| Author | Message | ||
     Sdedalus Tinkerer Username: Sdedalus Post Number: 1 Registered: 04-2011 Rating: N/A |
First off, thanks to all the people who have provided the wonderful information which has made a novice such as myself so incredibly dangerous. I started the weekend with two functioning, yet essentially unusable cameras and the desire to perform a couple of relatively simple fixes to turn them into reasonable users. Then everything went south in a hurry. My Super Ikonta needed a shutter CLA, a good lens and viewfinder cleaning and an overhaul of the film advance system. After having successfully brought my Diacord's shutter and Minolta XE7's meter back to life, I thought the first two would be within my grasp. Disassembling the focus mechanism and lens both went quite smoothly, as did cleaning the slow speed assembly. Unfortunately I did something incorrectly, and after replacing the speed ring to test it out before reassembly, the shutter promptly jammed. I've been able to get the blades to release, but the shutter cocking mechanism no longer engages with the slow speed assembly and the shutter release engages after the cocking lever returns to rest, rather than when loaded. Is anyone willing to take a gander at some pictures of the shutter to tell me what I might be able to do to get it working? With the Ikonta currently beyond my help, I stupidly proceeded to tackle the Vitessa with its misaligned rangefinder and sticky hinges. Again, everything went well at first. The top plate came away easily, and while tedious, the rangefinder adjustments went well. Then after quite literally dozens of times successfully reattaching the top plate and focus knob to check the view, the final reassembly turned into a complete and utter disaster. The shutter plunger slipped out of the little tube which engages the barndoor release and its spring ended up getting stuck and mangled. After much effort I was able to straighten out the plunger shaft, reengage the shutter release, and salvage the spring. And again, it was the final reassembly which killed me. While fiddling around with all of the protrusions to get them fitting in the holes of the baseplate, something slipped and the combi-plunger exploded. After scouring my table and floor for all of the pieces, hopefully there are only three ball bearings, I came back to the camera only to realize that the shutter plunger shaft had slipped out of place and one end was now jammed deep within the body of the camera, and on the other side, the plunger which had worked fine was now stopping halfway, rather than fully extending. At this point it's starting to look like the body on this Vitessa is a total loss unless someone out there can perform miracles by proxy. If anyone wants detailed pictures of these disassembled I'll be happy to oblige. And if there are any parts you might need, I'm sure we can work something out. |