Hi there!
I came into possession of an Agfa Isolar, a wonderful 9x12 plate camera with dial set compur and Solinear 13,5cm 4.5 lens. The camera came with three completely rusted plate glass holders, the original box, the whole shebang. Thing is, it was stored in a moist basement or wine cellar or wherever, the aluminium of the chassis has oxidation or whatever it is on it, the bellows got some of it, too, I removed all of the sand-like grit and plan to repaint some of the formerly black pieces.
I got the compur from 1922 working again, the slow speed assembly was blocking the whole mechanism (as it always is) and the lens showed some minor fungus and just dirt.
As I was fixing it up, I noticed that the extension was stuck, I can pull out the little wheel on the bottom plate and when I try to turn it, nothing happens. I thought, the whole assembly was just fused together by dirt, rust and whatnot, I went at it with a syringe and lighter fluid, I jiggled it, tried to pull it out by hand (which damn nearly ripped a finger off) but to no avail. So far I don't want to try WD-40, I don't know whether it'll maybe dissolve the bellows and strip the camera of its leather and remaining paint. Who knows. I don't really want to try more aggressive stuff like maybe brake degreaser because of all the above reasons but I want the thing to move, danganabbit! As far as I can tell, the bottom plate isn't bent which could cause everything to be stuck, I just won't move, not even a millimeter.
Am I missing something, screws maybe? There are three screws that I can see, two very little ones and a longer one, although I believe, that the longer one is just the stop for the extension so it won't fall out of its guiding rail when maximum extension is reached. Can you help me please? Is there a magical way, are there any chemicals that I can get in Germany that could do the job, maybe even the infamous WD-40? Can you encourage me to use it?
I've added a picture for your convenience, maybe it helps.
cheers, Felix
I came into possession of an Agfa Isolar, a wonderful 9x12 plate camera with dial set compur and Solinear 13,5cm 4.5 lens. The camera came with three completely rusted plate glass holders, the original box, the whole shebang. Thing is, it was stored in a moist basement or wine cellar or wherever, the aluminium of the chassis has oxidation or whatever it is on it, the bellows got some of it, too, I removed all of the sand-like grit and plan to repaint some of the formerly black pieces.
I got the compur from 1922 working again, the slow speed assembly was blocking the whole mechanism (as it always is) and the lens showed some minor fungus and just dirt.
As I was fixing it up, I noticed that the extension was stuck, I can pull out the little wheel on the bottom plate and when I try to turn it, nothing happens. I thought, the whole assembly was just fused together by dirt, rust and whatnot, I went at it with a syringe and lighter fluid, I jiggled it, tried to pull it out by hand (which damn nearly ripped a finger off) but to no avail. So far I don't want to try WD-40, I don't know whether it'll maybe dissolve the bellows and strip the camera of its leather and remaining paint. Who knows. I don't really want to try more aggressive stuff like maybe brake degreaser because of all the above reasons but I want the thing to move, danganabbit! As far as I can tell, the bottom plate isn't bent which could cause everything to be stuck, I just won't move, not even a millimeter.
Am I missing something, screws maybe? There are three screws that I can see, two very little ones and a longer one, although I believe, that the longer one is just the stop for the extension so it won't fall out of its guiding rail when maximum extension is reached. Can you help me please? Is there a magical way, are there any chemicals that I can get in Germany that could do the job, maybe even the infamous WD-40? Can you encourage me to use it?
I've added a picture for your convenience, maybe it helps.
cheers, Felix
