ZorkiKat
ЗоркийК&
Latest Restoration Project:
1. The Dead Leica As It Came. Nekkid, no covering whatsoever. The winding knob, counter disc, and shutter dial were removed in preparation for further dissection.
2. It appeared to be suffering from a Very Serious Shutter Problem. 
The lower pulley of the Shutter Drum broke off the shaft. The Shutter was not its only problem. Its RF mirror was totally clear.
3. Near-total assembly was required. So many parts...
4. Shutter Repair. A (n old) shutter drum was taken from a scrapped IIIc. Good thing that it fit. The shutter curtain and ribbons are totally home-made DIY. That includes the new fabricated metal laths. Ends are sewn, not just glued. The same I use for FED and Zorki shutter replacements. I've not included the other repair pics to keep this post short. I plan to upload them in a blog somewhere, soon....
5. The New Shutter in the camera. The slow-speed mechanism can be a PIA to reinstall properly.
6. Making a template for the new covering using masking tape. The tape template is then stripped and used to make a pattern on leatherette. The leatherette used cost about US$1.25 (for a 1 metreX1,5 metre piece- enough to cover many, many, many cameras) from a local upholsterer's supply shop. Note the rusty scalpel blade....
7. Installing the new leatherette covering. Fine cutting required for proper fit.
8. Back from the Dead. With an American-made copy of the "Industar-22" (Wollensak Velostigmat Tessar type for Leica) A lot of effort went into replacing the RF mirror and recalibrating the RF. The shutter speeds were hard to calibrate as well, 1/1000 setting was difficult to set; the adjusting screw cam on that curved thingie near the shutter speed regulator disc was hard to turn. The flash sync is OK at 1/25, synchro dial at 0. But this Leica is supposed to synch at 1/50 (sd at 20) as well, but will not.
Pardon the long post!
The lower pulley of the Shutter Drum broke off the shaft. The Shutter was not its only problem. Its RF mirror was totally clear.
A lot of effort went into replacing the RF mirror and recalibrating the RF. The shutter speeds were hard to calibrate as well, 1/1000 setting was difficult to set; the adjusting screw cam on that curved thingie near the shutter speed regulator disc was hard to turn. The flash sync is OK at 1/25, synchro dial at 0. But this Leica is supposed to synch at 1/50 (sd at 20) as well, but will not.Pardon the long post!
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adji_jo
Member
hey i didn't read anything but that was an awesome job... well done
robin a
Well-known
That Sir, is a job well done !! Robin
MichaelHarris
Well-known
Was that one of those "minty" ones from EBay?
V
varjag
Guest
Cool job! Amazing amount of work you put into it.
N
Nikon Bob
Guest
All I can say is that I wish I had your skill and patience. It must have been a wonderfully rewarding job considering what you started with and the final outcome.
Bob
Bob
John Lawrence
Well-known
Excellent work, and interesting from my point of view to see the internals of a Barnack for the first time.
johne
Well-known
I agree with John Lawrence. Well done and thanks for giving me a look at the works of a Banark [I use a III F].
Johne
Johne
martin_t
Established
Yes, really nice work. The curtains are especially impressive.
Paul C. Perkins MD
Perk11350
Exquisite.
Erik van Straten
Veteran
Well done!
Erik.
Erik.
cameraboomer
Newbie
Outstanding you are great restorer. Where did you get the training?
ZorkiKat
ЗоркийК&
Thanks for the comments.
The project took about two days to complete. It cost me about $10 in materials....I'm too cheap to pay more than that to have this Leica fixed elsewhere.
It is fortunate that this Leica's exterior chrome finish and parts are still cosmetically good. That made the restoration process easier.
Learned the stuff through I. Maizenberg's Russian camera repair book and Rick Oleson's simplified instructions (great references, compared to somewhat hard to read factory manuals). Start with fixing about a dozen FED or Zorki to get the 'feel', and once you feel brave enough, start tinkering with a Leica...
The project took about two days to complete. It cost me about $10 in materials....I'm too cheap to pay more than that to have this Leica fixed elsewhere.
It is fortunate that this Leica's exterior chrome finish and parts are still cosmetically good. That made the restoration process easier.
Learned the stuff through I. Maizenberg's Russian camera repair book and Rick Oleson's simplified instructions (great references, compared to somewhat hard to read factory manuals). Start with fixing about a dozen FED or Zorki to get the 'feel', and once you feel brave enough, start tinkering with a Leica...
bennyng
Benny Ng
Really impressive! Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
Cheers,
gertf
Established
Great job, looks fantastic.
Zorki, what would you use to clean the chrome if it was stained/dirty?
Zorki, what would you use to clean the chrome if it was stained/dirty?
Mr_Flibble
In Tabulas Argenteas Refero
Great Job, Sir.
dmr
Registered Abuser
Long post but very interesting. Thanks for posting it.
How much did you pay for the dead Leica you started with?
How much did you pay for the dead Leica you started with?