Plate holder issues

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?)?

What format are you using the plate holders for?

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...

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.

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?

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.

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.

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).

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

Robert Kennedy said:

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.

Click to expand...

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)