatured) and the
vehicle for lacquer is acetone. The Rennaisance Wax is a petroleum based
product so it wouldn't actually remove any of the original finish (a plus in my
book) and would be removeable with mineral spirits (which would not affect the
original finish either).
The usual test to see which finish the wood has is to dip a cotton swab in
denatured alcohol and touch it to that legenday inconspicuous area and see if
any finish comes off on the swab...if so: shellac. You can try it again with a
dab of acetone to see it it's lacquer. Varnish was seldom, if ever, used in
commercial applications because it took too long to dry.
Something like Johnson's Paste wax or Butcher's was would work as well...they
are both based on Carnauba wax...and are probabaly more readily available
(hardware store) than the Rennaisance Wax.
Best of luck...I've worked on a few "derelicts" and it's been rewarding.

argon

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jjs - 26 Mar 2004 16:24 GMT

> [...]
> Fortunately the 2D has a 6"x6" lensboard so you use most any lens around.
> (I don't know of any that are too large for that 5.5" hole!)

Collin, don't you find that using a heavy lens on the 2D makes for a
shakey setup? The front standard isn't at all robust.

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