What did you fix today? (part 2)

[Helios 1984]

I re-soldered the positive & negative wires of my digital thermometer.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I replaced the leaky drain on my darkroom sink, and sealed the edge with silicone caulk.

 

[Tel]

On the theme of "nothing is as simple as it looks" my Seikosha shutter CLA took a strange turn. The slow speeds were working intermittently, but every fourth or fifth time I fired the shutter it would fail to complete the cycle and close. A little tap on the side and it would snap closed. I looked everywhere for the answer and it kept coming back to the escapement, which looked fine to the eye. So today I pulled it out again and examined it very closely. Saw some tiny rust patches on two of the gears inside. So I put it in a bath of alcohol and it worked fine until it dried out (as expected). I got out my bottle of oil and, thinking I'd make a homemade version of WD-40, put a drop on each rust patch and let it sit for a while. Then I got out my finest dental pick and carefully scraped each tooth on the gears where the rust was. Sure enough, when I wiped the pick on a paper towel, I saw tiny flecks of rust. Then I put the escapement back in the bath to clear out most of the oil residue, put a drop on each bearing point, and reassembled. Snappy as anything, and I went where my dental pick had never gone before and got out without damaging the escapement. It was a good day.

 

[albada]

On the theme of "nothing is as simple as it looks" my Seikosha shutter CLA took a strange turn. The slow speeds were working intermittently, but every fourth or fifth time I fired the shutter it would fail to complete the cycle and close. A little tap on the side and it would snap closed. I looked everywhere for the answer and it kept coming back to the escapement, which looked fine to the eye. So today I pulled it out again and examined it very closely. Saw some tiny rust patches on two of the gears inside. So I put it in a bath of alcohol and it worked fine until it dried out (as expected). I got out my bottle of oil and, thinking I'd make a homemade version of WD-40, put a drop on each rust patch and let it sit for a while. Then I got out my finest dental pick and carefully scraped each tooth on the gears where the rust was. Sure enough, when I wiped the pick on a paper towel, I saw tiny flecks of rust. Then I put the escapement back in the bath to clear out most of the oil residue, put a drop on each bearing point, and reassembled. Snappy as anything, and I went where my dental pick had never gone before and got out without damaging the escapement. It was a good day.

The fact that a little rust made the mechanism bind tells us that the Seikosha shutter was manufactured to tight tolerances. I've worked on Seikoshas -- they are fine machinery. OTOH, I doubt that such rust would affect anything made by Argus.

 

[Tel]

The fact that a little rust made the mechanism bind tells us that the Seikosha shutter was manufactured to tight tolerances. I've worked on Seikoshas -- they are fine machinery. OTOH, I doubt that such rust would affect anything made by Argus.

Sad thing about aging is diminished fine-motor functions (in me, not in my shutter). I've gotten stuck into Ilex No.3s and Seikosha-S's partly because anything smaller is just too small! Call me quirky but I like the Seikosha S better than the Copals that Mamiya used on the later C-series cameras.

 

[Helios 1984]

I had this Super-Takumar sitting in my closet for the past 7 years because of the damaged filter ring. It was warped in a way that prevented focusing and made it impossible to re-screw the beauty ring which I had previously removed to service the lens. Yesterday, I got lucky while trying to fix the filter ring yet another time, and then made a decision regarding the beauty ring which was still impossible to screw in the traditional way. It might not be "the belle of the ball" but now it can be used and serviced if need be.

 

[Kino]

Scraped-down and cleaned-up a Junk store find of a Seal 210 Commercial hot press. Works a treat.

 

[AnselMortensen]

Scraped-down and cleaned-up a Junk store find of a Seal 210 Commercial hot press. Works a treat.

View attachment 327297

Dang!.... I'm apparently shopping in the wrong junk stores.

Score!

 

[Sirius Glass]

The eyecup for the Hasselblad 903 SWC viewfinder started to tear off again. It was almost off when I got the SuperGlue at Walgreen's diagonally across from the hotel. When I got back to the room to glue it on it had come off. I reglued it but now the SuperGlue makes if stiff instead of flexible. <<grrr>>

 

[Dan Daniel]

The eyecup for the Hasselblad 903 SWC viewfinder started to tear off again. It was almost off when I got the SuperGlue at Walgreen's diagonally across from the hotel. When I got back to the room to glue it on it had come off. I reglued it but now the SuperGlue makes if stiff instead of flexible. <<grrr>>

Any chance an RTV gasket material would work? If you are in a bind, an auto parts store would have some.

Gorilla Glue super glue has a rubber mixed in with it so there is a little flexibility. Maybe not enough, but another thing to try. Hardware store.

Acetone can remove the old superglue.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Any chance an RTV gasket material would work? If you are in a bind, an auto parts store would have some.

Gorilla Glue super glue has a rubber mixed in with it so there is a little flexibility. Maybe not enough, but another thing to try. Hardware store.

Acetone can remove the old superglue.

Either of those would have been better, but I am travelling and could not risk losing the rubber eye piece.

 

[eli griggs]

Either of those would have been better, but I am travelling and could not risk losing the rubber eye piece.

If you continue to use a super glue, the next time use a thin Swiss oiller to deliver tiny drops of glue with space between each pair of drops; stitches if you will.

Also, consideration to add a good overlay of "Plastic Dip" handle making rubberized material to the repaired, clean back of the eyepiece and just a thin application to the connecting opening of the mount, for;
1) A thicker, better layer on the backside, away from your eye.

2) A tighter fitting grip on the camera eyepiece fitting.

Do not pull or tug the 'fixed' eye piece off the camera, gently work it loose and off and it should hold up, OK.

Cheers, and Godspeed
Eli

 

[Sirius Glass]

If you continue to use a super glue, the next time use a thin Swiss oiller to deliver tiny drops of glue with space between each pair of drops; stitches if you will.

Also, consideration to add a good overlay of "Plastic Dip" handle making rubberized material to the repaired, clean back of the eyepiece and just a thin application to the connecting opening of the mount, for;
1) A thicker, better layer on the backside, away from your eye.

2) A tighter fitting grip on the camera eyepiece fitting.

Do not pull or tug the 'fixed' eye piece off the camera, gently work it loose and off and it should hold up, OK.

Cheers, and Godspeed
Eli

Thank you for the recommendation.

 

[Helios 1984]

I've made a hinge of fortune for the light meter cover of my Contaflex IV. A piece of metal, some J.B Weld, and a touch of paint to make it blend a wee bit.
It won't win a beauty contest but at least now the cover won't fly open sideways.

Here's a short vid of the mechanism in action.

 

[Cholentpot]

Samsung Maxima Zoom 105Ti Quartz Date.

Battery is worth more than camera.

 

[mshchem]

Reassembled my fiber base print washer

 

[SilverDog]

Adjusted the shutter speeds on my Pentax SP II using the shutter speed tester I built. The cam is worn so getting the speeds right was a bit of a compromise. Better than when I started and things got cleaned up a bit in the process.

 

[AnselMortensen]

Mounted an Alphax/Betax #3 flange on a metal Toyo/Omega lensboard...now I can use my 13" Apo-Raptar and my 10 1/2" Voltas on my 45D.

 

[Tel]

Finishing up shutter curtain replacement on an old Minolta 35 Model E

 

[Helios 1984]

It would appear that my attempt to bring back to life the CdS light meter of my Instamatic 714 has been fruitful, after soldering a new trimpot. As you may not remember, this camera was crippled due to heavy corrosion that rendered its meter inoperative and, so, could only fire at 1/60 f/2.8. And since I couldn't disassemble it completely to check if there were more corrosion inside, I didn't expect much from soldering a new trimpot and cleaning verdigris. Not to mention my soldering which doesn't look like success material. Imagine my surprise when I depressed the release button and saw the aperture closing instead of staying wide open.

Don't look too close, this is thoriated glass!

 

[4season]

Had previously gone over the lens and the mechanicals of this beast, but finally got around to freshening-up the exterior as well. Fit and finish are pretty good in this 1966 example. Lens mount is 39 mm, same as earlier Zenit cameras.

39

 

[IMetodiev]

A print loupe, it was knocked out of alignment in a drop, had to nudge the elements back.

 

[Cholentpot]

Nikon N60, Canon Z135, Minolta Autofocus Tele, and while not fully working the shutter 1/60-1/1000 are working fine on the Pentax ES. I went through a pile of out of commission cameras and brought these back from the kids toy box.

 

[Boomlight]

I CLA'd a Zenit-E and replaced the selenium cell with a silicon solar cell, so the light meter works.

 

[eli griggs]

I CLA'd a Zenit-E and replaced the selenium cell with a silicon solar cell, so the light meter works.

Do the two cells have parity or do you have to further adjust the camera meter?