Anniversary Speed Graphic - what's under the leather (back screw fittings).

[walter23]

I am trying to upgrade my speed graphic back to a graflok back, purchased from a LFinfo forum member. The new back is cast magnesium; the old is a spring back typical of the anniversary speed graphic.

The problem is that the screw holes do not align quite right; not well enough to attach the new back. It seems that the camera has brass threaded fittings placed in the correct position to accept the back, and these fittings are embedded into the wood. Each one has to be moved by about 1/2 screw diameter to accept the new back. It looks like they may be attached via some fitting (screw?) on top of the camera under the leather covering. I'm not keen on removing the old leather because I like the original look of the camera, but I would like to find out if my intuition is correct here - that I could remove the leather, reposition the brass fittings, and get the new back installed.

If someone has stripped down their camera to expose the original wood I'd like to hear from them to see what lies underneath the leather. I've looked on the web and can only find small images of naked speed graphics - nothing where I can see the fittings properly.

No point destroying the original finish if it is not going to help me.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Contact Bert at www.graflex.org

Steve

 

[Sirius Glass]

Contact Bert at www.graflex.org

Steve

 

[BobCrowley]

The answer is yes, you could reposition the three brackets on the top and the two at the bottom. They rarely line up perfectly with a replacement Graflok back, so the usual thing to do is enlarge or move one or more holes on the cast magnesium Graflok frame to fit. The brass L shaped brackets are recessed into the wood so they will not shift left or right very easily even if you take the leatherette off, however, I have redrilled one in an instance where the Graflok hole was still on the brass, but not on the hole. The same L shaped brackets are screwed into the body at a right angle from the direction you are attempting to put the screws in but cannot. This is a common problem, usually solved with a small round needle file and a few minutes of massaging the holes left, right or whatever direction they need to be.

Here is a link to a picture for another purpose, that does show three of the L brackets, and other things.


http://microphonium.blogspot.com/2009/12/speed-graphic-chop-job-gets-weird.html