Fixing light leaks in holders

[bmac]

Two of my 8x10 wood holders have small lightleaks on the light trap (dark slide side)any tips on fixing them?

Brian

 

[LFGuy]

Depends on the age and condition of everything, I'm guessing.

I fixed up an old Kodak 8x10 holder pretty good that had similar problems. The wood was cracked at the trap, and also pretty loose where the nails in it connected with the main part of the holder. A little carpenters glue and electrical tape (what I had on had at the time) seemed to do the trick.

 

[Donald Miller]

On the wooden holders that I have there are screws that allow the metal covering the light trap be removed. Once this is removed, you can inspect the light trap...If it is like mine then there is a spring metal covered with felt. It may be that the felt has worn out or equally possible is the tension may have relaxed on the metal under the felt.

I don't know how much these are worth to you...wooden holders are fairly inexpensive on Ebay...I bought six for 70.00. If you decide you want to repair yours and find that you need the felt, then that should be available locally at a fabric store. If you need metal then Small Parts sells Berylium Copper which is the best metal to build traps from. Good luck.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

You might also find suitable light-trap fabric from micro-tools.com. I have an old 11x14" holder that I'm planning to rebuild when I get a chance, and the felts will have to be replaced.