Some plans
I have been drawing up some plans in Inventor for a while now, but they were all sketches. I am getting to the point that the plan dimensions are making sense. Here is the sort of thing I am talking about. When I get to the finalized plans, I will post the original DWG files (maybe) but at least the details of what I came to.
I have decided to use Cherry. It seems to be the traditional wood of choice because it is very stable and workable word. WIth tolerances down below 1/32 of an inch, the material has to be solid and not warp much. For the rails I have learned that a straight grained quarter or rift sawn wood is best. These grain patterns make the swelling predictable and controlled.
I also picked up a lens and shutter. The lens needed to be repaired, but I’ll post pics and the story later. I have also found a suitable cloth to make the bellows out of. It is a little steep, but it thin and, lightproof. ANother route would be a leather bellows but I haven’t found a source for skins large enough or thin enough (or cheap enough.)