Hey Gang! My 'artist's eye' has been bothering my brain for a few weeks now concerning more than just the standard "Dude, the bevel is off on the button." line that my eye sees on all the replica Red-buttons lately. Specifically, that the number of knurl ridges/teeth appear to be off.
So, my brain finally decided it was time to get this off my mind, and allowed the rest of me to do a little 'GRAFLEX Red-button Fingerprinting' today! What's that you ask? Remember making fingerprint art when you were little? Or watching movies/documentaries where they had a small cylinder that when inked and rolled on a piece of paper an image was stamped out onto the paper? Well, that's what my brain told me to do today to solve half of the equation.
What I had started doing first was to take a Micron pen and put a little dot on each tooth's triangular top as I counted around the button's bevel. I got one number twice, then a different number, and I realized it was too early in the morning to try and see what I was doing without even having eaten breakfast. So, I took a break and had an idea spring into mind. Yep, unscrew the Red-button from the flash and it's retainer (Beer Tab), take a felt tip marker, coat all but one of the knurl rigdges/teeth with a bit of ink, hold it between finger and thumb and run it across a piece a paper, and then count the lines between the spaces and then add in one for the uninked ridge/tooth! TA-DA! No more different numbers coming in from the same Red-button. Interestingly though, I did get different numbers from one of my Red-buttons, and a different number still on a Thin-ring Red-button.
Here are the results...
...My Thin-Ring Red-button GRAFLEX with 6 straight posts has 49 Knurl Ridges/Teeth. Two of my GRAFLEXes (one 2-Cell, and one 3-Cell) have 51 Knurl Ridges/Teeth. And then, even though it's the exact same diameter, my other 3-Cell has a whopping 53 Knurl Ridges/Teeth!!! I've been recounting it all day and the number I come up with hasn't changed once.
So, if you don't mind looking like you just stepped out of an Iraqi voting booth by the end of the expiriment, I'd love to see what numbers y'all come up with for your Red-buttons. Every kind is appreciated (Real and Replica)! I'd like to see if there is a concensus on the Real GRAFLEXes and my 'artist's eye' is eager to see the results on the replica buttons.
MCM ! I know you just mentioned having...
I own a graflex shop, vintage, and Roman's first and second Graflex replicas.
...and I'd love to see your results if you have the time and are willing to find out what yours have! I'm also very curious to see if there is any difference in the bevel between the Gen1 and Gen2 Roman's Graflexes' Red-buttons and how they compare to The Graflex Shop's Red-button. Especially if it's one of TGS's updated buttons!