BTW, a proper high quality mill file can look almost as clean as a machine if you’re careful.
Filing, done well, is more accurate and looks better than milling, done badly. And both the tool and the skill are cheaper to acquire.
I spent a few minutes this morning figuring out why the Graflok conversion (from 20th Century Camera) that I have on my Annie Speed was letting the Grafmatic and LomoGraflok move when mounted (to the point the Grafmatic almost pulled out when operating the mechanism). Turns out there were two factors at work. First, three of four four screws that retain the locking slides were less tight than they needed to be, and second, one end of one locking slide wasn't seated perfectly.
To be clear, this is
not a complaint about the quality of work from 20th Century Camera. Mine was one of, if not
the first Anniversary fit conversions they made (these are 3D printed); I had ordered (they offered only one conversion back at the time, likely they were as unaware as I of this subtle difference between the models), found the conversion didn't fit my camera, and then realized the mounting screw pattern on an Annie is slightly different from the Pacemaker. I contacted the seller/maker, and they very graciously took back the (opened, partly mounted, all parts returned to package) conversion I had and replaced it with one having correct hole positions for an Annie, at no additional cost to me, though they apparently used the same 3D models (mine still has the fifth screw hole under the film holder insertion path and the mount for the Pacemaker style swing-up rear peephole for the wire frame viewfinder).
A little careful repositioning, and reassembly with the loose lock slide correctly positioned and all four lock slide screws tight, and the movement in the lock slides has been eliminated. Test mounting the LomoGraflok shows it still has a little movement due to lock slide flex (it's a fairly thin composite material rather than steel like the originals), but it should be acceptable; it's not enough to disengage the positioning rib.
Overall, my hat's off to a maker who has put in the mental effort to offer support and accessories for these cameras (including conversions for RB Graflex, dry plate and wet plate holders to fit standard mounts, other Graflex-fit accessories, sheet film development add-ons for Paterson and Jobo tank systems) -- and whose customer service is good enough to (even slightly) redesign a product for, initially, a single customer.
