Speed Graphic restoration

[mattk]

Well, I found a Speed Graphic on craigslist the other day listed with a Caltar Pro 210/6.1 lens. Turns out the lens says "Made in Germany" which I believe makes it a Schneider Xenar. The price I paid was what I thought would be good just for the lens. The individual who owned the camera before me didn't exactly take care of it (the focal plane shutter is gone, bellows are iffy, and the leatherette covering look terrible. Judging from the camera I thought the lens would be a basket case! The lens turns out to be in great shape and the shutter is spot on with polaroids. I decided that with the Graphlock(sp?) back and mostly solid construction this camera deserves more than a trip to the trash bin. I will post some pictures of the restoration process when I get a chance. Cameraleather.com is limited in their offerings for the size of material I need so it looks like black leatherette will be the covering. Anyone else tackle one of these jobs?

 

[bdial]

I've seen a Crown Graphic that had had the leatherette stripped off and the wood sanded and varnished. It didn't look half bad. The Speed has additional hardware and metal plates to contend with, but it might be an easier approach than cutting and gluing new leatherette. I guess it's a matter of whether you are looking to restore, or simply return it to functonality.

 

[Jim Noel]

I would return it. There are too many excellent Speeds out ther to put up with what appears to be a piece of junk.

 

[mattk]

Return it? It was free with the lens! I have posted a pic of the stripped camera and its parts in the standard gallery.

 

[athanasius80]

Recovering shouldn't be terribly difficult and you could use whatever material you want: real leather, leatherette, oilcloth, plaid....

Or just clean up the wood and paint or varnish it. Either way, it'll be a fun art project.

 

[glennfromwy]

I have a bunch of 'em. They're easy to work on and still an excellent piece to use. If you should decide to leave the covering off, be sure to check the box joints for light tightness in the rear, behind the bellows. The covering sealed any leaky joints. Your lens is indeed a Xenar and should be a fine performer. Let us know how you fare?
FYI: That Graflok back, in any decent condition is worth 100.00 or so on the auction thingy. Ya done good!

 

[jolefler]

I bought a project...

and it's worked out very well! I need to replace the bellows, still, but they're taped inobtrusively and fully functional as is.

I'm lucky I got a good FP shutter curtain and mechanism. A little lube & away it went.

I did have to replace the leather on the door. I used a soft faux leather polyester cloth from a chain fabric store. It was a brown/black mottled color when contact cemented to the door. Once dry, I used black leather dye to color in the areas subject to less wear. A coat of wax and the result is a worn looking replacement with the same appearance and texture as the original moroccan. Easy enough to do all the panels with perfect contures.

I'll try(once again :confused: ) to get enough computer savvy to post a shot soon.