Making Glass Plate Film Holder Back...

Dorothy Blum Cooper · Mar 15, 2006

Rather than going to someone who makes glass plate holders, I'm considering making my own. Does anyone have any sketches, plans or diagrams on this?

I want a nicely engineered back for my 40's Kodak Master View Camera since I'm venturing into wet plate work. My husband enjoys woodwork and we tend to be very particular so I thought I'd try asking here before attempting anything on our own.

Any input, ideas, suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

tpersin · Mar 15, 2006

Alan Greene's book "Primitive Photography" would be a good resource for you to consult.

Tom
www.f295.org

smieglitz · Mar 15, 2006

Google for the address of the US patent office and do a search for patent #18,780 which is J. Stock's plate holder patent from December 1, 1857. It will be a good starting point.

I think Wayne Pierce also has a few pics and sketches online. (Google "the company photographer").

I've also attached an electronic drawing I've done to guide me in making a holder.

Joe

tpersin · Mar 15, 2006

thanks smieglitz, here's the url:
http://patimg2.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid...ageNum=&Rtype=&SectionNum=&idkey=1A4CA3FC5D7F

Terence · Mar 15, 2006

I second tperson's response regarding "Primitive Photography." A very useful book for what you are looking to do. The drawings could be a little better (he obviously never took a drafting class and learned line weights), but other than that it is excellent.

Kerik · Mar 15, 2006

Dorothy,

If you're anxious to get started, the easiest and cheapest thing to do is modify an 8x10 filmholder. I made 2 this way, one for 5x7 and one for 6.5x8.5. You can see pictures (there was a url link here which no longer exists) and (there was a url link here which no longer exists).

Jeremy · Mar 15, 2006

Kerik said:
Dorothy,

If you're anxious to get started, the easiest and cheapest thing to do is modify an 8x10 filmholder. I made 2 this way, one for 5x7 and one for 6.5x8.5. You can see pictures (there was a url link here which no longer exists) and (there was a url link here which no longer exists).

Kerik, can you give us some more detailed instructions on how to do this conversion? I guess I'm just too dense to go at it just from these pictures.

Shinnya · Mar 15, 2006

Jeremy,

Here's another source:

http://www.collodion.org/plateholderconversion.html

Enjoy.

Warmly,
Tsuyoshi

p.s.: I still have a couple of 8x10 plate holders...

Jeremy Moore said:
Kerik, can you give us some more detailed instructions on how to do this conversion? I guess I'm just too dense to go at it just from these pictures.

Dorothy Blum Cooper · Mar 15, 2006

If you're anxious to get started, the easiest and cheapest thing to do is modify an 8x10 filmholder.

Kerik...me? Anxious? Whatever gave you that impression?

Seriously...I really appreciate the visual of the self-made plate holders. Like Jeremy, I too would love to know how you did this.

Tom, Joe, Terrence & Tsuyoshi...thank you so much for your suggestions!!

Kerik · Mar 16, 2006

Take a look at the link that Tsuhoshi provided. The only thing I did different was, instead of using the silver wires at the corners, I cut triangles out of the piece of the septum that I cut out, then epoxied them in place as shown in the pictures I posted. The only thing I'd do different than before is to move the triangles in a bit so there is a little more surface area for the plate to rest on.

BTW, I have a couple of Tsuhoshi's dry plate holders. They are great, too. The only thing to be aware of is that you have to be meticulous about cleaning them after every plate, or you will get contamination problems (known as oysters by the wetheads) on subsequent plates. If you're still with me, the difference between a dry plate holder and wet plate holder is that a wet plate holder only suspends the plate by the corners, while the dry plate holder contacts the entire perimeter of the plate, so there is much more contact area that can cause contamination problems.

smieglitz · Mar 16, 2006

Here are some pics of a modification I did this week to an 11x14 dryplate holder. The holder will now accept a 10"x12" plate. I've fashioned some corner inserts from acrylic and hopefully have matched the film plane position of a normal 11x14 film holder if I've done my cipherin' right. The inserts fit the four corners in the holder in the groove where the septum originally seated. I've made the inserts removable in case I have to clean them at some point in time.

The glass plate rests on the narrow strip of plastic which straddles the triangular corner piece. This surface is the focal plane. The wetplate is loaded from the rear of the holder so the emulsion surface rests upon the plastic at the film plane. A spring from an aluminum section picture frame goes between the rear of the glass plate and the darkslide as it is inserted. Once loaded in the camera, the darkslide on the opposite side towards the lens is removed in order to expose the plate.

Joe

Aggie · Mar 16, 2006

I did a search on ebay in the vintage camera section. I had seen this a while ago and didn't know if they seller was still trying to sell these manuals.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7600467242&fromMakeTrack=true

Kerik · Mar 17, 2006

Excellent, Joe!! Thanks for posting the pictures. I guess I'm going to have to do the same thing to one of my 14x17 dry plate holders at some point - hmmm... a 13x16 ambrotype?! Sweet... Looking forward to seeing your large plates!!

Dorothy Blum Cooper · Mar 17, 2006

Joe, thanks so much for the visual on the holders. It helps to 'see' what you're referring to.

Aggie...perfect!! I'm going to show this link to hubby when he gets home in a bit. He loves to make alot of what we use, so this may be something he's interested in.

All the advice and help here has been great! Thank you all so much!!!

WarEaglemtn · Mar 18, 2006

Another option is to buy a plate holder. A lot of older ones out there. I have some I for sale and so do a number of other folks on these forums. Once you have one in the size you need you seldom need more in that size. If you get the 8x10 size with the inserts for 5x7 and 4x5 you have one holder that can hold two plates of the same or varying sizes and speed up duplicating your shots in camera.

Making Glass Plate Film Holder Back...

Dorothy Blum Cooper

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