[LargeFormat] Wooden Field Camera Jigsaws

[Clive Warren]

At 5:52 pm +0000 18/1/02, philip Lambert wrote:
>Clive, sorry about your camera kit. Was that an Ebay deal?  Maybe you can
>sue somebody
>Evostik resin W is an easy to use old-established wood glue which comes
>readymixed and lasts for ever in the bottle. I have given up trying to clamp
>the two components being glued as the process of tightening the clamps seems
>to displace the parts. Possibly I need better clamps. Instead I lay the two
>components on the kitchen table and put a weight on top (Webster's
>dictionary). It soon dries.  If I am lucky the whole outfit gets gets stuck
>to the table. As to cherry wood try out the glue on joints that would be
>concealed when the camera is used, so that any visual side effects of the
>glue won't matter. Normally you don't see the glue line, assuming you wipe
>off surplus glue when still wet. Joints which will carry real weight might
>have fine countersunk screws inserted into pilot holes drilled through both
>parts just before gluing, so that the stress isn't all on the glue. I have
>used brass screws this way in the past, even filing the point off before
>final insertion, if the screw were a trifle long for the job.  Wooden
>dinghies used to be ?still are?  glued and pinned together. Do they make
>boats on your part of the river? Or wooden chairs? Chair makers have a way
>with wood.  I envy your ability to work in metal. Welded monorails?
>Philip

Thanks to everyone for all the replies on this subject - I now have a 
great range of glue choice and some useful techniques to add to the 
armoury.

It was an Ebay deal and the chap who sold me the 5x7 camera is as 
disappointed as I am. It really was quite a nice camera before the 
post office got to it. I was getting ready to sort out some bag 
bellows for it and that will now have to wait for the tedious 
inspection process as at least it was insured for what I paid for it.

One option is to attempt a repair, the other is to find yet another 
scrapper for donor parts. The main problem is the bed which has been 
severely damaged where the rear standard slides in the wooden 
grooves. Well, there aren't any grooves anymore as the bottoms at 
both sides have been broken away and the upper geared tracks forced 
upwards - nightmare.....

I was sitting last night with the bed in my hands (that's an unusual 
concept!) wondering about the person who made the camera, probably 
around 1920, and what he/she would think about people still using 
them today.

Philip, the ship chandlers is a good idea for a source of small 
screws and the replacement nails for the bellows, although I guess 
that the UK-based Camera Bellows Company will have a good selection 
of nails for sale.

Cheers,
        Clive