Graflex 3 cell...100% Vintage, but not 100% Graflex (Pics)

When I saw Peacefrog35's "New equivalent to bb&b salt shakers?" thread, I figured this would be worth posting.

I'm currently working on two TFA Graflex conversions, but one is a 3 cell and the other is a two cell.

Not a problem, off to the spare parts box. A while back, I bought this DeMornay-Budd package deal. I moved the upper component to the 3 cell bottom, which gave me a 2 cell bottom as a leftover.

The diameter is right and the finish is close enough for me, so off to cutting I went.

Not much to it. I made a paper/pencil rubbing of the Graflex slots and recreated them on the DB 2 cell bottom.

What about the logo, you ask? Not a problem. The grip at the 9 'oclock position will cover it once it's installed.

Drilling/tapping the holes for the Kobold/d-ring just barely worked. I don't think rivets would have worked here.

I don't have a correct ANH style d-ring, so maybe someone here can tell us if one would work on these, judging from my pictures.

And a pic of both ready to continue with the conversion.

I hope this will help someone out. This thread will probably drive up the price of DeMornay Budd 2 cell flashes. Sorry about that. :angel

Wow, that's what I need! Great job!

Great job!

I'm seeing the new trend for 3 cell graflex and it's a shame.
Sellers have figured out they can make more money by parting these out into pieces.
I watched the top part of a 3 cell go for over 300. Sold the bottom for close to the same. Clamp went for over 200 and buttons in the 50 dollar range

Now other sellers are doing this as well

Now I'll NEVER get a demornay budd


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very cool idea! came out awesome!

incredible work! You're brave to make that 3 cell bottom!

Amazing work as always.

I'd love a Demornay-Budd... but for the top half. I love that thing. But I've never seen one listed.

But yeah-- smart way to make a new Graflex. Obviously, it's the top that has the character. There's a Graflex sync slave-- which is literally just the tip of the graflex, on ebay about to go. It's at $30 with a half hour to go-- really curious where it lands.

OK, I found a flash that should work well to be cut. It has a similar finish and and end that is closed so I don't have to worry about a separate end cap. This should be close to the demornay budd flash in the end result. It arrives tomorrow. The problem is my skill in cutting isn't great. I don't have a proper work bench to clamp it down to keep it steady. Should I employ a machine shop to do the cuts? I did this in the past for a 2 cell out of an old parks saber. The cuts weren't pretty, but was covered by the clamp. This time, I want it to look as good as possible.

A dremel would work just fine. If you have a steady hand and some simple cutting wheels, you could make the rough cut pretty easy with a dremel and then hand file the rest down to get it to the specified dimensions.

Steady hand being the key. I've done some good stuff-- but I've also butchered things. I'd grab a cheapo sink tube to practice on first.

Peacefrog35 said:

OK, I found a flash that should work well to be cut. It has a similar finish and and end that is closed so I don't have to worry about a separate end cap. This should be close to the demornay budd flash in the end result. It arrives tomorrow. The problem is my skill in cutting isn't great. I don't have a proper work bench to clamp it down to keep it steady. Should I employ a machine shop to do the cuts? I did this in the past for a 2 cell out of an old parks saber. The cuts weren't pretty, but was covered by the clamp. This time, I want it to look as good as possible.

Click to expand...

Jax and Seth pretty much said it. A vice is not needed and I'd imagine a trip to a machine shop would be too expensive..

If you want this one to be right, it's time to purchase a variable speed Dremel Tool and a set of...I don't know what people call them. I call them mini files.

I used a glue stick to attach the template to the DM tube so it wouldn't move around. I had the notches made in less than an hour.

Don't have a work bench? Use the kitchen counter, I guess?

When I'm doing grinding/drilling/sanding/filing, I put up a 3 sided hinged cardboard barrier to contain the metal bits and control the mess that I'm making.

I usually lay an old t-shirt on my work surface for a job like this, as well. It helps to catch some of the mess, too.

Excellent advice guys.. Thanks a bunch!. I am going to knock this one out this weekend and have fun with it.

Yeah definitely get some practice pieces under your belt first! Last thing you wanna do is mess up your actual work on your first attempt

OK gang... Update.. The flash arrived. Much to my surprise, it turned out to be an unstamped graflex 4 cell extension with a heiland head attachedment. So my concerns about it not matching are squashed as it is now a 100% vintage graflex, but now part of me doesn't want to cut it. Lol not bad for $20 plus shipping.

I also have a graflex 4 cell base that I'm planning on converting. I don't however have a 3 cell base for comparison. Can someone tell me the exact length of the 3-cell base? I know overall length etc, just hoping to get some info on this part only. Tough to find it and I want to be a precise as possible when making my cuts. Thank you!

Rileyjones , and Peacefrog35 too if it helps you...

Though I'm not condoning cutting 4-CELL GRAFLEX tubes (they seem to be getting as rare as Telegraph Button GRAFLEXes)...

My 3-CELL bottoms measure out at 4-21/32", 4-21/32", and ever so slightly longer by 1/128" at 4-85/128".

Cutting tubing is easier if you use a miter box. Go to your local hardware store and ask for help picking out a fine toothed hack saw. I would cut it at least 1/16" too long and use a fine-toothed, flat, ******* file to finish the edge on the tube and whittle it down to square and close to the exact dimension. You can use the end of the miter box as a guide for your file if its ends are square. I'd then move to a sanding block and 200 grit sandpaper, then 400, and then 600 grit sandpaper until the edge was perfect and the length was exactly 4-21/32".

Now, as for the slots that the GRAFLEX clamp tabs pass into:

The wider 'entry' section of the slots are 25/128" across. They are 43/64" long/deep towards the bottom of the tube.

The narrow section of the slots measure 3/32". The longer, lower-side length of the narrow section is 25/32" (measured across the gap with calipers from the far side of the wider 'entry' section to the end of the narrow section). The shorter, upper-side of the narrow section is 33/64" long (measured across the gap with calipers from the end of the narrow section back towards the wider 'entry' section where it stops at the beginning of the little tab part).

The little tab parts: 2 of mine have tabs that are 3/32" wide and one has tabs that are larger at 15/128"wide. The little tabs are 1/32" tall, leaving a 1/16" gap between themselves and the bottom edge of the narrow section slots.

All the corners WITHIN the slots are square. The corners of the wider 'entry' section slots are ever so slightly rounded at the entry edge of the tubing. It's difficult to measure, but I'd say that if you made your radius at no more than 1/16" you'd have an accurate looking curved corner.

If any of these measurements need further explanation please let me know! I can make a little drawing if you can't figure it out by looking at the upper half of your GRAFLEXes.

I highly recommend you practice on several scrap pieces of tubing before moving on to your original 4-CELL tubes. I recently went through my cutting process on a CO2 cartridge but had freehand cut it instead of using my miter box. I was super proud of how pretty the two ends came out... until I put the two sides back together and the tube was no longer straight, but rather slightly angled. I could turn the two sides against one another and line them up to where they made a straight tube again, but the ends aren't square. You'll need to make sure your ends are square so that the clamp tabs operate within the slots properly! So, take your time and measure often!

If I had a 4-CELL bottom, I'd probably see if I could get some longer T-track from one of the T-track vendors and make a long-handle lightsaber out of it. Done in such a way as to allow it to function as originally intended. Just because it preserves some of its history that way. And I'd buy a replica, non-engraved, 3-CELL bottom tube to make a standard length handle for it too.

If you decide to go through with cutting your 4-CELL bottoms, GOOD LUCK! If you decide to take it to a machine shop, make sure they understand that you want the piece wrapped and protected from marring the finish when they chuck it up in their lathe!!!