Graflex.org

[ImageMaker]

Recently, the tensioning knob on my Anny Speed (pre-War, about 1939-ish) has started giving me trouble. When I try to tension it, usually at 3 and occasionally at other points, something will slip and I'll find the knob won't advance, nor will it let down. The first time this happened, I got a pointer on another board and found how to correct it: I hold the "snail" in place with a small screwdriver stuck in the engraved number that's visible, and turn the knob forward, causing it to drop back into engagement. This is apparently caused by end play in the knob letting the drive tooth slip under the snail plate.

I've been told I most likely need to tighten up the knob to correct this, but I can't budge the lock nut in the middle. If I try to hold the knob itself with locking pliers, the shell squashes out of shape (though I was gentle and didn't squash it much, and was able to unsquash it); otherwise, it's impossible to apply enough torque, even with a screwdriver stuck in the notch in the snail, to budge the lock nut.

First, it *is* regular right hand thread, right? And assuming it is, how the heck can I get it backed off in order to tighten up the knob and get it to stop slipping?
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Is thirty-five years too long to wait for your first Speed?

[troublemaker]

Read the assembly texts if you can find one via the service manuals available on line at places like Rich's South Bristol News mentioned in many posts here on the help board. Try a "search" for it.

May not have the Anniversary modelcovered but worth a try.

Anyway, When I did one of these a while back I had similar trouble and I think the lock nut may be installed with thread adhesive. The manuals suggest soaking locktighted threads with alcohol, and heat also works. Care must be taken with either. Heat does work well with thread adhesives, but can burn paint. The old school thread lockers used on the cameras looks more like a glue than modern Loctite adhesives, but it worked well.

Also be carefull applying a lot of twist pressure on the tension knob as the roller shaft can be bent ! That's what someone did to mine but Iwas able to cleanthethreads and straighten etc...

Good luck with it.

[45PSS]

So go over to http://www.southbristolviews.com/ and under the Graflex Manuals link find and download the Anniversary Service Manual.
Now scroll down to the Tension Plate section of the Focal Plane Shutter section.
Holding the Tension Knob with the ribed rounded section of a pair of slip joint plier just tight enough to prevent it from turning. Remove the locknut using a pair of Snap Ring Pliers with a tip that just fits into the slots in the nut. It should be a regular right hand thread. Continue removing the tension plate as described. If you need futher help repairing the tension plate email me pictures and a description of the problem to be solved. According to the drawing in the manual the tension counter is attached via a screw on the inside of the plate.
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The best camera ever made is the one that YOU enjoy using and produces the image quality that satifies YOU.

[ImageMaker]

I've looked all over the South Bristol Views site, and the only manual I see that covers the Anniversary model is the instructions, which I have and which cover *using* the camera, not maintenance and repair. The focal plane shutter in the Pacemaker Speed was very different in operation, without separate tension and slit selections, so the Pacemaker service manual that's there will be of no help.

I'll proceed on the assumption that there's a thread locker present, improvise a spanner (probably by grinding/filing the tip of a pair of cheap long-nose pliers; I can get a decent set of those for a buck or two where snap-ring pliers tend to be either expensive or very, very cheaply made) and use my common pliers (the sort with a two-position slip joint -- would I be better off with water pump pliers?) to hold the knob without collapsing the thin cup and see what I can come up with. I'm reluctant to take the tensioning plate off without a manual, if only because I'm pretty sure that will result in letting down the spring and require retensioning it, with accompanying uncertainty of the shutter speeds (I don't have access to a tester and can't currently afford the parts to build one to plug into my computer).
_________________
Is thirty-five years too long to wait for your first Speed?

[45PSS]

Anniversary Speed Instruction Manual 4mb is the one. Follow the reassembly instructions and shutter test, when the test pass the shutter speeds will be correct.
_________________
The best camera ever made is the one that YOU enjoy using and produces the image quality that satifies YOU.

[ImageMaker]

[45PSS]

Well I've got a 2.4mb pdf repair instructions for the Anniversary that I thought I downloaded from the referenced site but I guess not. I'll email you a copy when I have your address.
Charles
_________________
The best camera ever made is the one that YOU enjoy using and produces the image quality that satifies YOU.

[ImageMaker]

PM sent...
_________________
Is thirty-five years too long to wait for your first Speed?

[ImageMaker]

Well, following up on this -- once I got the correct service manual, I filed the tips of a cheap pair of needle nose pliers to improvise a spanner, held the knurled collar of the snail gently in the curved part of the jaws of a pair of slip-joint pliers, and everything came off without too much pain. I did have to apply some real torque to back off the snail from the shaft, probably some pre-WWII thread locker in use, but not quite beyond what I could do with fingers on the knurl.

Once that was done, I took off the plate, cleaned up a bunch of verdigris, removed the bushing from the other end of the roller and cleaned that, then applied a tiny dab of teflon grease to each bearing and to that on the toothed wheel with the tension numbers, and reassembled and reset tension according to directions.

Well, if only it were really that simple -- in the process, I managed to strip the threads on the last turn and a half of the shaft, and had to file the bottom end of the snail, then invert the lock nut and file off most of the boss, in order to get the snail and locknut to engage and lock without doing more damage to the shaft or presenting a snag point. That done, however, and after using the snail and locknut, with locknut on the shaft first, to grip the shaft and wind in the pre-tension while leaving clearance to lift the plate and reset the tension counter wheel, and a tiny screwdriver stuck into a notch in the wheel where it showed in the index hole to keep the tension while I reassembled the snail and locknut in their normal configuration, leaves me with a once more fully functioning focal plane shutter.
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Is thirty-five years too long to wait for your first Speed?