I have been working minus one thumb this week after having some minor surgery last week, and am unable to lift anything over 5lbs. for a few more days, so a brief update this week. I was able to calculate how much material needs to be added back to Mitchell Standard no. 46, as well as the amount of material that needs to be added back to the face of the camera where the shutter is. I have been having discussions with 3M about some newer adhesives that I might be able to use to permanently bond aluminum plates to the front and bottom of the camera casting. I’ll let you know how that goes. My next step is to remove all of the working parts from inside the camera, before attaching the new bottom and front plates, and machining them back to factory specifications. It’ll be a week or two before I have use of my thumb again, but in the meantime, a little tiny bit of history on the camera itself. Standard #46 was originally purchased by the Christie Film Company on January 15, 1925. Founded by brothers Al and Charles Christie in 1915 (or possibly 1916? sources thus far disagree), the Christie Film Company turned out hundreds of 1 and 2 reel comedies, as well as longer comedy features, until the Great Depression forced them to liquidate their assets. Al Christie, while working for the New Jersey-based Nestor Studio in 1911, established the first studio in Hollywood at the corner of Sunset and Gower, later CBS Radio, and currently Viacom. Researching the history of the Christie brothers has been quite a challenge as sources seem to contradict each other a lot. As we dig deeper, we will share more of what we learn.
