Patch material for broken body casting??

[Dan Daniel]

Any suggestions for filling this little front corner patch on a Rolleiflex? I guess JB Weld is one possibility. But maybe someone here knows of better material or methods for such a patch.

I wonder if micro-drilling into the body and installing thin wires would reinforce a patch? Sort of a reinforced concrete idea.

And there is also expanding the chip, maybe forming a dovetail for a piece of metal to mate into?

Well, any thoughts welcome. (but I will spare you posting one thought- just leave it alone! ok, all done.. next!)

 

[Donald Qualls]

I'd be more inclined to use an epoxy putty (comes as two strips the consistency of glazier's putty) than JB Weld. It's just as strong, just as machinable once cured, easier to shape before curing (so less work is needed afterward) and takes color about the same way (black permanent marker works well on either one in my experience).

 

[Kino]

Maybe epoxy an oversized brass shim on the back side of the lens board that protrudes and then use epoxy as a "bondo" type filler on top and file it to shape?

Without some way to reinforce that, it would seem a simple patch with such a small bonding area wouldn't last very long.

 

[250swb]

I could recommend black Milliput, a black two part resin putty smeared into the hole, and if the face of the camera needed to come off in the future it wouldn't cause a problem. But to be honest I'd just put some black bookbinding repair tape over it or Gaffer tape (nearly the same thing).

 

[r_a_feldman]

I'd be more inclined to use an epoxy putty (comes as two strips the consistency of glazier's putty) than JB Weld. It's just as strong, just as machinable once cured, easier to shape before curing (so less work is needed afterward) and takes color about the same way (black permanent marker works well on either one in my experience).

JB Weld makes just such a thing:

J-B Weld 8267 SteelStik Steel Reinforced Epoxy Putty Stick​

 

[mshchem]

Glass filled epoxy?

 

[tokam]

If that body has to come apart for maintenance then a big 'wodge' of epoxy putty jammed in there is going to give a future repairer a big headache. As an interim measure I favour tape as per @250swb above.

If you are prepared to disassemble before repairing the plate then one of the epoxy putty solutions with a bit of backing material should do the job.

For a repair that would set up very quickly you could consider one of the UV cured plastics but I don't know if they come pre-tinted rather than just clear. It can be built up in layers, hardening it with UV light as you apply each layer. Available in kits with a UV light to cure the resin.

 

[Besk]

Might be overkill but reinforcing epoxy with metal pins is a good idea. The pins (being very small) need to be of a strong steel alloy.

 

[jeffreyg]

For such a small area check with your dentist. Light cured composites. Easy to manipulate and doesn’t set until the curing light is applied at which time it sets in seconds. It can be shaped and polished with rotary tools and coloured with a marker as mentioned if desired

 

[Jim Jones]

Before starting any repairs, check to see if the door is closing completely. In the photo it appears to be slightly open. If the only value in that camera is the photos it can produce, and it is still fully capable of that, why repair it? Of course it will display better with a careful cosmetic repair. My Leica M4 looks horrible after many decades of hard use, but not once has anyone has unfavorably compared my photography because of that.

 

[Dan Daniel]

I get it, Jim Jones. Then again sometimes something is so close to being right, you just want to fix that one glaring pimple.

Thanks to everyoen for their ideas. I hadn't thought about adding a plate of sorts. I can grind a bit of material off of the back side and lap in a support. I've never used Milliput and now I will give it a try. If I do install any pins, it would be music wire, maybe 0.20 inch or so. Or maybe a drill blank. I've started using drill blanks for items like pins on home-made tools and like their solidity (although they are a pain to cut!).

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[Terrence Brennan]

I have repaired the damage to several of my venerable Nikon Fs with Oatey Fix-It Stick All Purpose Bonding Putty.

The body frames on some of my Fs have been damaged over the past 46 years and that works to fix the damage. The problem is that you need a great big glob of it to give the putty enough “grab” on the body.