Fixing bent filter ring?

Chris Nielsen

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Hi all

I replaced the seals and re-skinned my Trip 35 the other day, looks lovely. Bought a step up ring so I can use filters on it, but then I noticed the filter ring has a dent in it and the ring won't fit. Any way to make it nice and round again without use of a large hammer? I come from a family where the usual answer to any problem is "find a bigger hammer". Don't want to do that to a camera...

I am trying to find another Trip 35 to learn how to do repairs and so on but I'm finding them hard to come by and I don't want to wreck my last camera...

Thanks all
 
OP
OP

Chris Nielsen

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Yeah, hadn't even thought of that for some reason... I could ask my pet repairman for a quote...

Cheers
 

Steve Smith

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You could make a couple of curved pieces from some hardwood which fit perfectly either side of the thread (where it isn't bent, obviously!) and press the two together either side of the bent area.


Steve.
 

RalphLambrecht

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Steve Smith said:
You could make a couple of curved pieces from some hardwood which fit perfectly either side of the thread (where it isn't bent, obviously!) and press the two together either side of the bent area.


Steve.
Click to expand...

I actually tried that and inserted the wood into a C-clamp. It didn't work right until I added a small notch allowing me to overstress the area in question. After metal spring-back the thread worked perfectly.
 

Ian Grant

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As Steve & Ralph suggest the bit of wood method can work very well, I've always just used one piece to gently tap the edge straight and even quite bad dents can be straightened out.

Don't overdo the Irish screwdriver though

Ian
 

Rick A

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Someone used to make a tool just for repairing those unsightly dings. I wonder if B&H or Adorama(mebbe KEH) would have one.
 

c.d.ewen

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Here's a PM sent to me by a member on another forum (many thanks, Eric!), after another such discussion; I've found it excellent advice:

Straightening a dent on a lens ring is like pounding out a dent on a car. My first inclination would be to get behind the fender and pound on the dent with a sledge hammer, but a good body man would lightly tap around the perimeter of the dent with a light-weight body hammer, forcing the raised metal down while pressing the dent out from behind. At least that’s the way they did it when fenders were heavier steel, and before bondo.

On the lens, I first put a layer of tape, like electrical tape, on the outside of the lens to prevent any cosmetic damage. Then I put the spreader-vise on the lens (be careful to match the grooves in the vise) and tighten until it’s snug, then tighten about a half-turn more. This will make the lens ring slightly oval shaped, with the dent still depressed. The objective is to gently tap on the outside of the lens ring, on both sides of the dent, to reduce the oval shape.

I use a 2-oz. ball peen hammer with duct tape on the face to soften it, and swing gently with wrist action. Don’t use much force—use wrist action and let the hammer do the work. Hold the lens in your other hand (to help absorb the blows) and tap on both sides of the dent. After about 10-20 taps, you will notice the spreader-vise getting looser, so tighten it back to it’s original tension, and tap another 10-20 times to the side of the dent. The spreader-vise moves the dent out, and you tap the surrounding metal to reduce the oval shape.

I’ve also tried the pliers, but in every case I messed up the lens worse. The pliers apply force in one small area, and the lens ring with have undulation showing where you applied the pliers. The spreader-vise always works better for me.



BTW, if you do pick up one of those vises, you'll feel a bit ripped off at first - the thing is small and flimsy-feeling. It does work, however. The maximum spread is about 3 3/8". If you look carefully at the picture, you'll see that it can be used for smaller lenses with the top of the jaws, and larger ones with the bottom. Good luck.

Charley
 

c.d.ewen

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My understanding, also, Ralph, but a 2 oz hammer is not much of a hammer. I would hope anyone with a lick of sense would be judicious in their application of violence to a piece of glass.

That said, I'll have to confess to taking a 2 LB ball peen to my 'collection' of 18" Veritos (4 1/2" dia), all of which had dents. I cut a well-fitting cradle out of hardwood (maple's good) with a large adjustable hole saw, rounded the end of a maple rod to fit the inside of the ring, and then pounded away. Worked like a charm :eek:

Charley
 

SMBooth

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Chris I used a piece of hardwood cut with an arc to match the lens diameter and a piece of dowel hit lightly with hammer. The dowel protects the thread, you shape the end of the dowel like a carpenters pencil but flat.

See: http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/filterringtool.html
 

lxdude

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If you don't feel reasonably confident, consider that many camera repair people will do it for a nominal charge. A guy who I had do some work for me would charge 10 bucks and do it while-U-wait. He said he liked doing that with quick stuff instead of writing up a work order and putting it in the queue.
 
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