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What did you fix today? (part 2)


Still have to figure out how to tension the shutter which is over my head.

I've not yet tried the apps but it's a good idea.
 
Cholentpot said:
Still have to figure out how to tension the shutter which is over my head.
Click to expand...

Better to be safe than sorry! IME to date, shutter springs really don't seem to weaken much over time, and chances are, original factory settings are just fine, but contaminated and dried-out lubricants have gummed up the works. When I am forced to re-tension, I try to use the minimum amount which delivers reliable operation.
 

It looks like at 1/1000 the shutter is capping. Maybe at 1/500 too. I don't know much but I think it's past my home skills.
 
Hat Trick!

Fixed the shutter on a Brownie Reflex and cleaned the viewfinder and lens. Took a lot of work to get back together. Some carboard shims fell out when I took it apart and have no idea where they were supposed to go back in. Fixed shutter with the old classic lighter fluid.
 
How did I accumulate so many Zenits? I must have 5 of the things. I really ought to unload a few. This trio is now tuned-up. As received, the 15M had shutter bounce, the 412 destroyed a shutter curtain due to sharp edges in shutter curtain lath. and the 122K had a bunch of loose fasteners, and collimation was off. 412's problems were due to factory defect, but can't be sure about the others. Once tuned, they're pretty decent picture-takers.
 
My D5XL enlarger was received with only one operating counterbalance spring.
I used it that way for ~15 years.
Well, that one spring gave up the ghost and went "SNAP!" right before a printing session.
Apparently, my enlarger is somehow different from most D5XL's out there, and 99% of D-type springs don't work...including ones purchased from KHB.
I found ONE used one on Ebay.
Installed it today.
Still have 10 fingers.
Meanwhile, the search continues for Unicorn Spring #2.
 

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That looks more like a spring from a D2 or the earlier type of D6 than the more modern D5XL - although the mounting position is unusual.
 
I'm not sure why mine is so unusual... 99% of springs out there have a rounded 'hook' that doesn't work with my enlarger.
I'm using an Ilford 400 setup, but that shouldn't matter, this is a chassis issue.
 
AnselMortensen said:
I'm not sure why mine is so unusual... 99% of springs out there have a rounded 'hook' that doesn't work with my enlarger.
I'm using an Ilford 400 setup, but that shouldn't matter, this is a chassis issue.
Click to expand...

The location of the spring is unusual - they are usually at the top of the column:

The way you have yours mounted looks more like the spring location for the other type of D5XL, which if I recall correctly, is here:


The end of the long spring is attached to entirely different connection points.
 
AnselMortensen said:
^^^^
This ( the second photo ) is the way my enlarger was constructed.
Click to expand...

But the column is from the older style.
I think someone who had the enlarger before you got it, bodged together something that is/was a mixture between the two versions.
 
Matt, here's a pic of my enlarger, the setup appears to be identical to your second photo.
It might have looked different in my earlier photo because the head was all the way up. <shrug>
 

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It did look different! Sorry about the confusion - the D5-XLs that I'm most familiar with were all black, and I let myself be misled by the grey in your first photo.
 
Send me a PM, I'll check when I'm home. I think I have two of these springs that will work for you.
 
The Icarette project is more or less done now. A little more detailing of the rounded corners with some LET, but it's basically ready to take images.




The camera takes 117 film. so I will need to cut down the flanges on some 120 spools to make them fit.
 

Great restoration work!
 
Got a Nikon FA that would wind, but most often not-quite complete the wind-cock cycle so you couldn't press the shutter button. After some fiddling it could be freed. Happened on the M250 speed, so not a battery issue. Progress #1: in the stuck state, I tried turning the motor drive connector (at the bottom of the wind shaft) with a coin and that allowed it to snap back, completing the cycle (in normal hand-winding operation, the MD connector winds forward and returns like the wind lever).

To look for something sticking in the wind mech, I took off the bottom plate (easy, just 3 screws). Progress #2: With the bottom plate off, it wound and fired fine. I closed up the bottom plate and it started sticking again. #3: At this point, in the stuck state, I loosened the bottom plate screw at the end near the wind shaft by less than a turn and the shaft freed up. So clearly, there is just enough friction between the wind/cocking mechanism and the bottom plate to prevent it from returning at the end. I don't know the cause as the plate isn't obviously dented. There is a paper-thin black washer at the end of the wind shaft that probably isn't helping, but it's clearly supposed to be there. I don't know how I'll resolve this yet, but it might be something like shimming the bottom plate out by the thickness of a piece of paper.

I have had Nikons and others that were genuinely locked up and harder to deal with, but it would not surprise me if some fraction of camera jams are "a piece is just slightly misshapen after 30-40 years of service."
 
I've revisited the shutter of my Topcon-35L because oil got to the leaves. The last time I cleaned them was 6 years ago when I bought the camera.

 
Completed a CLA plus some restoration work of a Smena-2.
 
Picked up a little Retina 010 yesterday from the charity store. Wasn't working, gave it a quick clean and lube and now it is. Removed and cleaned the lens elements as well.
What a cute little camera.
Anyone know the filter size?
 
awty said:
Picked up a little Retina 010 yesterday from the charity store. Wasn't working, gave it a quick clean and lube and now it is. Removed and cleaned the lens elements as well.
What a cute little camera.
Anyone know the filter size?
Click to expand...
Love these cameras; so neat and compact! Looks like a nice example you found and you did a great job cleaning it up.

Be forewarned that they tend to multiply when left unattended, much like coat hangers.

I found listed online that the #1 takes 21.5mm screw-in filters with 27mm push-on lens shades/filters for the Xenar 3.5f or 27mm thread/32mm push-on for the 2.8f version.

I have a handful of tiny Kodak filters in this size range accumulated over the years, but sadly they tend to be degraded and practically unusable; I just keep them for display purposes.
 
Mir. Simplified version of Zorki-4. without the mechanism of delayed delays. Minor cleaning and some lubrication. 1959 release
 
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