This is an overview of the more important building materials and a few tools. The two sizes of brass and wood, mentioned in the text, are shown and examples of the sorts of wood and metal screws needed. I have included a typical rack and pinion gears also as an example. By standardising in this way it is possible to greatly reduce the number of drills and taps you are likely to need and make the whole job less daunting and expensive.
Working in fibre glass. At the top, this shows a typical cross section of a panel made from glass fibre. The enlarged corner section in the middle shows how the structure can be easily reinforced at the corners during the applying of the paste. Below I show how a camera body may be put together. The embedded metal reinforcing plates and anchorage points are also shown. The wooden strips inside the body are to form a ledge for attaching the back of the bellows and a recess for the reversing back.
Obviously, it would be great to have a fully equipped workshop when starting a project like this, but how many of us are so fortunate? The key to success in this and so many other things is improvisation. Make use of what you have or use materials that are simple to work.
As I said earlier, a lot is possible with the minimum of tools. A good sharp hand saw, a fretsaw, a set of screwdrivers and an electric drill is a good start. You will also need a chisel or two, a medium sized setsquare, some sandglass paper and files plus a flat piece of board, like a discarded piece of kitchen surface, to work on. If you want to be more ambitious, a Router, a set of drills in the smaller sizes, a drill stand (to help use the electric drill more accurately) and a set of Taps and Dies would be a great help. Either a small hand circular saw or saw table is also very useful.
I like to make my cameras out of hardwood. Mahogany being my preferred choice. It has to be a high quality example of the wood, which sounds very expensive, but is not too bad in view of the very small quantities you will need. I buy mine from a specialist wood supplier who caters for the musical instrument making trade. When ordering mahogany, ask for it to be quarter sawn as this adds to the stability of the wood when it becomes a camera. The last thing you want is for your masterpiece to become warped and twisted over time. The other thing that helps is to standardise on the sizes you buy. It makes things easier in the long run. All my cameras are built using wood of either 8mm or 12mm thickness and the supplier saws it to these sizes for me. All I have to do then is to slit the sections into the widths I require for the parts I am making. The main reason why I use wood of this type is because it is good to work with and can be finished nicely so the resulting camera looks good. I think it is very important that anything you make looks as smart as possible. You can then pretend it is not homemade and it will do a lot for your confidence. This in turn gives a strange sort of psychological boost when you use it for the purpose intended. I have in the past literally thrown pieces of equipment together but then suffered when I tried to use them as the opposite effect comes into play.
However if you feel unable to tackle camera building using hardwoods or your carpentry is not up to the job there are other materials you can try. Plywood of various thicknesses is one possibility and then there is always MDF.
Finally, if your skill with tools does not go much beyond using a craft knife and a ruler, there is cardboard. Yes cardboard, you did read it correctly. How could you make a large format camera out of cardboard you may ask? The answer is you can make parts of it.
Take the body section, which is nothing more than a frame, or the baseboard, which is simply a rigid rectangular plate. This method is something I have used successfully in the past for making photographic bits and pieces. Take the baseboard first; all you have to do is to cut out a rectangle of the required size. Coat it with a thick layer of glass fibre paste. Use the type sold for filling large body holes in cars and has chopped fibreglass in the mix. This is stronger than simply using the paste filler. Then place an identical piece of cardboard over the top. Press this down hard enough to expel air pockets but not enough to make the sandwich too thin. When all this is set, you have a very rigid structure, which strong enough to drill, saw or file, particularly if the card on the outside is painted with several coats of varnish.
If you are making the camera body this way, after you have formed the inner shape in cardboard, it is easier to spread the glass fibre paste on one side at a time and add the top layer of card before moving onto the next side. Corners can also have metal angle pieces made from the aluminium mesh, which came with the original kit, embedded at this stage, to increase the strength of the structure. If one is not careful, it can all be a rather messy business but it is possible to get good results after the edges have been cleaned up and filed or sanded flat.
If the shape you are attempting to make is more complex, improvise some form of mould. Cast the component you require in fibreglass, forgetting this time the cardboard. You can then embed bits of metal to reinforce it or provide anchorage areas for pivots or attachments.
Finally screws and glues; I standardise here as well. It helps not having too many different sizes to buy. I use a good all weather glue for the wood as well as the ubiquitous epoxy glue for the other parts. Wood screws; the smallest brass screws I can find I use most, something like a 2 x 3/8 size. It is seldom necessary to want anything larger.
For the metal screws, I use 2BA cheese head or countersunk head screws for most of the larger pivots and 5 BA countersunk screws for the smaller ones. This restricts the drill sizes I need to keep. I mostly use brass screws as this is in keeping with the rest of the camera.
I make all the brass components from either 1/8 (3mm) thick strips or 1/16 (1.6mm) thick brass sheet or angle. Usually a hacksaw and file job. Control knobs are made from brass round stock of suitable sizes. As I said earlier, a friendly lathe owner can sometimes make these bits and pieces for you if you can't manage them yourself and it isn't possible to find the pieces you want on your junk box.
Finally, the last material you will find useful in camera construction, is black velvet ribbon in various widths. This is useful when making light tight joints between sliding components or making light traps.
