L.F. Deardorff & Sons has been manufacturing the world’s finest wooden large format cameras for almost one hundred years.  Deardorff cameras were on the beaches of Normandy.  They helped create many of the world’s most iconic images and were used by photographers such as Ansel Adams.  Today, photographers like Clyde Butcher and Douglas Kirkland continue to use Deardorff cameras to create images of incredible depth and tremendous detail.  The Deardorff factory was located in the Chicago area for many decades.  Then, in 2009 Barry & Monica Cochran bought the company and relocated it to the east Tennessee area.  Their first task was to find vendors for the many component parts that come together to make such a hand-made work of art, the Deardorff camera.

David Lloyd of Mumbling Moon has spent the past several years manufacturing many of the wooden parts used on current Deardorff cameras.  He quickly learned that the precision required for such an intricate wooden large format camera is far greater than the requirements for “normal” woodworking.  For many wooden artisans, 1/32” inch tolerances are considered “very fine.”  For the Deardorff camera parts David creates, he has come to realize that the tolerances can be 1/128” inch, unbelievably precise.  To ensure that the desired precision is maintained, old fashioned rulers have to give way to modern micrometers.

Even the thickness of stain and lacquer applications must be added into the equation.  The moisture content in the mahogany David uses must be constantly monitored to ensure that parts remain within acceptable tolerances.  It’s not easy to find the quarter sawn straight grained mahogany required for Deardorff parts, but David has proven to be quite skilled in finding just the right wood for his Deardorff parts.

Along the length of parts that can run up to two feet in length, the thickness must be kept to within the thickness of one index card.  “David’s work has more than satisfied us,” say the Cochrans.  “He’s not satisfied until he gets the parts 100% right.  Until he hits the target dead center, he won’t let parts out of his shop.  We appreciate that attention to detail.  It’s absolutely required in order to create our cameras.”

David has also been a godsend to the Cochrans in helping them provide repairs to vintage Deardorff cameras.  Many of the very first cameras made in the 1920’s and 1930’s are still in service.  The basic design hasn’t changed, but there are some variations year to year and model to model.  So when a vintage camera comes to the Cochrans for repair, they have often called upon David to make one-of-a-kind replacement parts or to modify current parts to fit old cameras.  His attention to detail is crucial to the successful repair of these vintage cameras.  Not long ago, the Cochrans repaired a camera belonging to famous photographer Paul Caponigro.  When special parts were required, it was an easy decision to bring David into their project.  “We know that we can count on David to get it exactly right, and that means all the world to us,” say the Cochrans.