Cleaning Industar 26m alloy lens body

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OMboy

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I hope this is in the right forum - I wasn't sure if it should be in the repair section.

I have a gnarly I26m 52mm F2.8 which I would like to service.

I've found some info on dismantling and rebuilding the lens but I'm looking for some advice on what to use to clean (gently polish) the alloy body of the lens.

I have a Dremel tool with polishing heads but I don't want to damage it really - has anyone performed miracles with one of these...?

I guess I'm really asking what cleaning stuff is safe to use and most effective on an alloy lens body - Brasso/toothpaste/Ronsonol...?

Any advice would be great thanks.
 
I haven't done this but you won't want to use a dremel, the buffing wheels are too small and they'll likely leave swirls. Don't use anything with abrasives in it like toothpaste. I believe brasso has an abrasive. I can't remember the name but there's this chrome polish that is a can of cotton wadding impregnated I believe with naval jelly that I've used on chrome and it works great. Any non abrasive metal cleaner should work. This guy says 'Valma' chrome cleaner.

http://www.xs4all.nl/~tomtiger/zenrep/indus.html

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for the tips Ranchu - the finish isn't chrome, just alloy I think.

I thought Brasso was a chemical cleaner but I may be wrong.
 
Like most FSU lenses, the barrel hasn't a chrome finish but are just bare aluminium alloy.
Aluminium can turn dull and black after years. I suppose that is why most of these lenses are not considered beauties. I have no cleaning advice though for aluminium.

brasso is a chemical cleaner for brass, and wouldn't be good to treat the aluminium alloy with.
 
I've used Noxon 7 Metal Polish and paper towels, followed by warm soapy water and toothbrush, on my Industar 50 (rigid). But then I'm very pragmatic about these things. It's a $15 lens, after all.

No reason to be overly careful, I find, when you have the lens disassembled and are only working on the aluminum parts. Don't scrub too hard on the markings or you'll also be looking for the best paint to blacken them again ;) That's about all.
 
Aluminum lens mounts

Aluminum lens mounts

I have tended to use a different technique, and it works really well for me. Brasso is wonderful stuff, and can make aluminum glow like - polished aluminum. There are several reasons why polishing the aluminum lens mount is not a great idea though:

- The lenses never had a mirror finish on them in the first place. Having them too shiny just does not look right.
- As was pointed out above shiny aluminum quickly passivates, and does not remain shiny all that long. Places where your fingers touch the lens will go dull first, leaving it blotchy.
- Most of these lenses are somewhat corroded on the surface, so you need to do a great deal of polishing
- A very shiny surface on the lens will show every tiny irregularity. Come on- these are FSU lenses. Irregularities were a sure thing since the day they were made.
- The very shiny surface also makes the engravings hard to see. I have a prewar FED 100mm f6.3 lens, which is finished in very shiny chrome over brass. It's really hard to see any of the engravings at all, and the fact that they didn't fill the engravings with paint back then makes it worse.

So, if you get the lens apart, I recommend you use emery paper instead of polish. Fine stuff, in the range of 600 to 2000 grit, is my weapon of choice. It cuts through the crud and corrosion very nicely, gets rid of nicks and scratches, and leaves a nice matte finish. You do need to be careful as the paper leaves a very fine pattern something like the grooves of a vinyl record, so you want to try to rub it around the circumference of the rings and the barrel, not any other direction. This ends up looking like the lathe marks from when it was first made.

If you want to tone down the resulting striations, I find a light wash with sink cleaner such as Old Dutch or Comet does a great job, just don't use it until the surface becomes too shiny.

The last thing you need to do after any kind of refinishing is to renew the black paint in the engravings with a paint stick. Any sort of polishing or sanding you do will lessen the contrast in the markings, making them hard to see. I typically remove the old paint at this point using lacquer thinner to make sure I have a good engraving to fill, otherwise the paint may not stick properly.

Anyway, that's my two cents' worth. This approach has always serverd me well.

Cheers,
Dez
 
Ranchu said:
I haven't done this but you won't want to use a dremel, the buffing wheels are too small and they'll likely leave swirls. Don't use anything with abrasives in it like toothpaste. I believe brasso has an abrasive. I can't remember the name but there's this chrome polish that is a can of cotton wadding impregnated I believe with naval jelly that I've used on chrome and it works great. Any non abrasive metal cleaner should work. This guy says 'Valma' chrome cleaner.

http://www.xs4all.nl/~tomtiger/zenrep/indus.html

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Dura Glit is the stuff with the wadding.
 
I find that rubbing with a microfibre cloth is just as effective as metal polish and it leaves no residue.
 
John Robertson said:
Brasso works fine on alloy!! Used it for years on motor cycles.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the confirmation John - Most helpful...!

Pictor_M - what type of silver polish have you tried...?

I have just received an Industar 61LD to play with so I can take my time and dismantle the I26m now :)
 
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