Camera repair gods screwing with my mind

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Vickko

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So, a week after losing a 2mm washer, I find it, many feet away from where I lost it, on top of a stack of papers.

How it got there, well, I can guess. Maybe transferred on the bottom of a paper or something.

So, the matching e-ring is still gone. About 2mm in outer diameter. Gone.
Just like that
 
I have to sweep the room from time to time with a large speaker magnet to recover lost parts...
 
A repairman I once knew used to save his filled vacuum cleaner bags to have his kids sort through on weekends looking for lost bits. He had a huge stock of spare everything though so it was easy to quit looking after awhile and just grab another. Suck it up later and let the kids sort it out! :D

Lucky me, I "inherited" the spare parts. If you have exact measurements and still need the clip, let me know... I've probably got one.

Wade
 
I had a spare, from a donor Leicaflex SL.

Any chance you have a dead complete Leica M5?

regards
Vick

dubya said:
... Lucky me, I "inherited" the spare parts. If you have exact measurements and still need the clip, let me know... I've probably got one.

Wade
Click to expand...
 
I find that the main danger times are when dismantling/reassembling and transferring between the workpiece and the storage container and vice versa. Especially if using a watchmaker's loupe and tweezers, small items can go ping ... bounce ... away to any distance unseen :(. And if they're brass, magnets aren't much help ;).
 
I work on top of a towel, nothing ever rolls away, nothing ever bounces away. Springs can still be a problem though...
 
I remember seeing watchmakers sit at a bench enclosed on 3 sides with glass panels to capture anything that snaps away.
 
It's quite disturbing how those small, super light weight, parts of a camera suddenly can have a will of their own :)
They can fly to the weirdest directions just by touching them with a set of pincers. Even a sudden sneeze can induce parts to leave the workbench into oblivion :D
 
So my trick is to work on top of a Magnetic car door sign.
The piece I have is blank white matte plastic coat about 18"x18"(no printing yet).
Little tiny screws and other metal bits fall to it and stay put (yup its a magnet).
The white color helps you find them quickly and you can use a dry erase marker to label things that are "stuck" on the work surface.
When I take something apart I line the screws up on the top edge.
It's very handy.
 
tunalegs said:
I work on top of a towel, nothing ever rolls away, nothing ever bounces away. Springs can still be a problem though...
Click to expand...

That's what I usually use, along with ice cube trays for storage, or those plastic trays with a top that you can find in Home Depot.

f16sunshine said:
So my trick is to work on top of a Magnetic car door sign.
The piece I have is blank white matte plastic coat about 18"x18"(no printing yet).
Little tiny screws and other metal bits fall to it and stay put (yup its a magnet).
The white color helps you find them quickly and you can use a dry erase marker to label things that are "stuck" on the work surface.
When I take something apart I line the screws up on the top edge.
It's very handy.
Click to expand...

But that's a really neat idea. Where do you get those magnetic signs?
 
years ago i gave this tip, but it is still worth knowing,

put a nylon stocking or panty-hose over the end of a vacuum hose nozzle,
let a little of the stocking get pulled in (acts as a catch bag before the vac),
vacuum around the floor,corners,etc, --turn off the vac, pull out the stocking from the hose, all part are in the nylon stocking -- no searching thru vac-bags.
 
SteveM_NJ said:
years ago i gave this tip, but it is still worth knowing,

put a nylon stocking or panty-hose over the end of a vacuum hose nozzle,
let a little of the stocking get pulled in (acts as a catch bag before the vac),
vacuum around the floor,corners,etc, --turn off the vac, pull out the stocking from the hose, all part are in the nylon stocking -- no searching thru vac-bags.
Click to expand...

That a real good tip. Thanks for sharing !
 
I'm hesitant to work with magnetic screwdrivers, leave alone magnetic surface (just touch fine oil with a tip and then pick up screw, it will stick to screwdriver). Probably I'm just too suspicious/unknowledgeable. I have sheet of material similar to foamie under pre-optical mouse pads. That or towel or anything which isn't hard and sliding helps to minimize jump factor. Springs are still moving fast - btw, large transparent bag is really good idea, thanks!
 
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