Kodak Master Camera 8x10 owners - question

[siftu]

I purchased a beat up Kodak Master Camera 8x10 in December and just finished restoring it to my liking. However I noticed even when I got it, with everything locked down the rear standard has a little wobble/movement, this is still the case after my restoration. Looking at it closer it seems to be a bit of play on the sliders which goes on the focus rails. Its like its pivoting on the focus gear and the slider on the rail has a bit too much clearance. These parts do not seem overly worn.

My question is, is this usual for this model or is mine out of spec? I dont think any parts are missing according to the parts manual. If this is normal I'll let it slide, if other owner says its not normal I'll try to investigate further. If anyone has suggestion on eliminating it, I'm all ears.

Video posted here showing the movement

 

[John Koehrer]

Brass strip is just a SWAG, Available at some hobby shops or probably online. K&S is a brand
I'm familiar with but have no idea if they've got thicknesses near what you need.

 

[siftu]

Thanks for the reply John. I think I'm going to design and mill those sliders to see if I can reduce the tolerances.

 

[mshchem]

Thanks for the reply John. I think I'm going to design and mill those sliders to see if I can reduce the tolerances.

I have a Deardorff commercial camera. I had a machinist make up some brass slider pieces, totally corrected any slop.

 

[Joe Kashi]

I have a Deardorff commercial camera. I had a machinist make up some brass slider pieces, totally corrected any slop.

One alternative that worked for me was to using very thin layers of gauged brass available at most hobby and craft shops. A package of varying thickness sheets .001" through .010" cost me $4 and was enough to deal with the accumulated track wear.

 

[siftu]

One alternative that worked for me was to using very thin layers of gauged brass available at most hobby and craft shops. A package of varying thickness sheets .001" through .010" cost me $4 and was enough to deal with the accumulated track wear.

Ok this is starting to make sense now and I think thats is what John was suggesting, thanks for clarifying. How do you attach these shimming strips? This is a bad phone pic of the slider in the rail

 

[Joe Kashi]

FWIW, I used this with an Agfa-Ansco that had a wooden track, so YMMV on metal-to-metal tracks. I cut strips from the thickness that seemed to give a tighter fit without binding, somethingwhich would vary camera to camera, hence getting a pack with varying thickness brass sheets. It doesn't take a lot of slack to result in discernible wobble on a high-leverage situation like an 8x10 back.

I cut strips such that they would fit the width of the slider top, but not more, and not bind . These would be long enough that the front and back could be wrapped beneath the front and back of the slider sufficiently to provide some tensile strength. A very thin layer of good adhesive was applied to the parts wrapped around the bottom part of the slider.

I suggest first experimenting with no adhesive to find the correct thickness and then with an adhesive that can easily removed in case this workaround is insufficient to solve the wobbling or needs to be replaced.

As I have not used a Kodak 8x10, I don't if there is a spring-loaded or similar mechanism that Kodak uses to tension the track to slider contact? If so, I would first look there to ensure that any tensioning mechanism and any lock-down mechanisms are working properly before modifying the slider.

Before trying home-brew approaches, why not first take this to a competent machinist and see what sort of fix the machinist recommends. I've found that to be optimum.

 

[jimgalli]

My Deardorff's all had some movement in the slots and my Kodak 2D also has a little slop. I long ago told myself "it only has to hold still for a fifteenth of a second" and have ignored it ever since.