Hot glue, or alternatives for temporarily fix camera settings

[blee1996]

Hi, I have this Ikoflex Ia TLR, which is a bit messy in terms of control ergonomics. While changing shutter speeds, sometimes I knock over the flash sync from X to M. This results in the shutter not firing, and I shoot blank frames and miss shots. When I change aperture, sometimes I accidentally tension the self timer, which result in locked camera (the self time is not working on my camera). So I intend to temporarily fix the flash sync to X, and disable the self time lever. But I don't want to destroy the control levers or butcher the camera, so I can still potentially use them in the future.

Hot glue come to my mind for this purpose. But it could be slightly difficult to remove.

Any other glue, paste, wax, or solutions you would recommend? Thanks

 

[xkaes]

Depending on the item, there are a lot of tapes that might work. Gorilla tape is black and very sticky & looks good. A small piece might work & is removable.

 

[Dan Daniel]

Hot glue could be good. Sort of hard to do any precision and delicate work, but possible. Just do one side. Don't have the glue wrap around the lever so that it forms a full 'grab' of the levers. With this, it shouldn't be hard to break the glue away later.

A common thing is to put bolts into the front cover in position to lock such levers. Even Rollei did this on later cameras, and you could lift the lever over the bolt to move it to the other position.

And then there was my solution on YashicaMats where the sync being at M could lead to a bad jam if the self timer lever was moved: Break off the stupid lever. The internal lever, under the shroud, was still there and you could put a toothpick or screwdriver inside and change it. But externally, it was gone, no chance of moving it.

With many Ikoflexes, and I think that yours is one, the lens shroud is captured by the front lens group. Unscrew it (can be VERY difficult!), align levers with openings in the shroud, and lift up. Now you can do your jamming work and leave no visible signs/blobs/etc. on the outside. Or break off the levers!

 

[AgX]

Hot glue come to my mind for this purpose. But it could be slightly difficult to remove.

Yes, it would be ideal if one just could heat it just a bit and then peel it off... but it does not work this way. If you got a surface that is not easily marred, can take some organic solvent and best some heat too, then hot glue is a valid option. Otherwise, forget it.

 

[blee1996]

Thank you for all the suggestions. After some experiment, a little dollop of hot glue on only one side of each lever seems to solve the problems for now. And I should be able to remove the hot glue without any danger to the camera.

 

[250swb]

Thank you for all the suggestions. After some experiment, a little dollop of hot glue on only one side of each lever seems to solve the problems for now. And I should be able to remove the hot glue without any danger to the camera.

Blu-Tack came to my mind for stopping levers moving. I use hot glue quite often for work and any hot glue I need to remove I generally end up using side cutters or chisels.