I have this great old Nikkormat FT-3 which is all about wonderful. Well, except for the locking pin on the bayonet mount. It was either getting stuck inside the mount or had warn down so much it barely protruded from the mount.
I found an old junk FT parts camera and started taking it apart to get at its locking pin in case I needed it. There was one blasted stripped screw which was entirely un-removable. This is where hand held power tools come in handy. With the smallest drill bit, I just obliterated the screw and incidentally, the bayonet mount part it was attached to. No matter, I was now able to get to the pin.
In case anyone cares, the locking pin on the FT is NOT THE SAME as the locking pin on the FT-3
Time to salvage the original 'broken' pin. On very close examination, I realize that the guy I bought the camera from (or one of his repair people) installed the pin wrong in the first place. You wouldn't know it unless you had spent a couple of hours taking the assembly apart and putting it back together again... over and over. By the way, those bayonet mount assemblys are not for the faint of heart.
Once the lightbulb went on I installed the pin 'correctly' and the assembly came together quickly. The camera now works beautifully.
There is NO BETTER FEELING than figuring out some icky mechanical problem without raising your hand and asking for help!
Bonus: My FT-3 is loaded with Tri-X and ready to shoot!
I found an old junk FT parts camera and started taking it apart to get at its locking pin in case I needed it. There was one blasted stripped screw which was entirely un-removable. This is where hand held power tools come in handy. With the smallest drill bit, I just obliterated the screw and incidentally, the bayonet mount part it was attached to. No matter, I was now able to get to the pin.
In case anyone cares, the locking pin on the FT is NOT THE SAME as the locking pin on the FT-3
Time to salvage the original 'broken' pin. On very close examination, I realize that the guy I bought the camera from (or one of his repair people) installed the pin wrong in the first place. You wouldn't know it unless you had spent a couple of hours taking the assembly apart and putting it back together again... over and over. By the way, those bayonet mount assemblys are not for the faint of heart.Once the lightbulb went on I installed the pin 'correctly' and the assembly came together quickly. The camera now works beautifully.
There is NO BETTER FEELING than figuring out some icky mechanical problem without raising your hand and asking for help!
Bonus: My FT-3 is loaded with Tri-X and ready to shoot!
