Graflex.org

Inane_grin · Joined: 20 Mar 2006 Posts: 3 Location: Yorkshire, England

Yesterday in playing with the movements on I managed to dislocate the lens rail from the part of the rail bed that's in the body and in so doing unleashed about a 4 dozen ball bearings from somewhere in the camera body, along with the pin which controls the rangefinder. I got the rail back onto the rail bed but the rangefinder no longer works (which I'm not too bothered about) and the focussing seems a bit stiffer (this might just be my imagination though).

From the past posts it seems that Bert Saunders would be the person to talk to. I can't afford to get it repaired just for the rangefinder but will have to take some action if my focussing's going to seize up or something. Any ideas where they're from and if it's a big problem?

Cheers
Kristian Skinner

Inane_grin · Joined: 20 Mar 2006 Posts: 3 Location: Yorkshire, England

Ahhh, sorry, just found the search function and found someone not long ago had the same problem; sorry for wasting your time...now I'll just get back to picking the lint off all these ball bearings...

Kristian Skinner

bertsaunders · Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 10:02 pm Post subject:

Kristian,
Just wipe them clean, use no oil! I have found (contrary to another response) 43 of each of the ball bearings and the spacers! You may have to secure the grommet to the bed on the plunger end, sometimes they get stiff and will not stay in place! Also I have the original instructions on installing the cam if you need it!
Have a nice day.....Bert

Inane_grin · Joined: 20 Mar 2006 Posts: 3 Location: Yorkshire, England

I counted all the ball bearings and there were 68, and no spacers. Clearly the guy who sold me the camera had done a botched repair of it (as if the duct tape he used for the bellows wasn't botched enough). Can I get by using only ball bearings? I think I'm going to leave the rangefinder not working for the time being (the camera's dormant since I can afford neither film nor a deep tank or rotary processor to develop it). Incidentally the stiff focussing was from my focus rail getting a little bent and wiping off a lot of the lubrication trying to grab ball-bearings.
Thankyou for the offer though Bert, I think I'll leave the repair for another day as I'm not very confident in my ability to perform the repair myself.
Thanks again for the help and being so generous with information
Kristian Skinner

Murray@uptowngallery.org · Joined: 03 Apr 2002 Posts: 164 Location: Holland MI

Isn't it the case that some vintages had balls only, and some had balls and pins alternatingly (for lack of a better word)?

_________________
Murray