Graflex 6x9 120 Roll Holder RH10 Repair

[benjaminbeeroll]

Hello all! It's been nearly 10 years but this post from 2016 was very helpful for me to fix my own Singer-Graflex RH10 roll film holder. Thank you @shutterfinger for your advice and @peter k. for your examples - both your guidance gave me the confidence to tackle this problem.


My issue was also a stripped wind key (Picture 1). Disassembly was too daunting so I opted to go with Peter K.'s method of fixing the wind key from the outside.

Procedure

STEP 1 Taped down the "wings" of the key with masking tape to prevent rotation while I worked on it (Picture 2).

STEP 2 Used diamond grit needle files (a thin one and rounded bottom one) from Harbor Freight to sand a channel down the center of the wind key (Pictures 3, 4).

STEP 3 Sanded the channel until I had a sufficient depth to contain some 18G wire I had lying around (Picture 5). I stripped the end of the wire so just bare metal was present.

STEP 4 Brushed and cleaned away the metal filings from the wind key channel and degreased the wind key channel and wire with chlorinated brake cleaner. I then used some 120 grit sandpaper to roughen the surfaces of the wire and channel.

STEP 5 Mixed some JB-Weld Kwikweld epoxy on a piece of cardboard according to the manufacturer instructions. I bought the two 1 oz tubes version since I didn't anticipate mixing a lot.

STEP 6 Applied a little JB-Weld into the channel using a Q-tip without its cotton and a toothpick. I laid in the wire and applied more on top. I rotated the wire so that the JB-Weld coated both surfaces well. You can see I kept the wire sticking out so I could hold it vertically for the entire six minute set time (Picture 6).

STEP 7 After the six minute set time, I used a micro wire cutter to cut off the excess wire. I also removed the tape (Picture 7).

STEP 8 After the six hour cure time, I sanded the excess JB-Weld/wire with the diamond grit needle files until I could comfortable fit a 120 spool over the wind key (Picture 8).

And there you have it! To verify that the fix worked, I put in a dummy roll of 120 film and it went through the adapter without issue!


BONUS ROUND
In addition to the wind key, I also realized the light seals were bad and I had no dark slide for the adapter.

I replaced the light seals with some black yarn, gluing down with G-S Hypo cement (Picture 9). (For those who don't like black yarn, I've had previous success replacing light seals on all my cameras so far without issue.)

And for the dark slide, I had a spare Type 5 4x5 Film holder I picked up for $5 with two darkslides. I taped along the edge where I wanted to cut and used a Dremel and sandpaper (120, 400, 800) to cut down the darkslide to fit into the roll holder (Pictures 10, 11). The final width of the darkslide was ~66.5mm and I cut all the way up to the handle. The plastic is brittle, can be sharp, and generates dust so wear gloves and a dust mask and work slowly and carefully!

I hope someone can use these instructions in the future! I'll post sample photos once I've gotten around to using it with some film. Happy (developing and) fixing!

 

[benjaminbeeroll]

I feel like an idiot. I did the repair in June 2025 and attempted winding with a dummy roll again to verify my previous test. The JB-Weld and wire completely sheared off the wind key! I guess I'll have to fix it again.

 

[hsandler]

Full marks for the attempts.

"One must imagine Sisyphus happy" is the concluding line of Albert Camus's 1942 essay *The Myth of Sisyphus*, summarizing his philosophy of the Absurd. It suggests that despite the meaningless, repetitive nature of life (symbolized by Sisyphus pushing a boulder for eternity), one can find happiness and freedom through acceptance, defiance, and finding personal meaning in the struggle itself."

 

[Bob Merlin]

Some thoughts from an experienced JB Weld user.
Forget the Kwikweld aka CrapWeld! It's nowhere near as good as the regular ol' JB Weld.
Let it set for 24 hours. If your house is cold, it'll take a great deal longer to set. You can shorten the time with heat.
I'd cut the wire so you have a little overhang on both sides for ease of handling. Clean with a solvent, I use isopropyl alcohol. Liberally apply JB in the channel and the wire.
You don't specifically say you did, but sand/roughen up the top of the post also.
Good luck!
The photo is a Paasche airbrush trigger I filled with JB and then turned it on a Dremel.

 

[film4Me]

Of interest to me is not so much how you attempted to repair the film winding key, but that it could lose it's grip on the spindle and slip around. I have three of those film holders and now I'll be vigilant and check them now and then for looseness of the keys.

May I suggest that from an engineering point of view, the spindle needs to be locked within the key. In large jobs, a hole is drilled from the side and tapped for a grub screw, or a hole is drilled down vertically beside the spindle, drilling partly into the spindle and partly into the body of the mating part, then a "Scotch Key" is driven down locking the two together.

In the case of the small key in the film holder, the same principle applies. To lock the spindle in the key, I personally would use a needle three corner file or needle "Knife File" and file two grooves, one each side of the spindle so that the spindle had flats either side, then warm up some two part long curing Aradite and get it right down in there to fill the filed cavities. Then let it cure for three or four days.