Browsing famous auction site today and ran across this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/CENURY-GRAPHIC-GRAFLEX-2-1-4-X-3-1-4-PRESS-CAMERA_W0QQitemZ280199558521QQihZ018QQcategoryZ297QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Looks like the black painted metal strips on top of the slider bars, present on my Century, are missing on this example. Their function seems to be to hold the sliders up against the back. Wonder (a) if their absence is intentional (i.e., made that way), and (2) how it would affect function of sliders?

Guess I could remove the ones on mine and find out, but I'm so darn lazy!

P.S. OK, I get it: camera is listed as "CENURY," so it must be an incomplete CENTURY!

Henry;

One possibility is that someone lost one or both pieces when working on that camera and decided that they were not needed. I would be a bit dubious about trusting the location of any back held on by those sliders.
The serial number indicates 1950 or thereabouts as the manufacture date.
If you do try using your Century without the black pieces please post the results. As for me the info is not worth the effort of removing those parts from a complete (and well working) camera!

C.Henry

Henry, I think those strips are springs. You're not hallucinating, they're not present on the eBay Century.

I checked all three of my 2x3s (Speed, Crown, Century). All have Grafloks, all have the springs.

I believe the springs are there for a reason. The madmen in Rochester who designed our cameras may have had odd reasons for what they did, but they always had reasons.

Taking a closer look at that eBay listing I think that the black strips (springs) are under the sliders instead of on top of them. Also I notice that the top and bottom sliders have been exchanged in position!
Probably the back was disassembled and later reassembled by someone who was neither Graflex knowledgeable nor a careful craftsman.
Hopefully the buyer will know how to correct any problems with that camera.

C. Henry

C. Henry wrote:

Henry; <snip> I would be a bit dubious about trusting the location of any back held on by those sliders. <snip> C.Henry

C. Henry, the Graflok sliders hold roll holders very well, also film pack adapters. Film packs are no longer made, but I use a modified FPA as a coupler between a pair of Graphics that, combined, form a tandem camera.

Cheers,

Dan

Dan;

Properly installed the Graflok sliders will hold any appropriate back properly! Wrongly installed as on the Century shown on the eBay listing cited by Henry I maintain they are not to be trusted to perform as designed. My remark "I would be a bit dubious about trusting the location of any back held on by those sliders." referred to the one individual installation ONLY.

C. Henry

C. Henry wrote:

Taking a closer look at that eBay listing I think that the black strips (springs) are under the sliders instead of on top of them. Also I notice that the top and bottom sliders have been exchanged in position! Probably the back was disassembled and later reassembled by someone who was neither Graflex knowledgeable nor a careful craftsman. Hopefully the buyer will know how to correct any problems with that camera. C. Henry

By George, Carl, you're right about the strips being *under* the sliders! I see that now. In that position, they'd be pushing the sliders *out* instead of snugging them *in* toward the back---and in that position, they'd act contrary to the design intent, IMO. However, I think the sliders themselves are correctly oriented: with the sliders pushed all the way to the right, the top slider's holes slant up and to the right, and the lower slider's holes slant down and to the right, just the way they do on my Century.

I believe that as a result of this conceptual experiment we may draw a valid conclusion, thus preserving my reputation for laziness.

Possibly the purchaser will be posting here for help when he finds that he can't keep his roll film backs in place!

Wow, $225 for a junker. Time to put a couple of the extra Century cameras on the block. Maybe if I put them back together wrong I can up the price???