Ground glass emergency

[Guillaume Zuili]

I just broke the ground glass of my Deardorff. I have some portraits starting on tuesday. Do you know where I can find one asap in the LA area ?

 

[Pinholemaster]

Steve Hopf makes excellent gg in southern California.

He sells through his eBay store, but if you contact him directly, he can probably turn something around for you very quickly.

http://stores.ebay.com/Brilliant-Ground-Glass_W0QQssPageNameZstrkQ3amefsQ3amesstQQtZkm

hopfsteve@gmail.com

 

[athanasius80]

Absolute worst case go to a hardware store and get two sheets of glass cut for the Deardorff. Then go to their automotive section and get some valve grinding compound. When home, put a towel down and make a glass-compound-glass sandwich. Rub it all around in in a mostly circular motion and it'll make a "quick and dirty" ground glass.

 

[Anscojohn]

A piece of glass and frosted "scotch" tape can make a useable temporary groundglass.

 

[ragc]

clear glass and "matte" spray paint - apply lightly and evenly

 

[PHOTOTONE]

clear glass and "matte" spray paint - apply lightly and evenly

Don't you mean "matte" spray lacquer, such as used on photo prints to give them a "matte" surface? Spray paint, afaik, would have a pigment in it, thus rendering the glass opaque.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Don't you mean "matte" spray lacquer, such as used on photo prints to give them a "matte" surface? Spray paint, afaik, would have a pigment in it, thus rendering the glass opaque.

Just hair-spray will do it.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[John Bartley]

Most glass shops sell either etched or sandblasted glass. Either will do in a pinch. When I needed one for my old Agfa, before I got the new one from Satin Snow, I just sandblasted a chunk of glass myself (I had a sandblast hopper). It was pretty coarse, but it did the job fine until the real thing arrived.

cheers

 

[Frank R]

A piece of glass and frosted "scotch" tape can make a useable temporary groundglass.

Scroll down here to find a picture of this method:

http://www.rolandandcaroline.co.uk/homemade4x5/homemade4x5.html

You can place the tape even closer.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

You might try calling Midwest Photo (www.mpex.com) and seeing if they can FedEx one to you, since they're selling the new Deardorffs made by Jack Deardorff. If they have a (new or old) V8 on hand, which I suspect they would, they might even be able send you the groundglass while they order a new one for the camera they have in stock.

Lens and Repro is another possibility for that kind of arrangement (www.lensandrepro.com), since they always seem to have a few Deardorffs in stock.

 

[ragc]

Just hair-spray will do it.

Cheers,

Roger

Both are, of course, correct. I meant a clear coat, not a color coat.

 

[Guillaume Zuili]

Hi,
I ordered one from Steve Hopf. Should get it on time...
Thank you all.

 

[seawolf66]

Boy: When Need Arise around here [ Mother Invention to the rescue] all Ideas where great in my Book

 

[finesilverprint]

Glad you were able to find a replacement on time. Had a similar experience when I was in San Fransisco. I was in front of a breathtaking scene when, much to my chagrin, I realized my DD ground glass had shattered inside the backpack. It was the first day of a 10-day trip and I had to improvise. Looked up the nearest Home Depot, got an 8x10 clear plexiglass, a utility knife to clip the corners to fit the DD back, and some fine grit sandpaper. It was still coarse but at least I was able to focus and compose on it. Came back the next day to the same spot, but the light wasn't the same. But at least I was able to bring back about 30 decent negs from the entire trip using the makeshift ground glass.

 

[JCT]

This is a good cautionary tale for someone about to head out west for three weeks -- bringing the 4x5 for the first time, I think I'll grab a spare GG to bring along...

Glad this all worked out!

JT

 

[Guillaume Zuili]

I got it monday morning. That was fast.
Having a spare glass is definitely wise !