What did you fix today? (part 2)

mshchem · Mar 11, 2021

I've been remodeling closets. I have a study with a nice big closet. I'm convinced that as built, 70% of the interior volume is wasted. I'm putting in shelves, cubbies. I've been trying to use scrap wood pieces I've got in my shop.
I think all my camera stuff should fit, except for the enormous stuff.
Such a relief.

Mr Flibble · Mar 22, 2021

Over the weekend I've serviced a:
Balda Super-Baldax with a slow shutter,

A Franka Rolfix with stuck shutter

Deformed shutter blades and aperture blades out of position.

Rebuilt a Leica SVOOP take-up spool with a missing flange with part of a FED spool (that was also missing a flange)
And reskinned a Leica I

Cleaned the aperture blades on this Volna-3 lens. The auto stop-down works smoothly now.

Kino · Mar 22, 2021

Mr Flibble said:
Over the weekend I've serviced a:
Balda Super-Baldax with a slow shutter,

A Franka Rolfix with stuck shutter

Deformed shutter blades and aperture blades out of position.

Rebuilt a Leica SVOOP take-up spool with a missing flange with part of a FED spool (that was also missing a flange)
And reskinned a Leica I

Cleaned the aperture blades on this Volna-3 lens. The auto stop-down works smoothly now.

Very nice! Makes me feel guilty at all the projects I have lingering...

Mr Flibble · Mar 22, 2021

Thanks. I wanted to get these done before the next project camera arrives in the mail;
A Butcher Midg No.3 that's covered in dirt and cobwebs!

Jonno85uk · Mar 26, 2021

Fixed (to varying degrees) a few cameras recently.

Zorki 4K- 2nd shutter was slow in pictures on speeds faster than 1/125
I wasn't able to clean+lube the entire shutter assembly but the bits I could made a lot of difference. Winding, speed selector and shutter button are much nicer to operate now. Put 4 rolls through with no sign of shutter lag.

I then acquired a box of "untested" cameras for £7.50

A Praktica PL Nova was in a very sorry state. Lots of corrosion and mould. Stank too.

The main issue was it wouldn't wind or fire. Somebody clearly had tried to clean the mirror with their hamfists and dislodged the mirror.

Put that back in place and it wound and fired. Junk camera as the mirror's surface was torn to hell. Surprisingly an image is still possible through the prism with this mirror!

Next on the list was a Praktica MTL3B. Generally ok condition but the film door wouldn't open.
Figured out to open the door by going in through the bottom.

Discovered Mr Hamfist striked again. In the effort to glue the leather back down they had glued to door-catch shut.

Now have a nice working MTL3B.

Next were 2 Zenit Es. 1 was in a bad state (corrosion/mould) with slight prism desilvering down the centre. Other was ok (working meter! I may put this in my mint Zenit 11) but had a bad prism with a large desilvering pattern down the middle. Swapped prisms over.

Current camera i'm working on is a Praktica LTL 3. Ok condition but won't fire or wind. Found a loose screw in the bottom of the camera when removing the base plate.
On removing the front plate I noticed the shutter-release assembly was wobbly.

The missing screw appears to go into the hole that's just visible

Just need to reassemble now.

EDIT: yep. That was it. Without the screw the mirror couldn't be cocked and therefore couldn't release the shutter.
Getting the mirror and shutter timed was a bit tricky. When putting the 2 together, the mirror needs to be cocked and the shutter partially cocked otherwise the shutter wont fire and the winding will jam.

Also in the box were 3 electronics SLRs. A Chinon, Canon T50 and a Minolta 5000. Not sure if I can be bothered to have a look at them.

Kino · Mar 26, 2021

Bought a forlorn, filthy Canon G-III QL at a junk store this morning.

Now it's cleaned, fully functional and awaiting light seals I just ordered from Jon Goodman.

7 bucks for the camera, a few hours labor and chemicals and $15 for light seals. Not a bad price!

Donald Qualls · Mar 27, 2021

Kino said:
7 bucks for the camera, a few hours labor and chemicals and $15 for light seals. Not a bad price!

Serious bargain! I have one of those, they've got an excellent combination of fast, sharp lens, accurate and easy-to-use RF, good meter, and compactness. Easy to load, too.

Donald Qualls · Mar 28, 2021

What did I fix today? Well, yesterday, really, I replaced a broken spring leaf on the ground glass panel for my Anniversary Speed Graphic (4x5). Apparently, eighty year old springs may have fatigue that causes them to break when trying to remove a Grafmatic.

Short term solution, I transferred a spring from my spare panel (which has no ground glass, hence why it's a spare); long term solution, so I don't have to wind up fabricating replacements from strip or sheet brass or brazing the parts together with a backing plate over the break (as I've done with a vaguely similar spring in a rifle), I need to replace the screws at the center of the spring leaves with longer ones (a half inch longer, perhaps) and put coil springs between the screw heads and the center of the leaf. This will allow the leaves to lift away from the camera back -- if I can get the spring rate right, only when the leaf is at or near the extension it would have with a regular double dark slide. That way, the about 30% additional extension required for the Grafmatic won't overstress the spring leaves.

Better if I could convert to a Graflok, but the only source for one that will accept the Graflok focusing panel I have seems to be a Pacemaker model Speed or Crown (Graphic View II has a compatible one as well, but it won't mount on my Annie; it clips to the rear standard to support the reversing back).

grat · Mar 28, 2021

The 20th century camera site has some 3D printed graflok backs that might work for you.

Donald Qualls · Mar 28, 2021

grat said:
The 20th century camera site has some 3D printed graflok backs that might work for you.

Thanks for the pointer -- I had to look at that back and their Project and Graflex conversion backs to verify that they seem to have a pocket in place of the pin that locks the hook end of the spring legs on the focusing panel. Looks like I need to go order one of those; that's exactly what I need.

4season · Mar 28, 2021

Bought a cheap-ish Jenaflex AM-1 (Praktica B200) with jammed self-timer, cracked top cover, blistering paint + corrosion, and the markings on the shutter speed dial are missing.

De-crapifying is well under way, parts of the body castings were sanded to bare metal and repainted. Self-timer was fairly easy to remove and CLA (sand, insect fragments!). Crack in top cover has been mended with JB Weld. I had a hunch that the top cover might be a bit too tight-fitting for the aged plastic, so I shaved away portions of the cover's interior in order to relieve some of the stress.

For the moment, I'll just use a printed version of the shutter speed dial markings:

Mr Flibble · Mar 29, 2021

Geeez, I really hate messing around with aperture and shutter blades.....

Bausch&Lomb shutter repair on that Butcher Midg No.3.
Aperture blades back in position. Shutter cleaned. pneumatic pistons/brake still need some polish.

Helios 1984 · Mar 30, 2021

I got this SF1 for free, a few days ago, and I'm trying to fix it. It's been dropped at some point and the advance doesn't work, the gears are trying to move but there's something stuck.

Helios 1984 · Apr 3, 2021

I've localized the problem somewhere on the left side of this metal plate. When I pry up the plate, something gets back into position and the shutter can be fired again before jamming again... Also, I got the rewind mechanism to work for a short period of time. There's definitely something out of position in there.

-------------------------------------
Yesterday, I fixed this old Toro 824 snowblower that my father found on the side of the street for free. Took me literally 5 minutes to find out that someone had thrown in the wrong spark plug for this particular machine.
I went to Home Depot, got the appropriate spark plug for 5 bucks, set the spec gap, screwed it, and plugged the coil. It started on the 1st pull

Helios 1984 · Apr 5, 2021

Update on the SF1
So far, I've found a broken spring under the bottom mechanism, and its missing piece hooked around a little tab. I'm 90% sure it's a return spring. I've found out that the 4 screws holding the front plate were almost completely unscrewed : /

Minolta93 · Apr 5, 2021

I pinned up the sagging headliner in my car with some screw-in pins. It actually worked quite well.

As for cameras, I have a box of mostly rangefinders which all seem to need at least a CLA and some minor repairs. I got them for free and I doubt I will pay up to have them serviced any time soon, but I would like to try my hand at some minor repairs. It'd be nice if I were able to fix cameras as I hear people who can do it are in short supply these days.

The main repair I want to perform is for my Maxxum 400si, my first camera. It seems that the small plastic flange at the base of the lens has cracked, so the lens doesn't sit right in the body. It will still work, but it's very loose and I don't trust it. I'm sure it's leaking light too. I've stopped using it so I don't damage it further.

It looks like the lens is $35 online... but I thought I'd try 3d printing a replacement flange if I could. Only thing is I don't have calipers and I know for this job I would not be able to get by with just a ruler, and I don't have any printer filaments that I think would do a good job for this part. And any filaments that I think would be good would require my printer to be upgraded as it doesn't have a heated bed... so for now, the Minolta is going to sit on the shelf. Luckily I have a working Contina (from the box of free cameras I got) to keep me occupied.

Mr Flibble · Apr 6, 2021

New focus tube light seal for the Midg No.3

Focus mount remounted and calibrated to make the dial line up with the indicated distance.

Filling in the woodworm damage

And after a bit of sanding a fresh coat of black paint

Still a long way to go on this restoration. Waiting on some wood screws too.

Helios 1984 · Apr 7, 2021

Update on the SF1

I've found a replacement spring of about the same size as the original, in my spare parts, and I'm pretty sure this is how it should look like.

Mr Flibble · Apr 10, 2021

Over the week I've been slowly putting this Midg back together.

As of this evening it is nearly ready

I'm still waiting on some tiny nails to be delivered. Need those to attach the last few thing like the viewfinder masks and I need to clean the rust off the individual plate holders.

grat · Apr 10, 2021

At the risk of sounding like a YouTube channel, anyone here tried Evapo-Rust? Even Adam Savage has become a convert.

Kino · Apr 10, 2021

Chinon Memotron CE II; I was totally unaware of this very interesting camera until I found it today in a thrift store for $4.99 USD. At first, I debated if it was worth purchasing, as it was filthy and the aperture was fused open in the lens,but now I am very glad I did, as it is quite an interesting camera.

Turns out this is a camera that can use any M42 lens with with open aperture auto exposure, as I discovered in this very thorough article by Mike Ekman: https://www.mikeeckman.com/2016/11/chinon-ce-ii-memotron-1976/

After a thorough cleaning of the body and removing the front and rear element of the 55mm f1.4 multi-coated lens, I was able to free the aperture with naptha and alcohol. There was a touch of fungus on the inner surface of the rear element that wiped right off with alcohol. Now it's amazingly clean and looks like quite a good lens.

I might have a problem finding new light seals, but I haven't contacted Jon Goodman yet; I'll bet he can help. The leather is pretty shrunken and weirdly lifting around the edges, but in no danger of falling off. Maybe someone offers some leather that fits this camera; any ideas?

I am constantly surprised at how many models of cameras I had no idea existed. Foolishly, my first impulse was to dismiss this camera as a mediocre camera and now I am quite enthusiastic about it's potential.

EDIT: OH and if you want to find one, try searching for a rebadged GAF L-ES or Reviewflex 4000 EE; same camera, probably a give-away price...

An old dog CAN learn new tricks...

Jonno85uk · Apr 11, 2021

grat said:
At the risk of sounding like a YouTube channel, anyone here tried Evapo-Rust? Even Adam Savage has become a convert.

Nope, but it seems all the popular machining channels use it. Looks like a lot less hassle than the electrolysis I usually use.

Fujicaman1957 · Apr 11, 2021

Kino said:
Chinon Memotron CE II; I was totally unaware of this very interesting camera until I found it today in a thrift store for $4.99 USD. At first, I debated if it was worth purchasing, as it was filthy and the aperture was fused open in the lens,but now I am very glad I did, as it is quite an interesting camera.

Turns out this is a camera that can use any M42 lens with with open aperture auto exposure, as I discovered in this very thorough article by Mike Ekman: https://www.mikeeckman.com/2016/11/chinon-ce-ii-memotron-1976/

View attachment 271914 View attachment 271915

After a thorough cleaning of the body and removing the front and rear element of the 55mm f1.4 multi-coated lens, I was able to free the aperture with naptha and alcohol. There was a touch of fungus on the inner surface of the rear element that wiped right off with alcohol. Now it's amazingly clean and looks like quite a good lens.

I might have a problem finding new light seals, but I haven't contacted Jon Goodman yet; I'll bet he can help. The leather is pretty shrunken and weirdly lifting around the edges, but in no danger of falling off. Maybe someone offers some leather that fits this camera; any ideas?

View attachment 271916 View attachment 271917 View attachment 271918

I am constantly surprised at how many models of cameras I had no idea existed. Foolishly, my first impulse was to dismiss this camera as a mediocre camera and now I am quite enthusiastic about it's potential.

EDIT: OH and if you want to find one, try searching for a rebadged GAF L-ES or Reviewflex 4000 EE; same camera, probably a give-away price...

An old dog CAN learn new tricks...

Kino,
You're going to have fun with this camera! I have both a L-ES and a Chinon CE-3. The L-ES has become my go to street photography camera of late. Why? Because of all the great M42 lenses! I generally use it with my SMC Takumar 35mm mounted. Preset focus and f-stop and fire. Something that's not widely known is that the shutter in the L-ES can reach a top speed of 1/4000th in auto mode. I found that out in a tiny note in Modern Photography.

It was also sold by Sears at one point and also by Alpa

On the covering peeling off: This seems to be a well-known Chinon problem. If you go to CameraLeather.com, he sells coverings for the Chinon L-CS/GAF-17-those cameras use the same body as the L-ES. I recomend the Griptac highly.

Kino · Apr 11, 2021

Fujicaman1957 said:
Kino,
You're going to have fun with this camera! I have both a L-ES and a Chinon CE-3. The L-ES has become my go to street photography camera of late. Why? Because of all the great M42 lenses! I generally use it with my SMC Takumar 35mm mounted. Preset focus and f-stop and fire. Something that's not widely known is that the shutter in the L-ES can reach a top speed of 1/4000th in auto mode. I found that out in a tiny note in Modern Photography.

It was also sold by Sears at one point and also by Alpa

On the covering peeling off: This seems to be a well-known Chinon problem. If you go to CameraLeather.com, he sells coverings for the Chinon L-CS/GAF-17-those cameras use the same body as the L-ES. I recomend the Griptac highly.

Thanks for that information and advice!

In just fiddling around with the camera, it has earned my respect even prior to shooting a roll of film. A real bonus is being able to use all my Super Takumars in auto mode.

I thought there must be another camera model that used the same leather. Now, to find a Chinon name badge or get creative and make my own.

AnselMortensen · Apr 11, 2021

Use a P-Touch label...et voila! It's a KINOFLEX.

What did you fix today? (part 2)

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