What did you fix today? (part 2)

[Ian Grant]

any photo Ian of the restoration work?

Despite being small there's 6 pieces of wood in each, could be 5 but as I was using offcuts the centre of the top is made up of two rather than one. I'm waiting for more wood to arrive at the moment.

Ian

 

[Ron (Netherlands)]

View attachment 243989

Despite being small there's 6 pieces of wood in each, could be 5 but as I was using offcuts the centre of the top is made up of two rather than one. I'm waiting for more wood to arrive at the moment.

Ian

Thanks for posting this outstanding craftsmanship! ...and I know it is quite laboursom too.
May I ask which procedure you follow for the french polish and which polish you're using....

 

[Ian Grant]

Ron, I make up my own French polish, I buy flaked shellac, three different colours and dissolve in either Methylated Spirits or Isopropyl alcohol. I only but Methylated spirits when the dye has faded, or I'll leave in direct sunlight for a few months alternately I repeatedly filter through old water softening cartridges that does remove most of the dye. IPA was cheaper until the current virus outbreak. I seal the wood with shellac based sealer.

Ian

 

[benjiboy]

I'm taking advantage of the lockdown to replace the rubber nodules in the bayonet fittings of my Canon FD lens hoods that have perished ( there's 12 of them ) should keep me busy for a .while.

 

[Ron (Netherlands)]

Ron, I make up my own French polish, I buy flaked shellac, three different colours and dissolve in either Methylated Spirits or Isopropyl alcohol. I only but Methylated spirits when the dye has faded, or I'll leave in direct sunlight for a few months alternately I repeatedly filter through old water softening cartridges that does remove most of the dye. IPA was cheaper until the current virus outbreak. I seal the wood with shellac based sealer.

Ian

I see...well methylated spirit here has a blue shine, so I would only use the alcohol. Did you ever try dewaxed blond shellac - guess it has less color left in it?
For sealer I use eggwhite, making a slur with wood shavings when fine sanding.

 

[Ian Grant]

I see...well methylated spirit here has a blue shine, so I would only use the alcohol. Did you ever try dewaxed blond shellac - guess it has less color left in it?
For sealer I use eggwhite, making a slur with wood shavings when fine sanding.

Yes Methylated spirit has a Blue-Purple dye added in most countries, this will fade in the sun. Filtering though activated charcoal is a good efficient way to remove the dye but I just look for simple and what's on hand

Yes I do use De-waxed Blonde Shellac, as well as Lemon, Button, and Garnet. sometimes you need to add Tumeric aor Dragon's blood. Tumeric is added to shellac for varnishing brass work. Dragon's blood is a red resin pigment made from plants, it's added to shellac to give a reddish finish. I've partially restored a Butcher Whole plate camera that had an opaque distinctly reddish finish, it's just waiting for bellows, and has been for about 3 or 4 years. I used Inkjet pigments to get the right colour match and it worked well, I should buy some Dragon's blood though

Ian

 

[Ron (Netherlands)]

Yes Methylated spirit has a Blue-Purple dye added in most countries, this will fade in the sun. Filtering though activated charcoal is a good efficient way to remove the dye but I just look for simple and what's on hand

Yes I do use De-waxed Blonde Shellac, as well as Lemon, Button, and Garnet. sometimes you need to add Tumeric aor Dragon's blood. Tumeric is added to shellac for varnishing brass work. Dragon's blood is a red resin pigment made from plants, it's added to shellac to give a reddish finish. I've partially restored a Butcher Whole plate camera that had an opaque distinctly reddish finish, it's just waiting for bellows, and has been for about 3 or 4 years. I used Inkjet pigments to get the right colour match and it worked well, I should buy some Dragon's blood though

Ian

Thanks for the extensive insight. I'm just going to finish a self made (5 piece) lensboard for a Perken, Son & Rayment camera which I'll use a transparent finish for - although even with that finish I'm afraid the wood will still be darker than the rest of the camera :-(

Thanks for the info on the coloured brass finish: only my Thornton Pickard Imperial Perfecta with its TP Ruby lens seem to have a reddish finish on the brass (and therefore I should make a same kind of dyed finish for the mounting ring which is still unfinished and which I bought separate to mount the TP Ruby lens.

 

[Ian Grant]

Ron, I suspect taht the wood and french polish on some of these older cameras lightens with age. I have two TP Imperials and had no issues matching the colour on the plain Imperial, the Dual shutter Triple Imperial needs it's Focal Plane Shutter removing befor restoration, it's a summer job when the weather is better.

Not sure what the differences are between the Imperial Perfecta, and the plain Imperial they look the same, nicely made cameras.

Ian

 

[Ron (Netherlands)]

Ian, guess the Imperial Perfecta is just a little later incarnation of the plain Triple Imperial - it has therefore a little different sidestruts at the front panel with its typical hexagonal knobs. See enclosed picture of my camera. 'Historic Camera' site states:
"It was designed as an updated version of the Triple Extension Imperial with modified omniflex swinging front."
Btw, I don't know what they mean with the word 'omniflex' but it is mentioned quite a few times in the TP catalogues as well.

The pictures shows also the different colour of the coating on the Ruby lens and the mounting ring (which has currently no coating).
Just read in the TP abridged catalogue from 1911 that these camera's could be had brassbound and as 'Overseas Pattern' in teak at extra price (see below page).

 

[Donald Qualls]

My Voigtlander Rollfilmkamera (1927, when they apparently had only one camera for roll film in addition to their plate cameras) had some light leaks around the back when I bought it off eBay, around 2004-2005. I solved the problems by installing a couple small pieces of black foam on the film spool pin sliders, and two narrow strips of black velvet, one on either side of the gate (to keep light from the exposure running under the film guide rollers and fogging the film on each roll).

Today, I finished a roll that had been left in the camera for about twelve years, and when I started to load a fresh roll, I found one of the velvet strips had come off. Glued onto metal, not too surprising, except that it seemed the glue had let go of the velvet, not the metal.

The other strip was still tight, so i grabbed a small tube of RTV silicone (aquarium grade) from Dollar General, laid a fine bead where the velvet went, and stuck it back down. Following directions on the silicone package, I left it sit for two-plus hours, verified it had lost most of its vinegar smell and that the velvet was now secure, finished loading the camera, and closed it up. Fresh Arista .EDU Ultra 400 for a 93 year old camera. Life is good.

 

[Mr Flibble]

Before:

After:

 

[Terrence Brennan]

I FINALLY managed to get the arbour bolt out of the mitre saw gifted to me by my former neighbour when he moved.

The next project is to refinish an 8x10 Leitz easel, gifted to me by my wife's second cousin, who is the daughter of the Canadian photographer Chris Lund.

 

[AndyH]

Before:

After:

Now that's what I call "Superb" work.

Andy

 

[Mr Flibble]

Cheers,
It could've been even nicer if I hadn't rushed it

 

[lobitar]

Before:

After:

Nice work. And funny to see a Superb strolling in the garden!

 

[awty]

Transplanted a mirror prism from a Nikkormat ftn into a Nikon F eyelevel finder. Felt a little bad as the Nikkormat was in good condition and still functioning, even the meter seems to be working, but the F prism was damaged and this was by far the cheapest option.

 

[Donald Qualls]

Transplanted a mirror prism from a Nikkormat ftn into a Nikon F eyelevel finder. Felt a little bad as the Nikkormat was in good condition and still functioning, even the meter seems to be working, but the F prism was damaged and this was by far the cheapest option.

Cannibalism, I tellya!!!

 

[awty]

Cannibalism, I tellya!!!

Burp!
The nikkormat has some neat functions, but is too heavy and cumbersome, would just end up as another paper weight any how. The F is surprisingly light(ish) and agile and now it has clean eye sight, like putting on a new pair of glasses.

 

[Ron (Netherlands)]

Cheers,
It could've been even nicer if I hadn't rushed it

Very nice work Rick.....hope your IIIc from WWII (391xxx) is still doing a good job too

 

[Dali]

M42 Helios 44-2 lens... The core ring of the focussing system was not at the right place and focussing was off. After several tirlas ans errors, I finally could find the right thread entry.

Sekor C 4.5/135mm lens for Mamiya C cameras... The central retaining ring was a bit too tight and the shutter action was quite erratic. Turning it slightly couterclockwise (turn the retaining screw, turn the ring 1 notch to the left, turn the retaining screw the other way to secure the retaining ring) and the shutter is fine now. Weird design...

 

[Mr Flibble]

Very nice work Rick.....hope your IIIc from WWII (391xxx) is still doing a good job too

Hi Ron,
It is! And another Leica IIIc from the same batch 'fell' into my lap a few years back. It's less than 40 units away in serial numbers. Also sold as a "Leica IIIc K" to the US Army of the Occupation in the summer of 1945, according to the ledgers.
It could do with some TLC too. Slow speeds are a little iffy.

I've given Leica I from 1938 a small service before loading it with film this weekend. This one came to me as "Inoperable" from KEH a decade ago. I never figured out what was supposed to be inoperable about it. It works fine.

I am planning to dive into a Kiev-88 body with broken shutter ribbons next weekend.

 

[Ron (Netherlands)]

Hi Ron,
It is! And another Leica IIIc from the same batch 'fell' into my lap a few years back. It's less than 40 units away in serial numbers. Also sold as a "Leica IIIc K" to the US Army of the Occupation in the summer of 1945, according to the ledgers.
It could do with some TLC too. Slow speeds are a little iffy.

I've given Leica I from 1938 a small service before loading it with film this weekend. This one came to me as "Inoperable" from KEH a decade ago. I never figured out what was supposed to be inoperable about it. It works fine.

I am planning to dive into a Kiev-88 body with broken shutter ribbons next weekend.

Rick, glad to hear the Leica's are doing just fine. Hope to read soon your experience with the KIEV - have often looked at that camera but did not dare to buy one to date

 

[Donald Qualls]

the KIEV - have often looked at that camera but did not dare to buy one to date

FWIW, I'm very happy with my Kiev 4M so far (had it a few weeks, one roll shot and processed, second waiting for home construction to finish before I can process). I paid US$40 plus about half that for shipping from Ukraine, including a Jupiter-8 50mm f/2 (Soviet Planar), and I've since bought a (couple) Jupiter-12 35mm f/2.8 (Soviet Biogon) -- nothing processed yet from the good -12 (and good reasons why the first -12 didn't produce good images -- big patch of scratches on the rear element, too broad to black out with tape or similar). With the price of Soviet lenses, I've probably bought my last 35mm RF.

 

[Ron (Netherlands)]

FWIW, I'm very happy with my Kiev 4M so far (had it a few weeks, one roll shot and processed, second waiting for home construction to finish before I can process). I paid US$40 plus about half that for shipping from Ukraine, including a Jupiter-8 50mm f/2 (Soviet Planar), and I've since bought a (couple) Jupiter-12 35mm f/2.8 (Soviet Biogon) -- nothing processed yet from the good -12 (and good reasons why the first -12 didn't produce good images -- big patch of scratches on the rear element, too broad to black out with tape or similar). With the price of Soviet lenses, I've probably bought my last 35mm RF.

Thanks but we were not 'talking' about a 35mm camera

 

[Donald Qualls]

Thanks but we were not 'talking' about a 35mm camera

Woops, sorry; missed the reference back to the Kiev 88 shutter ribbon repair. Those are generally a bargain, too, if you can fix the shutter or get a good enough price to pay someone to do so. At present, my MF SLR ownership is and likely will remain limited to an RB67. Shutters in the lenses, so if one quits, I can still use the camera with the other lenses (once I get some). Wish I could get a 6x6 film mag, though -- just to have the option.