Bought a couple of years ago from a guy in Florida...pretty much saved from the scrapheap where is was destined due to having been partially eaten!
Hence it's nickname!
In fact the only thing that made it worth anything at all was that lovely 12" Kodak Commercial Ektar (which also had to be serviced and made presentable). These alone can now fetch nearly $1000...
So, now after an intense full strip down six month restoration that addressed modifications made by both six and two legged creatures, it's ready for a new home...this camera is solid, the most usable of any we've done to date.
All timber was stripped, termite passages injected with resin and repaired with a good two pack filler. All wood sanded then refinished using proper oil based undercoat.
Several high gloss top coats applied then flatted and buffed to a deep shine, architecture also hand polished then refitted using mainly new stainless screws, all tightened to align nicely with a new strap, made for classic Vox amplifiers fitted as a handy finishing touch.
Bellows are original and in great condition so rather than renew, this time we patched any pinholes with shutter curtain fabric and treated the leather with leather food.
Lens was overhauled by our genius engineer and made presentable by ourselves, then fitted in a specially made forged carbon lens board.
The original board will go with it and we have prepared a second forged carbon board drilled for any Copal 3 shuttered lens...which gives the next owner a whole range of options that make this camera even more usable!
See a detailed video...on our Youtube channel to get the full story