How to clean a LF lens?

[ziyanglai]

Hello all, I finally managed to open my Wollenstak Raptar 135mm f/4.7 lens after 3 months.. It was screwed in very tight.. So now I managed to open the rear element and have access to the oily shutter and aperture, and how should I clean it? And does the front element open as well? I would send it off to get it professionally cleaned, but it's a cheap lens that came with the camera and I don't mind breaking it..

Thanks everyone.

 

[Tom1956]

Very lightly with a Q-tip and naptha or 99% isopropyl, or Everclear from the liquor store. Don't drink it though. Use more Q-tips and windex on the glass. Lots of Q-tips. Q-tips are the best thing out there.

 

[BrianShaw]

I use microfiber cloth, the kind used for eye glasses. For tough smears I also use a bit of alcohol.

 

[Dr Croubie]

Zippo fluid for the shutter (make sure the glass isn't on it at the time), Lenspen for the glass.
I only wish Lenspen made a convex shaped tip for LF. They've got concave tips for regular convex glass, flat tips for filters, but no convex tips for the concave inner elements of LF lenses...

 

[removed account4]

careful, some shutters don't like wet, it damages the aperture blades and gums up the shutter.
i tend to cla my lenses by giving them to a trained professional, he times the shutter as well
i took a travel clock apart once, its still apart in my sock drawer at my parent's house
and every time i want to take a shutter apart i kind of look at it and laugh.
have fun!
john

 

[Tom1956]

I've cleaned the greasiest of blades with Q-tips barely moistened with the apporpriate quick-flash solvent by lightly going round and round in the proper direction so as not to snag the edges of the blades. But then as many cameras and lenses I've worked on, I'm not entirely sure where the dividing line is or was; that I become or became a "professional". I can say that this method works perfect. Just keep an eye on whatever Q-tip hairs end up in the project. You can snag the 1 or 2 hairs with tweezers, and you're done.
As far as glass--Webril Wipes for larger surface areas, and Qtips for the smaller jobs. You'll never cause a scratch or a "cleaning mark" this way.

 

[Newt_on_Swings]

You should take off both front and rear cells before working on the shutter itself. I am guessing it is a rapax shutter that is paired with your raptor lens. There are pictorial guides online that outline this shutter type. Go slow and use decent tools. Good luck

 

[shutterfinger]

Wollensak Raptar=Graflex Graphic Optar.
Wollensak Rapax =Graflex Graphic Graphex.
Factory Service manual- http://www.southbristolviews.com/pics/Graphic/manual-pdf/GraphexShutterService.pdf
The 135mm f4.7 is in a #2 shutter.
The shutter was made in 3 versions: no flash sync; full flash sync, all types of flash bulbs + electronic flash; X-electronic flash only. The linked manual is for the full flash sync shutter, the other two are very similar.
The shutter contains plastic and rubber components that may be damaged by poster #3's technique.

Heavyweight microfiber lens cleaning cloth and your breath for the glass.

 

[Whiteymorange]

Jim Galli once suggested a cleaning method for the glass in large old barrel lenses that I have used many times now and I am always amazed at how ell it works. It turns out that my optometrist does much the same with lenses. After taking the glass out of an old lens and lightly brushing it off, I submerge the cells in a bath of warm water and Dawn detergent. I leave it there for about 10-20 minutes. After taking it out, I rinse completely and pat it dry with a very clean linen or cotton cloth. The treatment removes old grease, dirt, dust and all sorts of foreign materials from the glass surface and leaves it sparkly clean. It does not seem in any way to harm cemented surfaces but there is one caveat: air-spaced pairs can leak, allowing water to get in between the lens elements. Separate them or clean them another way.

 

[gone]

Lighter fluid should be fine for your shutter. At least it's worked well for the dozen or so that I've cleaned. You can use alcohol for the lenses, but my favorite is those little kits in the bubble packs that contain a red plastic bottle of cleaning solution, some lens paper, and a squeeze blower w/ a brush. Bought mine 11 years ago, and I'm still using the same little bottle of fluid. If you need to soak the shutter in high test alcohol to free it up you can safely leave the elements in if you wish. I've had to do this lots of times with the Agfa shutters when the focus was gummed up and you couldn't unscrew the glass. There is no choice w/ those, as you have to soak everything together as it will not come apart. An overnight soak in a coffee cup filled w/ high test alcohol is the only method that has worked for me w/ those. After soaking in the alcohol, the front element unscrewed easily by hand.

I like the method that Whiteymorange describes. To avoid the potential leakage between cells, you could always set the lens in a shallow pan of cleaning solution and do one side at a time.