4x5 film adaptor for 13x18 plate holder?

[cynan]

I have recently purchased an FKD 13x18 plate camera, with the intention of coating my own plates - I just need to cut some glass. The only problem is that I will only be able to coat plates in small batches - and I want to take lots of exposures. I have just ordered some ortho Adox 25 in 4x5 and was planning to (I read about this somewhere) lightly spray a blank plate with adhesive and stick on the film.
1) Has anyone tried doing this? If so, what sort of adhesive did you use? And
...Will the adhesive show when printing?
2) If this doesn't work do they still make film adaptors for plate holders?

Please forgive me, I'm new...sort of.

 

[Justin Cormack]

Spraymount is fine I think, but jam is traditional in this forum to attach film - Ole mentioned it and then when I was about to shoot my first glass-attached film I found my spraymount was missing the nozzle so I used it too. Just dont use raspberry.... jam is actually very easy to reposition, so I have carried on using it.

If you are using 4x5 on larger glass it might be difficult to get it not at an angle I guess.

I intend to make my own plates soon, but havent tried yet - maybe next week. Silverprint SE1 emulsion is the only one I can get easily, but I was wondering about making up something. I found a local glass shop who cut plates reasonably cheaply in 2mm picture glass (not very accurate, but you can sand them a bit and that gets rid of the sharp edges, and exact size is not that important).

Old plates are available in some sizes, but not usually as large as 13x18 - 4x5, 6.5x9 and 9x12 are the most common. I only recently got a 6.5x9 plate camera so havent tried this yet.

 

[cynan]

Thanks Justin, I will try jam. How much will the thickness of film/snack spread
affect focus, do you think?

BTW I have also got Silverprint SE-1, just gotta find someone that sells and cuts picture glass.

 

[Dave Parker]

How thick of plates are you thinking you want, I can sell clear glass, it is the same glass I use for my ground glass screens, very good optical grade glass.

Just let me know what you are thinking.

Dave

 

[cynan]

Hmmm... Just the normal 2mm Picture glass will do at the moment. 2mm will fit fine.

Cheers

 

[Dave Parker]

Where are you located? if international, you will probably be able to find them cheaper where you are located, but if you have trouble, just drop me a PM or an email, and I will be happy to put together a price for ya.

Dave

 

[Ole]

The cheap & easy way to find 13x18cm glass is to buy a clip-frame at IKEA... Since you're putting the glass behind the film, the glass quality doesn't really matter.

I originally intended using a HAMA spray-on sticky glue (sticky like the Post-it notes) for attaching the film to the glass plate for my 30x40cm camera, but forgot the spray can. So I took the stickiest thing to hand, which was blueberry jam! I would recommend orange marmelade if you have a choise. Just put a few small dabs on, and spread them really well with a finger. As everyone knows, jam stays sticky for months!

Format adapters: These are simple wooden "frames" made of very thin wood and painted black. In the corners there's a small strip of thin material to hold the plate in place. All of mine came in various old holders - including a 24x30cm to 18x24cm to 13x18cm to 10x15cm to 9x12cm set in one holder.

Film adapter sheaths: I don't think these are made anymore, but they turn up on ebay every once in a while. The largest ones I have seen are 18x24cm, I also have both 5x7" and 13x18cm as well as the smaller sizes. Note that 5x7" sheaths can be used in some 13x18cm plate holders, but not all. I have three seemingly identical plate holders for my 13x18cm plate camera - the 5x7" sheaths work fine in two of them, but the third one has an opening about half a millimeter too large. So sheath and film and all jump out of the holder when I pull the dark slide.

A lucky find on ebay has landed me a few 18x24cm plates to play with.

 

[Jerevan]

Just for illustration purposes, a few horrible digisnaps of a plate holder and insert (this one 13x18 cm holder with 9x12 cm insert):