It doesn't look much different, but it works a thousand times better. I wasn't interested in a full, or even partial restoration, and if the camera lost some of its old-timey look, I didn't mind as long as it could be a reliable user.
Everything's been cleaned and lubed, all controls are secure and smooth. The patched bellows (hockey tape and black liquid tape) are light-tight, and the back, despite some unevenness, is also light-tight.
The ground glass and film plane registration was my final concern. I was saving that for last. I was initially worried because I use Toyo holders that a) they wouldn't seat properly, and b) their film positioning would be off from the original wood film holders, circa 1930.
I had nothing to worry about, after shooting a dollar bill test sheet, I found that the film plane is bang-on with the GG.
One trick I used which so far has worked well: the standards wobbled a lot, even when locked down. The grooves on the side, where the standards ride, had gotten quite wide, leading to the wobble.
I thought of filling in the grooves on the focusing rail with epoxy, then cutting a new groove just thin enough to accommodate the brass plates, but I don't have a super-thin kerf blade capable of that kind of accuracy.
So I used aluminium tape on the ind=side and outside of the brass rails; some of them need several pieces to fill in the gap, and the results have been very good.
I could probably add one more piece of tape to each of the four rails, but I don't want to impinge on movement too much.
This may need regular maintenance, we'll see.
Now to get to making some photos!
I have a couple of old lenses in barrel I'm excited to try, and I'll start with those. Making some lens boards later today.
