This article appeared in the May/June 2003 issue of PT. To purchase this issue and receive this and other valuable articles in this issue, CLICK HERE: Ship within the U.S. | Ship outside the U.S.

by Dick Dokas

While assembling my camera gear for a trip to photograph English cathedrals, I discovered a small crack in my 8x10 ground glass. Lacking the time to locate a replacement, I remembered a view camera restoration article by David Hoyt in View Camera magazine. He mentioned using 280–400 grit carbide to make a ground glass. Having ground my own 8-inch telescope mirror in high school, this seemed entirely feasible. And, I still had some of the grits packed away in the attic.

A visit to my local glass supplier revealed that their thinnest glass—single-strength window glass—is 50% thicker than typical camera ground glass. The latter is called “European glass,” and is not normally available in the U.S., except as a camera’s ground glass. Each glass had the same 70% silica and iron impurity content, evidenced by their identical green color. However, there was a difference in weight. My cracked ground glass weighed 7 ounces, while the replacement U.S. glass blank tipped the scale at 9.8 ounces. Reasoning that the extra thickness meant extra strength, I bought the glass blank. Besides, an 8x10 inch sheet of European glass that is only about 2mm thick is easily broken.

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