What did you fix today? (part 2)

[Newt_on_Swings]

You could try surplus shed, they carry lots of mirrors if you want to try cutting them. The prices and shipping costs are pretty good.

 

[polyglot]

It's the wrong trousers, Gromit!

Some monkey put a 5A slow blow main fuse in my CPP2 instead of a 6.5A fast blow. Looks like it's been sitting there quietly cooking for the last three years I've been using it (probably from an overloaded, stiff pump), discolouring the board. Tonight, it finally blew and ruined my plans to make prints.

 

[removed account4]

it wasn't today but a week ago
with an email or 4 back and forth to an xpert
to make sure i remembered what i was doing
i unstuck and retimed the graflex shutter on my 3A ...
used it yesterday

 

[Newt_on_Swings]

Cleaned and relubed an industar 61, was fairly straight forward with a guide online. Shot 4 rolls with it so far but I am getting really soft images with lots of flare or halation. The front is is scratched and hazy with coating damage. I think I will try and find or make a hood. I made a lens cap for the lens with some card stock, glue, and left over leather.

 

[polyglot]

Jobo rolls again!

(I actually fixed it tonight. New fuse, tightened the fuse holder as it was spectacularly loose and probably contributed to the heating)

 

[elekm]

Some TLRs allow you to reset the focus of the viewing lens, which has its own helical. I don't know if that's possible with your Brilliant.

A mirror from a Polaroid is very thin, although you probably would need to cut it.

I'm not sure whether to put this in the Fixed or Broke thread. It all started (doctor) when I thought I'd attempt to get my Voigtlander Brillant TLR to focus easier. I pulled the WLF off and the mirror was awful. Took a bit of lens tissue, gave it a very, very soft wipe, and all the silver came off w/ that one wipe. OK, that didn't work. Tried to cover it w/ tinfoil. Put it back together, couldn't see a thing. Next, I cut down an old 'cord mirror I'd replaced some time ago. Got it in fine after the trim, but now the focus was WAY off. Turns out that the mirror is nearly twice as thick as the original. Pulled it out, again, and flipped the mirror so that the silvered side was now on the bottom. This got the focus closer, but I had to take the WLF off about 10 more times, and keep adding strips of tape to the bottom to get the focus right. It's OK now, but that mirror is not that great, so I will probably have to do this all over again once I find another mirror.

 

[lancekingphoto]

It wasn't actually today, but I recently repaired the bellows on my Polaroid Land Camera 100. There were some pinhole leaks along the creases and corners, which I patched using liquid electrical tape. It took several coatings before some of the pinholes disappeared when examined using a flashlight on the outside. I also used some flexible rubber cement to adhere part of the vinyl (?) external covering on the underside of the bellows.

Even after opening and closing the camera several times, the repairs seem to be holding! I've now got a perfectly functional instant camera.

 

[Ghostman]

3 rolls of Delta 400 in Hypam

 

[Ming Rider]

An oil leak on the car.

Does that count?

 

[Sirius Glass]

The desk at work is too high and using the computer hurt my back.

I raised the chair and put a wooden block for a foot rest. My back still hurt.

Today I borrowed some tools and lowered the desk top one inch. My back feels better already.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

An oil leak on the car.

Does that count?

If it's a British car it won't run now.

 

[Whiteymorange]

Not really a fix, but a find. I have had a Voigtlander Collinear Series II lens for awhile, having bought it for virtually nothing at a show. It's an ugly bugger but it should still take some nice images. Only problem was that the barrel it came in had had all the leaves of the aperture removed. Wide open was it, and I wanted some other choices.

At another show, I picked up a 1945 Ektar 7 1/2" projection lens on an enlarger board like I've never seen before. It, too, was dirt cheap (get the pattern here?) I didn't know what to do with either of these ugly ducklings when I bought them, but I can seldom pass up a good deal.

Today, I found that the barrel from the Ektar is an exact fit for the cells of the Collinear–same spacing, same thread–and the flange on the funky enlarger board fits a Wolly Sunray 6" projection Petzval I've had for years without a flange. Bingo! Two fixes with one try. I then called it a day and went in to have something in a glass.

 

[gleaf]

Received my flat blade Optical spanner from SK Grimes and opened my Schneider Kreuznack Symmar 5.6 150.
Mobile black marks were paint flakes as suspected. Cleaned and reassembled.Thank You Mr Grimes for a most excellent tool and to those telling me what tool to use. 50 more years of life in the lens perhaps.

 

[Tom1956]

Today I took the top off my Nikkormat FT2 . The sheet metal on the pentaprism was all bashed in, so I spent some time tapping it out. I have a big paper cutting machine with a machined bed--nice and flat, makes a perfect anvil to hammer against. Now the pentaprism isn't perfect, but it's a lot prettier than it was when it was all bashed in.

 

[Ian Grant]

My newly acquired Ensign King enlarger, free from a moderatoror on a UK Forum earlier this year. I found a nice 6" Dallmeyer enlarger lens on Ebay last month to go with it, I had one similar but unfortunately stolen with some other lenses a few years ago, this one's coated.

So far I've stripped it all down and have been cleaning up the wood work, it's been sanded down and lightly French polished, a bit more sanding and more French polish and it'll be done, I want the finish to be as close to riginal as possible so no modern lacqeurs. The condesers are for quarter plate but the plate holder will take larger if I make the relevant adapter. I need to check but the condensers are on a board that's interchangeable and I have a larger set I used to use with a point source enlarger, they may just fit. Should be OK for Half plate and 5x4.

The enlarger had been converted many years ago to use an electric bulb, a nice part is that side panel on the lamp housing has a safe-light filter. There's not much to do, the metal work of the lamp housing needs rust treatment and then painting, then there's a metal piece missing on the rear that will require fabricating - that'll be the hardest job, then some wooden lens boards but I make these routinely. There's also the original red lens filter that will need a new filter fitted, I may try and find a secondhand glass filter or sandwich the relevant acetaes beween glass.

I also acquired a paper holder by chance last Autumn this sits in front of the enlarger and holds the paper vertically, I may use it as a model to make one more suited to this Ensign enlarger

So tomorrow I'll maybe finish the wood work and start on the lamp housing.

Some like Gandolfi's others Deradorff's, I've just love Houghton cameras mainly by chance and now have 3 field cameras (quarter, half and whole plate) two Ensign SLR's (quarter plate and 6x9 roll film), plus a couple of 6x9 (& 6x6 dual format) folders one's an 820 Selfix the other a Ranger (I think) but I'm fitting an unknown 107mm f4.5 Ensar which appears to be a prorotype Xpres.

Ian

 

[polyglot]

Scored a user-grade Mamiya C220+80/2.8 from the classifieds here. Clean glass, shutter runs well, etc but I found the focus to be noticeably out. About 0.8mm difference between film plane and ground glass so I cut shims from a baked-beans can (drill and tinsnips!) and jacked up the GG. For future reference, Heinz cans are all but exactly 0.2mm thick

Now I just need to run another test roll. Looks like it will be a really fun candid-portraits camera, though it's (understandably, the optics being 20+ years older) not as sharp or contrasty as my RZ67 lenses.

 

[vysk]

Well, last night, I exchanged top plates on my Leicaflex SL, and reduced the tension on my Leica M4

 

[John_Nikon_F]

Massaged a dent out somewhat on the prism of my FM2n. Still visble, but it's not as noticeable. Also replaced the rewind knob, shaft, and bearing/latch assembly with one from a much later FM2n that didn't make noise when rewinding film.

-J

 

[naaldvoerder]

Last weekend I cleaned and regreased the focusing helical of my Contax Zeiss 18/4

Yesterday I opened, cleaned and regreased my Planar 85/1.4. Now I can not put it back together again...;(

 

[Sundowner]

I got the rear standard of a given-to-me-for-free-albeit-in-horrible-condition Cambo SC completely rebuilt and refinished. Now it's time to start on the front, and to clean up the main rail. Most of the painted surfaces are okay, but all of the fasteners and bare metal areas are showing rust/corrosion, so I have to take everything apart, clean it, de-corrode it and then repaint whatever needs it. I think some people will say that it's a camera not worth rebuilding since a good one only costs about $150 or so...but I had all of the supplies I needed, already, so I currently have $0 invested in a decent 4x5.

 

[benjiboy]

When I clean lenses, they are completely disassembled. The cameras I use are 40+ years old. I rarely touch my lenses normally. When they are on the camera I use spray eyeglass cleaner I get at the drug store and a small terry cloth towel

rn

 

[Newt_on_Swings]

not a fix but, i made a simple thick card stock lens board for my durst enlarger as i couldnt find the correct lensboard for sale that fit the non standard 150mm lens i put on. two pieces of thick cardstock glued together, I cut a beveled edge by hand so it could lock into the retaining clips and screw like the oem lapala board. blackened it all up with sharpie, and sealed the cardstock edges with clear nail polish so they wouldnt fray with mounting and unmounting. was leaking a bit of light so i put some foam strips on the edge all the way around as well.

next time ill make one out of wood or plastic, but I didnt have any around in the right thickness this go.

 

[Kawaiithulhu]

All last month I kept promising to do maintenance CLA on a 135mm Optar in a Synchromatic shutter, I'll make today the day!

 

[John_Nikon_F]

Got a couple Nikon DP-11 finders working properly, so they weren't jumpy anymore. Ring resistors were a little dirty, so ran the wipers back and forth over them a few times. Smooth as glass again. Also cleaned off the black paint from one DP-11's nameplate. At the moment, have a MS-1 battery clip soaking in some vinegar overnight in hopes of getting rid of the corrosion on everything.

-J

 

[peter k.]

Well the day after Christmas, I dug out a 1950 Pacemaker, that I had gotten from an acquaintance who knew I shot film, back in July. He had been given it, several years ago, but it was just parts and body. The bellows and leather looked good, but wondered if all the screws, parts, ect where there. Finally, I decided to give it a try.
Well it has been interesting, never done anything like this before, in the end there where only three wood screws missing, and one machine screw, which I had to make and adapt from a round head.
What evidently happened somehow, is a screw got loose inside the body release mechanism, and bound up the release trigger, and the original owner put it aside.
Couldn't have done it without the help of Charles Monday on another Forum.
So, now I got two speeds, a 3x4 and this 4x5. It will be strange not having to cut film for the 4x5. ;-)

Have a great year, and may the images flow with the creativity going through you, and lighten up your life .. ;-)