Hints to clean old easel blades....

[hoganlia]

Hi folks... super hot here in my part of the world (38ºC in the shade this afternoon)... not darkroom-friendly at all, so I am developing and working my way through the "I must get around to..." list.

I was given an elderly 40x50cm Meopta easel a while back. A very solid and tempting option which in general is in good shape. The blades however are rather stiff and difficult to adjust. (So far I have been tapping gently with a wooden kitchen tenderizer) I don't think they are rusty but I would like to ease them up if I can without damaging them or using cleaning products which I am later going to regret. They don't have clamps or springs to ease their purchase.... just nice, solid mid-european People's Republic of It's This and Nothing More Are You Complaining? technology.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance as always.

Joe

 

[Don_ih]

Clean it with an oily rag to lubricate it slightly? Hard to offer a suggestion without knowing what it looks like.

 

[hoganlia]

Clean it with an oily rag to lubricate it slightly? Hard to offer a suggestion without knowing what it looks like.

how do I upload a photo here?

 

[bdial]

how do I upload a photo here?

click on the little picture icon at top of the reply block, it will let you drag and drop a picture from your computer, or you can copy and paste into the reply.

As for cleaning, for things like easels, that need just slight lubrication, I like paste wax, it has some solvents, so it can loosen old grime, then it leaves a smooth slick surface.

 

[MattKing]

click on the little picture icon at top of the reply block, it will let you drag and drop a picture from your computer, or you can copy and paste into the reply.

The uploader is a bit finicky. If the file is big, re-size it down to a jpeg with 1000 pixels on the long dimension first.