Plate holder issues

[Robert Kennedy]

I've been playing with coating my own plates and have run into some serious issues with the holders.

The old, wood holders I bought simply, SUCK. I mean they don't work worth a damn. Even though I get 2mm glass, I can only load one plate at a time. So one side is unused. And then they often warp with the plate in them so just getting the darkslide out is a nightmare. I even lost one today because the holder warped so much that it buckled around the plate!

I am going nuts trying to solve the holder problem! I am thinking about getting some Linhof "Universals", but they seem few and VERY far between (I found one for, no kidding $200!) I am at wits end here. RIght now I have a couple of Ansco "Dry Plate Holders" and one Premo holder (which doesn't really work because the darkslides are too short to be usable). I am DESPERATE to get something that will actually WORK.

Does ANYONE have a good source for plate holders at all? Or even some Linhofs they would be willing to sell at a reasonable price (I mean $200.00....for ONE! What was that about?)?

 

[Jim Chinn]

What format are you using the plate holders for?

 

[Ole]

I'm a bit surprised by your problems?

I use plate holders in my 18x24cm camera, plate holders with inserts in my 9x12cm camera, and some Linhof Universal holders in both 9x12cm, 4x5" and 13x18cm...

While I do not coat my own plates, I use glass plates behind the film in the 18x24cm holders. Or rather in one of them, the other one holds the other half of the cheap IKEA clip frames I dismantled to stuff the holders with

If you really need 4x5" plate holders, I may be convinced to part with one or two. I also have some surplus old single holders for 9x12cm and 10x15cm...

 

[Robert Kennedy]

Actually I do need 4x5s.

I think some of the problem is the age of the holders, and the factthat it is VERY dry here. I am betting that moisture from the emulsion is doing something. Plus the humidity here has gone from 20% to 100% in a matter of hours.

If you are up to selling some 4x5s I'd be interested. Things are barren out there.

 

[Robert Kennedy]

Well, I just found out WHY my plate holders weren't working.

I was told, you need glass no thicker than 2mm. So I went to the local hardware store and they sold me, what they claimed was "2mm glass".

I just measured it.

It is 2.5mm.

Which explains a LOT. The plates were always a bit hard to get in and out, but having no idea HOW they fit, I figured this was normal.

Turns out it isn't.

I called the store where I bought the stuff and they said "Oh, 2mm and 2.5mm is the same thing."

O.......K.......


So I called a specialty shop. A glaziers.

There I was told that NOBODY makes 2mm or thinner glass! I call ANOTHER shop.

Same response.

ARGH!

Does anyone know WHERE you can get 2mm thick glass plates? This is INSANE. Every article on book on dry-plate work says 2mm is the maximum for it. Period. Yet I have been told NOBODY has 2mm glass! Which is nuts because people still make dry-plates. Some on a daily basis!

Any sources out there?

 

[Donald Miller]

It seems that it would be a fairly straightforward matter to machine out the additional .5 mm of depth that you require to use currently available materials. That amounts to slightly over 20 thousands of an inch.

 

[Robert Kennedy]

My concern is that machining out that .5mm isn't possible. The septum on these holders is VERY thin. And machining glass down is NOT an option. I might be able to altar the holders, but I an wary of that.

Ironically, I just discovered that in Europe and Canada, 2mm is a standard size!

Apparently only the U.S. is dumb enough to use the 2.5mm standard.

 

[Ole]

I'll check how much you can squeeze into a Linhof holder - in a few days' time.

I think the glass plates used when they were still a production item were even thinner - I believe the 9x12cm plates I have are 1.3mm! Could be the bigger sizes are thicker - I'll check that too (Perutz "Rapid" ca. 1938, in 6x9, 9x12, 10x15 and 13x18 - all cm sizes).

 

[Robert Kennedy]

I'm wondering at what point we LOST the ability to make thin glass....

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

My concern is that machining out that .5mm isn't possible. The septum on these holders is VERY thin. And machining glass down is NOT an option. I might be able to altar the holders, but I an wary of that.

Ironically, I just discovered that in Europe and Canada, 2mm is a standard size!

Apparently only the U.S. is dumb enough to use the 2.5mm standard.

This U.S. Glass Co. (F J Gray and Co.) seems to have what you are looking for - both as float glass and as microsheet glass.

http://www.fjgray.com/about.htm

Click on Glass Types and look at Float Glass, then go to the bottom of the page and (click here for more)