AWB large format filmholders are made from black walnut, cherrywood, maple, sometimes Central American mahogany, and sometimes African Paduk. The wood is either lacquered, shellaced, or oil & waxed. Staining is a preference by the consumer on a request base only. The septem material is a: .040" black anodized aluminum plate, or .060"or .080" phenolic plastic plate. The handles are made from walnut with maple, cherrywood with Wenge, or Ebony with Paduk, and with grooves for removal. And has a routed notch on one handle, and two routed notches on the other handle. All holders have 2 inside light traps on each side , as a preventative measure against possible light leaks. The rib-lock plates are removable with 4 small screws, this is for maintance purposes. The dark slides are made out of phenolic plastic. The reason why these have to be precision made is because we maintain tight tolerances of .003" (3 thousandths of and inch), or better. Everything has to be tight; but, wood still fluctuates thru moisture and heat expansion, so, the darkslides have to be loose enough to slide back and forth.

Making these filmholders takes a considerable amount of time to produce. It requires about 150 set-ups to produce 1 filmholder. And each holder's parts are custom machined by hand. Purchasing and picking out lumber for these holders can often be tidious and frustrating. After selecting the lumber and bringing it to the shop, cutting it is another nightmare. Sometimes, just when you thought that your lumber is straight-grained when you picked it out, it bows and bends on you, and when that happens, it's of no use. A wasted piece of material and money. Each piece of wood has to be straight and straight-grained (quarter-sawn). Not always does a piece of wood straighten out when clamped in the opposite direction for correction and stay put. Weather and the amount of moisture in the wood determines what it will do after it is cut.
For additional infomation regarding each filmholder's description, size, and weight, send us an email, snail mail, or give us a call. Thanks again for visiting our web site.

Various Size Filmholders and 2006 Pricing of each, Include The Following:

Custom sizes: Holders made to your specs for a custom camera, to be made or already made, shall be calculated a week after time of correspondence,
                        either by email or by phone.