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Cleanser
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 04, 2006 - 08:12 pm: | 
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I oftem hear people talking about the [aluminum] camera they want to clean, and it seems like everyone knows how to identify metals but me!
My Kodak Retina Ia, for example, seems to have the same silver top section of the body as my Mamiya MSX/DSX, yet there are areas on the Retina (the metal trim on the edges of the leather-like area) that must be a different kind of metal. For one thing, I can't clean these other areas using the same methods.
I also don't know what to call the leather-like area on these cameras. Clearly, they're not leather, and I can only think of leatherette and vinyl, which I believe are basically the same thing.
Are there any rules of thumb to identifying what these cameras are made of? |
Glenn Middleton
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 05, 2006 - 08:17 pm: |
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Leatherette and vinyl are definitely not the same thing. A proper leatherette is a cellulose finished product that is applied to a cloth base. Before the cellulose finish was applied I would guess that the base material was manufactured in a somewhat similar fashion to 'Lino'. Vinyls are plastics with fairly large amounts of plasticisers added.
Your can still get true leatherette but I have not seen any in the camera restoration cats. All modern coverings are vinyls, even if patterns match to older materials. No doubt somebody will sell the proper materials.
Top and bottom plates tend to be made from brass sheet that is pressed into shape and then chromed or painted. However there are die cast alloy top /bottom plates on some models. The basic body on many cameras is an alloy die casting. Visible edges are either painted or polished, then anodised. This is why many polished lenses and body areas are hard to clean/polish. Anodising is a very hard wearing finish if it is applied in a thick enough 'coat' and sealed properly. On lens barrels and camera bodies this is not really done, hence the dirty, worn look of these surfaces. Some cheaper items were just lacquered ie Russian 'white' lenses, again these begin to wear and do not clean up well.
It is not the metal that is important, the actual finish is the area you should learn to identify. Is it painted, chromed, black chromed, lacquered or just bare polished metal. The same goes for the Leatherette/vinyl. Since the late 60s it has been possible to chrome plate plastics, so many cameras since then have plastic exteriors.
If you know the finish you will use the correct cleaning methods and not make matters worse. Unfortunately this only comes from experience in handling the cameras in question or reading the few books/ articles that do go into construction details. |
Cleanser
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, March 09, 2006 - 11:03 pm: |
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THANKS!
You're right, they must all be die cast...certainly not aluminum, which was my only other guess.
How does one clean die cast metal??? |
Glenn Middleton
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 10, 2006 - 06:05 pm: |
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This will depend on the surface finish. I assume from what you have said that the metal looks as if it was originally in a polished natural state. If the surface looks a bit yellowish, I suspect that after polishing the metal was lacquered. Removing this will be difficult - any solvent or paint remover will also attack the leatherette. When I am faced with this on lens barrels, I use wet&dry paper in fine grades. I use it dry and then polish with a paste chrome cleaner/polish. The polish I use is called Auto - Solvol, looks like a tube of tooth paste and does a really good job. Being a paste you can control where it goes and it does not splatter.
There is an abrasive cloth called 'Micro-Mesh' which was originally developed for removing scratches from aircraft canopies/cockpit windows.
Although the commonly available polishing kit is for plastics or fibre glass, I use it on soft metals with great results. There are grades for metals available but have not seen them in UK. Anyway the plastic grades are much finer and will give a mirror like finish to any alloy or other soft metal. They will do the same on stainless steel, but will not remove scratches on the s/s very easily.
I have recently come across a household cleaner that is very good at removing oxidation and dirt from previously polished alloy, brass or chromed parts. It is a limescale remover for shower cubicles, taps etc - called Cillit-Bang in UK - it is a very good metal cleaner. I just rub it on with a cloth until the metal is clean and then polish. |
charlie
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 24, 2006 - 07:41 pm: |
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Die casting is a manufacturing process, not a material (metal). Almost any metal (and many plastics) could be diecast. Some metals may be more easily and commonly diecast than others. IMHO |
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