Hi Myron!
The other B&J 8x10 back is missing a pin
and another pin is loose with split. I find
it easier to take the back off the camera
to load and remove the film holder, particularly
with the 8x10 Polaroid holder as the holder
is heavy. My 2-D is about 80 years old.
The bellows have been decently replaced
and the brass lost it's shine. But it works.
Rich
On Sun, Sep 4, 2016 at 5:18 PM, Myron Gochnauer <goch@xxxxxx> wrote:
I cannot tell you how many Deardorff back springs that I've taken off and
simply bent them a little bit to give them more tension it's OK you can do
it.
Now, since Rich is complaining that the springs on his 2D back are
weak, it seems to me they could be replaced. . . .
I bought a Zone VI ‘Lite’ 4x5 many years ago, and although it was
otherwise in excellent condition, the back springs were too weak and bent
in the centre where a hole had been drilled to secure them.
I knew that even if Calumet honoured Picker’s “lifetime warranty” I would
end up with the same poorly designed springs. So I constructed two
supplementary springs that go on top of the original springs and added
progressively to the strength near the centre. The only thing that made it
tricky was figuring out hold to drill a hole in a material that is supposed
to be springy.
It was *not* difficult to make *supplementary* springs since they did not
need to have any special rings, loops or whatever at the ends - - they
simply needed to be approximately the width of the originals and long
enough to go beyond the weak point by a bit (perhaps one to three inches,
depending on the size of the back). The original springs provide the
attachment to the ground-glass part of the back.
If Rich’s 2-D back springs are still intact, but simply too weak, he could
probably add supplementary springs on top of the originals, as I did with
the Zone VI.
I am no mechanical marvel, so everything was done pretty much by guess and
by gosh.
The basic idea was to find a readily available springy metal of
appropriate thickness, soften it so I could drill and shape it, and then
harden it up again to the point where it was springy.
Spring material - - - A hacksaw blade that felt springy.
Length - - - it probably doesn’t need to be the full length of the
original. Where does the original bend most? Just go an inch or two or
three beyond that.
Width - - - follow the contour of the original.
Cutting to length - - - break off a piece a bit longer than you need by
holding it in a vice and bending in back and forth until it breaks.
Softening the metal - - - holding the spring at one end with pliers, heat
it red hot or as hot as you can with a propane torch. Let it cool in the
air. This should remove the springiness. You should now be able to drill
the hole or holes with ordinary metal drill bits.
Grinding to width & length - - - I used a 6 or 8 inch bench grinder (can’t
remember). Be patient. Use pliers to hold, since it gets hot.
Getting the hardness back - - - heat the spring up again as hot as you can
with the propane torch and then plunge it into water and swish it around.
The point it is get it glowing hot (yellow or straw colour) and then cool
it very rapidly. It will now be hard but brittle.
Getting it springy - - - now you need to “temper” the metal. I just heated
it up again, but not as much, and let it cool slowly in the air (running it
through the flame occasionally to slow down the cooling). Maybe three
minutes of easing it down. ? When you get it right the material will be
springy but not brittle.
If you are a metalworker you will have cringed at these instructions.
There is a great deal of science and art, if not magic, to metal annealing,
hardening and tempering. I read just enough to have a very rough idea of
what needed to be done. And then I experimented with a few pieces of
hacksaw blade material. That was years ago, and I don’t recall the exact
details. But I do recall that it was not difficult, and the end result was
way better than the original design.
If you want better instructions for hardening, tempering etc., look on the
internet for knife making.
I think some of the classic large format cameras had this supplementary
(partial) spring-on-top-of-spring design.
I think I have a Kodak 2-D (ID plate is missing), and it has springs that
could be strengthened with a reworked hacksaw blade.
At any rate, unless the spring has just plain broken, you should be able
to take it off, bent it back into shape, and even add a supplementary
spring if necessary.
Myron
