I bought this Gandolfi tripod of Feepay as I’d sold my last vintage wooden tripod and regretted it. This one is much more sturdy and looks like it will hold my larger cameras easily.
This was covered in the standard awful black paint of the time.
After several hours with various brands of paintstripper I was getting nowhere fast.
The electric sander proved more than adequate……
A few coats of beeswax and a quick scrub with wire wool and its back together. I’m not one for making my kit look new, if you replace one screw with a shiny brass one you may as well go the whole hog and make everything shiny. I prefer the lived in look.
Now have to finish the wooden suitcase darkroom ready for the Manchester Histories Festival event on the 3rd.
Right know i know who outbid me 🙂 congratulations
Sorry…..;)
Uau, that’s an effort, that I would not have, but still I agree it looks much much better! Well done!
Pity you removed the ebonising! Arthur Gandolfi always reckoned that the black ebonised finish was more difficult to produce than the standard polish, and it always cost more on cameras – though I think that with the tripods they standardised on black, probably because photographers demanded it, to avoid reflections of the tripod in some setups.
The ebony didnt match the mahogany of my cameras so it had to go, it was a little battered and scruffy anyways. So I dont really see it as a pity.
I have one of these tripods (Black) – is it worth any money?
Many thanks for any advice, please – – – and thanks for your time.
Best Regards – Ken
Hi Ken,
This tripod used to be black but I stripped it down.
They currently sell for £100+ on Ebay etc depending on condition and if the seller is willing to post it. The tripod I have is the more common one, there is also a larger version that has a hand crank for raising the central column, these are more expensive.
Cheers,
Tony
Youve stripped the value as well!
The value of over ten years of good use. There are plenty of others out there to collect and worship over. The value is in using it.
The value is in the original aesthetics and skilled craftsmanship. Would you strip a Chipendale?
These sell for £70 – £200 its hardly the same thing by a long shot.
I could sell this now for more than double what I paid for it easily so where is the loss in value??
You should do a search for the Kodak cameras I strip back. You’ll have a heart attack. At least they aren’t lamps…. yet.