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Image of tree line and late day sky (upside down of course)
RECONDITIONING NOTES:
Here is the summary of my restoration on the Folmer & Schwing:
When I obtained this from a former pro photographer, it was in need of TLC. The large bellows was in tatters although the front small one was fine. One of the retaining pins for the ground glass mounting board was bent 90 degrees and the pin is hollow brass. The carrying strap was in two pieces. But the rest of it was very solid and complete – beautiful, actually.
Here’s what I did:
I had Custom Bellows in England make me a new large bellows and it cost substantially more than $300. First, I removed the old bellows and carefully removed the front and rear attachment frames. I strengthened the large rear frame at each corner because it was rather fragile. The front frame was fine. Custom Bellows returned a beautifully made bellows on the frames and I reattached carefully using the original screws. It came out great.
It was not possible to straighten the retaining pin for the focusing glass holder without breaking it so I was able to insert a steel pin into the base of the pin housing and the pin itself and secured it with Loctite. Seems to work just fine.
There was a small separation of a wood piece on the film holder and that was carefully reattached using wood glue and clamps. The repair is solid and undetectable.
I fashioned a new thick leather handle in the same shape (arrow ends) as the old but since the brackets that secure the handle are riveted securely in place through the wood frame, I did not want to try to remove them and re-rivet, so the handle, while true in shape to the original is 2-pieces with a 3” overlap and the overlap is secured firmly with 3 brass screw rivets. It holds the weight very well.
The aperture ring was extremely hard to turn on the lens, so I carefully lubricated it (sparingly) and worked it free and it now works smoothly with a bit of resistance from f/16 to f/256. The glass is relatively clean with some dust specks but no fungus, but it is about 90 years old so, it’s not “new” by any means.
I made a leather lens cover that can be used to uncover and cover the lens when shooting a picture. There is no shutter on the lens that’s on this camera.
Otherwise, other than cleaning the wood, it is as found, and I have left the brass fittings alone, with their original patina. Of course, you could make them shiny if you wanted but I left them as is because you can’t “unshine” them.
Please ask any questions prior to offerding. This was a labor of love, but it’s time for a new permanent home.
Documentation