Threaded filters stuck together

[jp80874]

I am sure many of you have sorted this out before but I'm stuck. I am starting to use filters for black & white 4x5 and 8x10 photography. To allow one filter to work on more than one lens I have bought a B&W brand step up ring, 67mm to 72mm. The filters are also B&W brand. First time out I find once I have threaded the step up ring to a UV filter I can not then unscrew them after I am done. The same problem only worse with a polarizing filter because one side of the filter spins.

How do I get them apart without damage? I have tried turning them wearing latex gloves for better grip. I have not tried anything mechanical that might damage metal or glass.

Once apart is there something I can put on the threads that will make this less of a problem in the future?

Thanks,

John Powers

 

[Dave Parker]

Hi John,

I always use the bottom of my tennis shoes when I have a problem getting filters apart, just press firmly on the flat of the shoe while wearing it and turn firmly, seems to work almost every time.

I have also put a small amount of candle wax on the threads in the past to help lubricate and keep them from getting stuck, I just run the thread portion on the wax and then remove any excess with my fingers, it does not take much at all, but it sure makes a difference when I need to get them apart.

Dave

 

[Tom Duffy]

John,
Latex gloves is my answer also. I carry one in my camera bag. A simple twist often won't do it. I use kind of back and forth twisting motion in the direction of the turn to break things loose between the treads.

B&W stuff should be brass which is better than aluminum in this regard.

Take care,
Tom

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

BKA used to make a set of filter wrenches (might still do- check with your local camera store and with B&H or other big retailer). They may not make them in a size big enough to handle 72mm+ filters, but they were essentially a pair of omega-shaped rings with extended handles that you could put on your stuck filters - one on each filter, then turn in opposite directions. When I worked in a camera store, we always kept a set around for when someone came in with a dropped camera that the filter had gotten bent and the glass broken.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Don't twist too hard, or you will deform the ring and make it harder. Sometimes a light touch with something that has a good grip works better. I use one of those textured rubber sheets for opening jars.

If they are really stuck, you can get a set of filter wrenches from most camera stores.

 

[Steve Hamley]

Get them warm. Usually holding them in your hands for a few minutes works (be patient), or warm them in front of a heater or in the sunlight. Then go buy a filter pouch like a Tamrac or Lowe. I haven't had a stuck filter since.

Steve

 

[roteague]

That is a problem I have all the time. So, I use on real small drop of 3 in 1 oil on the threads - then the filters turn easily. Just be careful not to get any on the glass.

 

[jp80874]

Thank you all.

Dave’s method worked like a charm. I happen to have on an old pair of boating Sperry Topsiders with the flat, slit, soles for extra traction on decks and now filters. This of course works like the rubber pad on a jar. It is amusing that the best solutions are so simple. My wife says she was born a hundred years too late. She would much prefer to be dipping candles rather than playing with computers

Thanks,

John Powers

 

[roteague]

I happen to have on an old pair of boating Sperry Topsiders with the flat, slit, soles for extra traction on decks and now filters. This of course works like the rubber pad on a jar.

Try the 3-in-1 oil. The filters just spin off; takes seconds.

 

[kswatapug]

There was a thread about this same issue on the largeformat.info site not too long ago. Sorry... I can't seem to locate it at the moment.