One thing led to another, and we decided to make a line of best ever wet plate holders for glass and metal plates. They weren't cheap, but I'll stand by them having been the absolute best ever manufactured, prior or currently. Andrii worked tirelessly, and perfected our design in 4x5, 5x7, 8x10, and even 11x14. Between the 4 sizes, around 350 holders were manufactured and sold around the world.
Meanwhile, the only person in the world who was making reproduction head braces passed away, and, instead of flat out copying the old cast iron design, we decided to re-envision that age-old device in new and improved ways. After recieving general instructions from yours truly, Andrii lined up industrial production of highest quality, to make beautiful steel examples, powder coated with gorgeous black paint, with solid and easy to work controls. One of our braces was even purchased by Paramount Studios, and can be clearly seen in the trailer for their HBO show Maniac (in second episode our brace makes repeated appearances, and yes, they did seem to cut off. about 6in from the rear end of horizontal bar so they could get it backed up closer to the wall).
Our zeal for manufacture didn't stop there. Around 2019 we recreated a 15tf tall banquet tripod design that has not been manufactured in close to 100 years. Our version now had incredible precision on leg extension, while also being extra secure and sturdy, as evidenced by the photo of me hanging from the prototype. Only two examples of thise were manufactured, the prototype and one final version, both of which for now remain in my possession.
During the pandemic, Andrii designed and brought to life one of the finest drying racks I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of them. He modeled it after old Kodak and Ingento ones, with cast iron ends, but his design is way lighter, and tray for catching water runoff is way easier to take out and empty while there are actually plates on the rack.
The above tallies up to 5 different products that actually came into being, and all the while Andrii was also working on a beautiful large format camera design (4x5 and 8x10), which would have left all other modern makers in the dust. I won't post his CAD renderings here or the photos of the half-complete prototype, all those who live nby copying are out of luck here.
Things do go their own ways sometimes, and change is the only constant. First, the 2020 pandemic dealt it's first blow to the business, but that was surmountable, most of the world would return to normalcy at one point or another. Sadly, right as that was happening for Ukraine, that country was brutally invaded by a neighboring egomaniacal dictator, and almost all domestic industrial production was shifter toward defense, and most able bodied men were suddenly gone as well, so the shortage of workers was palpable. In the end though, what really brought this venture to the end is toxic competitors and personalities not worth typing about, other than to say that their products are as lacking in quality of execution as the images they fancy to be art.
Below are some photos of our products. Take a good look at them, and jump at the opportunity if you have a chance to buy one used, you won't be sorry. If you ever used one of our products, I'd love to see a comment or two on this page, as there was plenty of praise from all around when things were still being made.
Anton
Wonderful! May I suggest a slight modification to the clamping mechanism based on my experience with a 19th century headrest. The knurled knob is already an improvement compared with the 19th century clamping mechanism. Instead of a knob I suggest a lever to make it even easier to tighten. If one's fingers are not up to the task it is easy for the clamp to slip. (I use a woodworking clamp on the wing-shaped tightener to make a secure hold on my headrest.)
ReplyDeleteYes, good suggestion, I have this problem with my first head brace.
DeleteDid this headrest ever push a persons ears forward to make them look as if their ears stuck out?
ReplyDeleteHaha, not unless whoever adjusted it was playing a joke on the sitter :) the brace goes about 2in behind the ears, but in theory you might be able to open it up so wide that may reach the ears, I just never heard of anyone doing it.
Delete