Graflex question: did I get hosed?

[ZombieBait]

Just got a Graflex, ostensibly vintage, but the bottom.....

....the bottom is certainly vintage SOMETHING, I just don't think it's a vintage Graflex. But I'm no expert.

 

[RexKramer]

This should be in Star Wars props!

That being said...

I saw this auction.

Show us pics of the rivet on the bunny ears, a better pic of the screw above the glass eye and a pic of the red button and beer tab.

 

[ZombieBait]

Here are those.

God, I was just worried about the bottom...please don't tell me I got hosed on the top, also... (EDIT: sorry about the misplaced post)

 

[RexKramer]

Rivet on the ears looks good.

Screw above the glass eye also looks good.

The beer tab I can't tell because of the lighting and it looks to be a little dirty. That tab should show milling marks.

Also check the 'R' in the 'Graflex' on the clamp.

The bottom 'post' of the 'R' should protrude out from the top portion.

 

[ZombieBait]

I think my top is solid....now about the bottom?

 

[Probe Droid]

Top is good. The pin in the clamp obviously broke at some point in this thing's long life and was replaced with that knob thingie. Pretty clever actually. The bottom could be homemade or a 4- or 5-cell bottom cut down (does the bottom material appear to be identical to the top?). The extensions have plain bottoms. It's a nice job of cutting, whoever did it. It looks beat up enough that it really saw some action with a photographer for many years so probably is legit..

Enjoy it.

 

[ZombieBait]

I guess I need a 3 cell bottom and a clamp lever.
Hard to come by? Anyone know what this bottom is from?

 

[Romans Empire]

Anyone know what this bottom is from?

Looks like it might be a salt or pepper shaker from BB&B.

 

[gunnerk19]

Don't know how much you paid, only you know if you got hosed or not.

 

[teecrooz]

Looks like it might be a salt or pepper shaker from BB&B.

It might be. Mine had a concave bottom though.

 

[OldKen]

I might be interested in the blank bottom if you decide to Replace it.

It probably is a cut down 5 cell...

 

[Probe Droid]

I think it's the bottom of an Abbey that's been Frankensteined to fit.

 

[ZombieBait]

Well, it has a battery spring inside the bottom so it might not be a s&p shaker; it seems wicked old, so maybe it is another part cobbled on.

Between you and I I feel the top being legit is more important, so I'm now ok wth it. Just need a new clamp lever (OR new clamp) and I'll convert this sucker.

 

[Halliwax]

i almost bid on this exact same graflex, only for that dang red button!! it looks good though, nice buy

 

[Fyberdyne Labs]

Here what I know. All of the graflex I have touched say graflex on the bottoms and how many cells the flash takes. That looks like the salt shaker. But the attachment groves on the bottom look really nicely done. The top looks good. It may be a 2 cell with added bottom. The clamp lever can break on real grafex as I have broke one my self. And that was way before any replica was made.
Mark

 

[mugatu]

I doubt it is a cut down 4 or 5 cell because there is no rolled edge on the bottom. All of the unstamped 5 cells that I have seen still have the rolled edge around the bottom circumference, just like a normal 2 or 3 cell has...meaning two separate pieces of metal put together. Maybe it's just the photo, but this looks like a single piece of metal for the bottom tube. It just doesn't look like a 4 or 5 cell in the photo.

 

[James Kenobi 1138]

It can't be a cut down 4-cell because the color of the metal would be different in the slot cuts.

It's either a bottom from a different/comparable vintage flash, or it was a BB&B shaker with the tabs cut on a machine (3 axis) and the concave bottom hammered out.

Or it was custom made from something else.