Eastman Kodak 2D restoration

I've been working on the restoration of a 1948-49 vintage 8x10 Kodak 2D since....well, on and off for about nine months(!). I just wanted to share some photos...








I left the focus rails original...well, mostly because I ran out of stripper and I was tired of stripping the purple stain. I planned to do those later and I still may. Now that it is all back together, I'm going to enjoy shooting with it again!

Nice job Brad, I have one just like it I've been working on but the rail is in painful condition. What did you use for a finish on the non rail part? It looks like mine which is stripped but not finished yet. The wood is nice looking on these cameras. Mine had a second label saying it was a Kodak Ground camera, not sure what that means but it's in the year as yours.

Curt

Thanks Curt.

I wanted to use materials that were as close as possible to what would have been available when this was made. I also wanted to retain the texture of wood to some degree. I made a wiping varnish with McCloskey's Spar varnish (satin - green can) thinned 1:1 with pure turpentine. I wiped seven very thin coats of this concoction on with rags.

I stripped with Formby's furniture restore and steel wool.

The turn table apparatus / base under the rear standard appears to be made of a different wood than the rest of the camera. I suspect that the camera is mahogany and that the rails , tripod block and rear base are cherry.

Brad,
While the finish doesn't look as dark as one would expect, it does look like a nice, clean job. Good work!
If you want to add front tilt, remind me in a couple of days (when I get my digital camera back from work) and I'll snap some pics to help you make it happen. Mine doesn't have all the additional brackets and bellows as I've seen with two others that had front tilt added.
Chris

Nice work Brad!

Do you shoot your 2D yet? There are wonderful cameras...

I actually like the color of the wood and that's probably why I haven't finished it yet and I too used the Formby stripper, it's a great product. My 2D has the original bellows, when I got it the guy said he applied a leather conditioner on it once a month and that's probably why it still soft and light tight. I used some leather cleaner / protect-ant that I got with my Lazy-boy leather recliner and it took off some of the buildup, I can see that it was once reddish in color when new. I'm not going to get heavy handed with it just an occasional treatment. I hope my chair lasts as long, it cost enough. It's amazing, looking at yours is like looking at mine, I can't get over it. The backs are really made nice with the brass stop for the film holder, it feels solid to and not cheap, after all these years you can take it out and shoot film like it was new.

Jay Decker said:

Nice work Brad!

Do you shoot your 2D yet? There are wonderful cameras...

Click to expand...

Thank Jay. Yes. I did get some use out of this one before taking it all apart and refinishing it. It is a joy to work with compared to some other big cameras I've tried. This one was in pretty good mechanical condition. Some where along the way somebody thought it ok to drill holes in the front...so, I filled those and glued a split in the rear bellows housing.

Curt said:

I actually like the color of the wood and that's probably why I haven't finished it yet and I too used the Formby stripper, it's a great product. My 2D has the original bellows, when I got it the guy said he applied a leather conditioner on it once a month and that's probably why it still soft and light tight. I used some leather cleaner / protect-ant that I got with my Lazy-boy leather recliner and it took off some of the buildup, I can see that it was once reddish in color when new. I'm not going to get heavy handed with it just an occasional treatment. I hope my chair lasts as long, it cost enough. It's amazing, looking at yours is like looking at mine, I can't get over it. The backs are really made nice with the brass stop for the film holder, it feels solid to and not cheap, after all these years you can take it out and shoot film like it was new.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I really like the color of the naked mahogany too. I did not apply any stain so what ever color is there is the wood and what little bit of residual original stain that I was not able to get out (not much). Not sure this bellows are original. Their condition looks too good to be 60 years old. However, the screws holding them showed no evidence that they had ever been removed (they do now).

All in all, it's been a rewarding project. It really is a lot of work though. I'm so tired of cleaning little brass bits...

Personally I like the dark stain. Then again, the "D" in 2D stood for dark. I have seen some of these cameras in black finish and they looked great with the red bellows.

My 2D cameras are original color and I really like the look. The 5X7 needs a resto, but the 8X10 looks great. Then again, my Zone VI 4x5 looks great in the cherry wood color with the bright brass. To each his own.