Hello, folks. I'm hoping to find one or more experts on this camera here, after getting some help--but not quite what I need--over on Large Format Info. I'm in the U.S.
I’ve been having trouble with the front standard locks staying locked on my recently acquired Tachiara 4x5 (nickel-plated with brass "toggle" cam locks), especially one side. I tried replacing the old, somewhat beat-up brass shims/washers that sit topside between the bed and the cam, with new steel ones in three thicknesses: 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 mm. They slip. Subsequently, I tried to get nylon ones, after reading that Tachihara had begun supplying its cameras with these as early as 1998 (1998 post on LFI). Compressible makes sense to me. The only ones I have found in the right diameters (from McMasters-Carr), however, are too thick – 0.5 mm, according to the description – though I tried them anyway. The extra thickness doesn’t even allow clearance for the locks to be screwed in.
I have considered trying to sand (somehow) the steel shims with some superfine sandpaper (the gray stuff, maybe 400 grit?) to give the upper surface some friction potential, but I’m no expert in fine mechanisms and metals, and I’d rather get proper guidance from someone who knows.
The back locks, also with the new steel shims, hold fine. (In fact, the ones that came with on camera were too thick to allow free rear swing, which is now fine with the new ones. Some other adjustment is needed to remove a little vertical play from the rear standard, but that has to do with the large black plates that jut out.)
Therefore, I am seeking either/both a source for thinner nylon washers and/or some expertise from someone with experience with this camera, preferably with this particular problem, who can help me get it operating properly. It’s frustrating to have gotten the camera and not be able to use it! The one, better side might stay if the other did, but it's not completely solid either.