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Fallisphoto
Tinkerer
Username: Fallisphoto
Post Number: 314
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 10, 2013 - 04:43 pm: | 
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Does anyone know how to get the "leatherette" off of a Zorki 4 short of a grindstone? I just tried acetone, which had no effect. Trying to scrape it off with an X-acto knife is going to take two weeks. There's got to be an easier way. |
Br1078lum
Tinkerer
Username: Br1078lum
Post Number: 527
Registered: 11-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 10, 2013 - 07:00 pm: |
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Have you tried heat, with a hair dryer?
PF |
Fallisphoto
Tinkerer
Username: Fallisphoto
Post Number: 315
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 11, 2013 - 07:29 am: |
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Not yet. That hadn't occurred to me. |
Fallisphoto
Tinkerer
Username: Fallisphoto
Post Number: 316
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 12, 2013 - 07:17 pm: |
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Well, the heat didn't work, so I decided to ask an expert, Morgan Sparks. He recommended using a type of paint stripper that eats it up. It can be any brand, but it has to contain methylene chloride. The stuff works great, but it does take two applications. You put it on, wait about an hour, scrape off what you can, and apply it again. An hour later, the rest comes off easily. |
Br1078lum
Tinkerer
Username: Br1078lum
Post Number: 528
Registered: 11-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 12, 2013 - 08:07 pm: |
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I read somewhere that the Zorki covering is "painted" on, and that was going to be my next suggestion. I don't ever plan on doing that to my Zorki, unless I get crazy one day, and try to cover it in cherry wood veneer.
PF |
Prasanna
Tinkerer
Username: Prasanna
Post Number: 95
Registered: 10-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 13, 2013 - 07:09 am: |
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No it does not take two weeks with a knife; I have done it in a couple of hours. Some old Feds were painted a wrinkled finish, thick paint. The Zorkis I have from 1 to 4 all have Vulcanite or something like Vulcanite. You should be able to scrape it off with a knife. Take care of your finger tips; do not allow the knife to make jerky motions. |
Fallisphoto
Tinkerer
Username: Fallisphoto
Post Number: 317
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 13, 2013 - 08:58 am: |
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To clarify, the edge of the vulcanite will not pry up. I broke two blades trying. Cutting through the stuff, I found that the aluminum under it cut almost as easily as the vulcanite. I'm going with the paint stripper. I'm already going to have to use Bondo to fix the gouges from trying to take it off with just a knife on the back. |
Glenn
Tinkerer
Username: Glenn
Post Number: 1068
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 13, 2013 - 10:50 am: |
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Cook the alloy body casting/extrusion at 200 deg C, then using a scraper that uses the long Stanley knife blades, apply constant pressure and lift the covering off in a large continuous piece. As Prasanna states, the secret is to apply the scraper blade in a continuous even movement so that the very soft alloy is not damaged.
If one really wants to get technical, freeze the covered body in liquid nitrogen and then use a scraper made from a piece of Stanley blade about 1 inch long - round the ends of the cutting edge slightly so the alloy body is not marked. Not really a kitchen table job as the covering comes off as a shower of shrapnel! The method allowed a group of us to restore some rather unusual scientific equipment a couple of years back, after all the usual removal methods for 'vulcanised' coverings failed. |
Fallisphoto
Tinkerer
Username: Fallisphoto
Post Number: 318
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 14, 2013 - 05:15 pm: |
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The paint stripper worked perfectly. It came off as goo instead of shrapnel though. |
Fallisphoto
Tinkerer
Username: Fallisphoto
Post Number: 326
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - 06:41 pm: |
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BTW, I checked with Morgan Sparks again. He says the "leatherette" on my Zorki was not vulcanite, it was something more like Bondo. |
Prasanna
Tinkerer
Username: Prasanna
Post Number: 96
Registered: 10-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, April 24, 2013 - 11:27 pm: |
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Yes;they seem to have used different materials in successive batches. Some of them even get brittle and crumble to pieces like very old paper. I found them difficult to repair in patches. Best to scrape off and clean down to metal surface, then use new vinyl or leatherette. |
Fallisphoto
Tinkerer
Username: Fallisphoto
Post Number: 327
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 26, 2013 - 06:44 pm: |
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Well, mine was not ready to crumble. It was as hard as a rock. |
