FED 3 total strip down help

ChrisCummins

Couch Photographer.
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Jul 21, 2010
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Hi,
I'm a new member here, and a new initiate into the world of Russian RF's. I recently bought a FED 3B (the ugle one :D ) off ebay, and now, a couple of weeks after getting it through the mail, here's how it looks:

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Dare i say, I did all of the dissassembling. :) The reason for this is that in the state it arrived, it felt like it had definitely not seen a service since it was first built, and instead had been sat on the shelves of some dusty charity shop for too long. The most obvious problem was the grease on the focus ring of the I-61 had totally gummed to the point that it was almost impossible to change focus, so I figured I might as well use this opportunity to give the entire camera a good clean and bit of TLC. The main reason, of course, is that I just love to dismantle things. :D So, I armed myself with a few tools and began enthusiastically (albeit irresponsibly) taking it to bits in a rather ill-informed and disorganised manner. :) Now I realise I need the help of some RF savvy people to do the camera justice!

Flash/Timer
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I am in the process of removing the top plate off of the FED 3, but I want to know if I will need to remove either the Flash PC contacts or the button which activates the self timer. None of them look particularly easy or intuitive to remove, especially not the flash PC socket. I suppose the self timer button unscrews if you have the appropiate tool?

Rewinding head
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I am having trouble trying to find a way to remove the rewinding head on the far left. I cannot see any screws holding it in place, and there doesn't appear to be anything on the inside of the body either. Does anyone know how this is removed?

Any help would be much appreciated, thanks!

-Chris
 
Hi Veloman, I have been using Rick's notes as reference (admitedly I didn't discover them until I had already removed the accessory shoe; which meant I read his 'DON'T REMOVE ACCESORY SHOE' warning with a sense of regret haha), however, I have found they are not that they do not detail the methods of removing each part very clearly. I've noticed he adds the note 'RH' to a lot of the components, I wonder if that means 'right hand' unsrew, or maybe something similar?
 
The other right...

The other right...

The opposite: RH means right-handed thread, it is tightened by turning clockwise.
 
From what I know from repairing my Zorki 4K (this should be kinda similar ... ish) the button for the self timer does not need unscrewing to take the front off, but you can if you want by unscrewing the ring around it. I used a thin screw driver in one of the slots.

From the way the rewind looks, the whole thing unscrews, but that is just a guess.
 
The knob unscrews from the shaft. Hold a coin or screwdriver in the fork of the rewind shaft and unscrew the knob. You will also have to remove the RF prism and holder, you've only taken off the bezel in the picture. and the dioptre surround on the eyepiece and the winder.
The collar of the rewind button unscrews and the speed selector is held on by a couple of grub screws.

You don't need to remove any of the flash or self timer contact, nor the accessory shoe.
Good luck.

There are some very good instructions on the web here and there, have a search.

Dave
 
Last edited:
To answer some of your questions and a few more you'll have:

To get the top cover off you'll need to remove the screws around the rim (which you've done). Remove the wind/advance collar by undoing the grub-screw in it then unscrewing it. Remove the rewind knob (as per fidget's post). Remove the RF prism (as fidget says, you've only taken the bezel off). Remove the shutter-speed selector (slacken the grub screws until it lifts off - don't remove them else you'll likely lose them!). Remove the wind lever - first unscrew the very top piece (with the two small holes) then remove the frame counter and film-speed reminder dials and make a CAREFUL note of the sequence of those parts. Next you'll see three screws holding the lever on via a flat washer, take them out and remove the lever. There's a screw in the top under the wind-lever mechanism too. Lastly, remove the eyepiece bezel by slackening the grub-screws in its periphery, take off the bezel then twist the tube until it goes into the body.

That's it, you don't need to remove the self-timer, accessory shoe or flash-sync socket. When you lift the cover off, note that there's a large washer over the eyepiece tube that's almost certain to fall off somewhere, be sure to recover it.

By the way, the gummed-up focus is "normal" on the I-28 and I-61 lenses, they always need a re-lube!
 
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