Burke & James 5x7 Project Cam - Progress...
Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2025 6:13 pm
Starting this thread so I can dump everything in one spot...
I'm still trying to positively ID this camera. Looks about 90% like a B&J Watson Portrait view camera, but those 1. Have front swings (mine does not) and 2. Does NOT have a metal brace on the front standard (mine DOES). Mine has the B&J stamp on the front brace for the shift. I can't find anything online that has any more definitive info on the portrait version of this camera, so I don't know if this is some weird variant or a different camera altogether. Searching for a B&J expert...
Have spent the last few days trimming, fitting, and repairing the donor back. Which, apparently, is an Agfa/ANSCO back. The more I scraped and planed, the more issues came up. Ultimately decided the best thing to do would excise as much as necessary and repair and patch. Ended up cutting out and gluing in six pieces. The back is mahogany; the patches are cherry. I have a block of mahogany somewhere in the garage, but had appropriately-sized pieces of cherry nearby, it's stable enough, and the patches weren't going to be invisible regardless.
The backside is going to essentially get Bondo'd next with some good filler, then sanded smooth and painted flat black. The front I will continue scraping, then sanding, then it's gonna get finished with several coats of tung oil. Not going to lacquer it this time; the body of the camera is a lovely satin, and I want the sheen on the back to be similar. Still need to drill for the pins, but that's later. Back fits nicely though. Have some new card scrapers on order (cheapo Amazon garbagio, but good enough), and then the ground glass frame will get scraped and refinished. The metalwork is God-awful, but hopefully with buff easily enough. Need to get some glass from Ace for a new ground glass. Onward!
I'm still trying to positively ID this camera. Looks about 90% like a B&J Watson Portrait view camera, but those 1. Have front swings (mine does not) and 2. Does NOT have a metal brace on the front standard (mine DOES). Mine has the B&J stamp on the front brace for the shift. I can't find anything online that has any more definitive info on the portrait version of this camera, so I don't know if this is some weird variant or a different camera altogether. Searching for a B&J expert...
Have spent the last few days trimming, fitting, and repairing the donor back. Which, apparently, is an Agfa/ANSCO back. The more I scraped and planed, the more issues came up. Ultimately decided the best thing to do would excise as much as necessary and repair and patch. Ended up cutting out and gluing in six pieces. The back is mahogany; the patches are cherry. I have a block of mahogany somewhere in the garage, but had appropriately-sized pieces of cherry nearby, it's stable enough, and the patches weren't going to be invisible regardless.
The backside is going to essentially get Bondo'd next with some good filler, then sanded smooth and painted flat black. The front I will continue scraping, then sanding, then it's gonna get finished with several coats of tung oil. Not going to lacquer it this time; the body of the camera is a lovely satin, and I want the sheen on the back to be similar. Still need to drill for the pins, but that's later. Back fits nicely though. Have some new card scrapers on order (cheapo Amazon garbagio, but good enough), and then the ground glass frame will get scraped and refinished. The metalwork is God-awful, but hopefully with buff easily enough. Need to get some glass from Ace for a new ground glass. Onward!