Wood for Lensboards

[Dave Parker]

Home depot offers a set of hole saws that will cover a good many ranges of shutter sizes, I think I purchased mine for about $10.00 I just cross the board from corner to corner and then carfully use the drill and hole saw, pretty easy to do.

Dave

 

[rbarker]

... but what do you guys use to cut the hole for the lens?

I use Forstner bits to drill the holes, as they create nice clean edges. As I use natural hardwoods, mostly 1/4" thick, for my boards, I mark the center on both sides, and then use a larger bit to countersink the back side for the retainer ring, and then the nearest size bit for the actual hole, drilling from the face side. Once the drilling is done, I then rabbet the outer edge of the board on a shaper to create the edge light seal.

http://www.rbarkerphoto.com/lensboard_hole_sizes.html

 

[manet]

I have used MDF (medium-density fibreboard) to make a lensboard. Then, I have covered it with a plating of acajou like the wood of my large format camera Gilles-Faller 18x24.

 

[grahamp]

I have used recycled ABS plastic (from an old Western Digital MyBook external hard drive) for mounting a shuttered lens onto a Beseler enlarger. It is about 1/8 inch thick, and easy to cut. Plus is is already a very dark grey. Not really an elegant option for a nice wood camera, but it should look fine on my 5x4 technical, which looks odd with a wooden board for some reason.

Graham

 

[Roger Hicks]

Another vote for MDF. Paint it matte black. Looks like hell. Works. Are you into pretty cameras (yes, I am) or taking pictures (yes, I am, even more so)? Hence an MDF lens board on my pre-WW1 Gandolfi Universal 12x15.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Uncle Jim]

I have made two lens boards for my large Indian cameras from left over laminate flooring from when we redid the flooring at our house. It is 8 mm thick and was just right for those cameras. It has a cherry pattern on the front and looks just right on those cameras. Cuts and works easily with power tools.

uncle jim

 

[John Kasaian]

If i don't have the time to do 'er up right, it's Baltic Birch plywood, a good sealer and flat black paint for me. But I prefer hardwood with beautiful grain and a fine laquer finish.
I figure the ol' gal deserves it.