Nikon F4 Film Take-up Spindle

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fdonadio

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kmg1974 said:
i just contacted him, he wants to sell all cameras in one go (he has 5)....
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Thank you very much, @kmg1974!

I saw the link you posted and he wants to sell all five F4’s for €200. Not a bad deal if I was a camera technician. I am sure there are loads of parts that could be taken from those cameras to fix others.

Still, I would prefer to buy only the part I need, but I would need to fix it myself, as the technician I trust would charge me way over what I can pay now.
 

Theo Sulphate

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What about the earlier idea of fabricating a few pins to engage the sprocket holes?
 
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fdonadio

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Theo Sulphate said:
What about the earlier idea of fabricating a few pins to engage the sprocket holes?
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It’s the current “plan A”. I have to find a moment of peace, the right material for the pins and a way to securely attach them to the roller.
 

Theo Sulphate

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shutterfinger said:
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I would try to reform the teeth with JB Quick weld or similar product before disassembling the body. Those teeth are only there to grab the leader and get it started.
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This might be the best first approach.
 
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fdonadio

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shutterfinger said:
Black acrylic will work as will black ABS plastic.
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Thank you very much for all the help — measuring the sprocket teeth, suggesting materials and even finding cheap bodies for parts on the big auction site!

In the coming weeks, I will be looking for the right material in a form that I can easily cut. I already found out what JB KwikWeld is and we do have metal reinforced 2-part epoxy glue here. I believe it would be great for gluing the small teeth to the roller.

I will post an update when I have something to show to you.
 

choiliefan

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Do you think you can form the teeth out of the JB Weld?
I repaired a chipped saxophone mouthpiece with regular JB Weld and it worked very well.
 
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fdonadio

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choiliefan said:
Do you think you can form the teeth out of the JB Weld?
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I am not sure. I would have to try on something else and see what I can do. I think the teeth would be kind of round if made purely out of the resin.
 
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fdonadio

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I forgot to post back here after all these months. I got the camera fixed!

It took me some time to decide what to do. In the meantime, I bought an F4 body for $19 (without the booster, viewfinder and back door) that had the roller with all the teeth in place. It’s still here, packed.

A friend of mine pointed me to another technician that would fix it for cheaper, so I took both bodies to him. In the end, he decided not to take both cameras apart and made the teeth with some screws or metal pins and some kind of resin.



He also did a good cleaning and adjusting and the camera is working fine. Finally, I have a fully working Nikon F4s!


Cheers,
Flavio
 
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mshchem

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Great result. Great story. And a fabulous camera
Best Regards Mike
 

John Koehrer

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Just like an old timey repair guy, Make the part you need when you need 'em. Don't just be a parts replacer.
 

Theo Sulphate

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It's still puzzling why the original sprocket teeth disappeared.
 
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