Waterhouse stops?

[Jim Fitzgerald]

I decided to make some brass waterhouse stops for my Voigtlander Euroscop Hybrid 16" lens. Do I need to blacken the brass? If so should I paint it or use something else? Any help would be great. Thanks

Jim

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I would recommend blackening it to prevent internal reflections within the lens which could cause flare and reduce contrast.

 

[nawagi]

Most gun shops sell a bluing liquid which will darken your brass stops nicely. It does contain an acid and the bluing action should be done outdoors due to the smelly and probably toxic fumes produced.

NWG

 

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Thanks guys for the information. I thought that I would need to darken the stops to reduce any flair. I will check out the bluing liquid.


Jim

 

[Ole]

Polysulfide toner is said to do the job very nicely. Try Viradon.

 

[matti]

Sorry for the hijack, but does anyone bother to cover the Waterhouse slot when no Waterhouse stop is in use? I suppose light will enter here...
/matti

 

[Curt]

I like Krylon Ultra Black, it doesn't seen to build up into a thick surface and is really black. I cover the slot, it just makes sense, keep the light out. Have you mounted the 14" Commercial Ektar yet? You could use Waterhouse stops on it until you get a shutter.

What solution did you find for the film and holder slot size problem? Making some 11x14 film holders? Maybe a dozen single sided holders?

Curt

 

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Curt, no I haven't had time to mount the Ektar. Doing some adjustments on the 11x14 gears. Also, working on doing some stabilizing.

The holders I have are all Burke and James. One of the holders is to small and the other two are fine. I guess to use the third hiolder that is small I'll have to trim the film.

Jim

 

[Curt]

What kind of gear adjustments? Are they misaligned, skipping or are you getting backlash? Even the old heavy wood cameras are a bit unstable at extension, my Seneca 8x10 is probably the weakest compared to the Kodak's. Maybe a wood plate of plywood that's hinged to fold up and store or a couple of metal rods?

Curt

 

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Curt I got new racks and pinions from McMaster Carr. I didn't get the racks in at all of the same depth. I adjusted the height of the pinions but they keep slipping. The set screws do not bite on the brass rod very well. I need to drill a small hole in each one to give the screw something to bite on. Only problem is that in my attempt to tighten one of the screws I must have stripped the top where the .05mm allen wrench goes in. I'll have to order some more screws. Should be good to go then. I forgot to add a pivot point on the rear bed and in doing so helped to stabilize the back much more. All in the learning process I guess. I decided I'm going to build a Walnut case for it. Should be fun.


Jim

 

[Curt]

You can drill a hole or file a flat. Otherwise with temperature and use they will rotate on you. That's where I got my rack and pinion too. Four pinions and two 36" racks, $100.00. Beats buying a $5000.00 camera though doesn't it? Racks, pinions, bellows, ground glass, after you get that taken care of it's wood wooding and lots of it.

 

[Dan Dozer]

Hi Jim,

I have the same problem with the set screws for the gears on my 8 x 20, and have yet to resolve the situation. I tried flattening side of the brass rod that the gears go on with a file - it does help some, but they still seem to work their way loose. I think the drilling a small hole is about the only way to go. I have thought about using some glue or Lock-tight in the set screw hole once it's tight, but that would make it more or less permanent.

For what it's worth, even with the set screw loose, the front geared standard is still pretty firm on my front gear rails and it doesn't seem to make much difference in making the exposure.

Dan

 

[pgomena]

Something I noticed when changing camera mounting screws on a Majestic tripod was that not only was the shaft into which the set screw fit dimpled for a good grip, but that they used two set screws, one behind the other, to keep things from loosening. Both set screws were pointed on the end, and the dimple on the shaft was cone-shaped.

Peter Gomena

 

[Jerevan]

Blackening - in olden times carbon black was used, which basically is soot from a candle as far as I can understand. I have blackened lensboards, etc to good effect.