Haven't looked lately, but hobby shops that cater to serious model airplane folks often carry assorted sizes of piano wire (used for control actuation). I've occasionally made a spring from that.
Thanks for the information. I found a business here in Toronto that repairs pianos and other musical instruments. I'll give them a call and see what they have in stock.I don’t know about the sheath, but guitar strings make great springs. The unwound ones are commonly available from around .007” to .018” and thinner/thicker if you look around. I have made a few tiny springs for Compur shutters and they worked great.
I messed around with heating and tempering a little but found it to be too unpredictable. The idea was to maybe make thicker springs that were easier to bend into tight radii, but all I got was a lot of frustration and brittle steel. Just work with the material as is. If it’s too difficult to bend, use a thinner string.
I have used aluminum flashing material to make film sheaths for 5x7 plate holders. You use good flat black spray paint on the aluminum.
Hi Don: did you use an old 5x7 glass plate as a guide for cutting the aluminum flash to size and how much did you leave extra on the sides and bottom to fold over to hold the film sheets in place?
Doug
I have a Ray box camera that takes 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" plates like yours. I ordered custom sized plates from J. Lane for a reasonable price. You can see some of my results here: https://www.cameravignette.com/post/1896-ray-plate-camera-mutschler-robertson-co I was tray developing for the first time, so there are some improvements to be made.
I have also used 5x7 sheet film in my Herlango view camera by putting double sided tape on the top and bottom of plain glass plates and sticking the film to the plate. I have wooden book style double holders, but I would think it would work in yours as long as the plate and film fit in the groove in the frame. I was a little concerned about film flatness, but I think it worked well. Here was my first test.
View attachment 320668
I used a sheet of 5x7 film to determine the correct size. The foldover is about 1/8". If you use a sheet of film, you will end up with a film sheath that fits the holder (normally).
Hi Dwight: how many plates did you order and what was the ISO of them?
Doug
I ordered a box of 10 speed plates, iso 25. I contacted him through https://www.pictoriographica.com/
But it appears he has moved locations and may not be producing them right now. His user name is Nodda Duma on this forum
An old watch repair trick when hardening and tempering very small parts is to hold the item in the flame until the red or tempering colour has been reached. Right next to the flame is held a potato. The closeness of the potato does not give the item a chance to chill when going from the flame to the coolant (potato). When the desire temperature is reached immediately move the two towards each other and stab the item into the potato. I have used this on quite a few times.I messed around with heating and tempering a little but found it to be too unpredictable. The idea was to maybe make thicker springs that were easier to bend into tight radii, but all I got was a lot of frustration and brittle steel. Just work with the material as is. If it’s too difficult to bend, use a thinner string.
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