When I drop the bed of my Pacemaker Speed Graphic I find that I can't extend the focusing rails nearly as far as when the bed is in normal configuration. When the bed is dropped the focus rails stop moving after roughly two turns of the focus knob and I encounter resistance. Is this normal? I couldn't find any mention of it in the manual.

Don't know about Speeds, I have a Century Graphic 2x3; yours might be similar. Before you attempt to advance the front standard, make sure that it is already on the the door section (bed) rails and is not back in the camera box; otherwise the standard will jam when you try to advance it.

Henry wrote:

Don't know about Speeds, I have a Century Graphic 2x3; yours might be similar. Before you attempt to advance the front standard, make sure that it is already on the the door section (bed) rails and is not back in the camera box; otherwise the standard will jam when you try to advance it.

Tried this, the front standard is extended so that it is located on the front bed, but yet the entire assembly jams. It's weird because it *looks* like it should be able to continue further, the little hinges on the back rails seem to lift up and I can't see the rails being obstructed by something anywhere.

with the bed fully retracted into the body, drop the bed= rails will be pulled forward a little. Turning the focus knob forward results in the rails being moved outward until the hinge link binds beyond which trying to move the focus knob forward will result in damage to the rail link(s) and the rails will be flush with the front edge of the bed. Normal operation.

The purpose of the drop bed is to get the rails out of the image area when using wide angle lens. Closer focusing distance can be achieved by placing the front standard on the bed section prior to dropping the bed and recentering the image on the film plane with the rise and tilt movements of the front standard. The infinity position will shift if the lens focuses infinity with the front standard on the bed section of the rails.