I done goofed...

[JBanderob]

Was digging into my CV Color Skopar 35mm to attempt to tighten up the front aperture play and managed to lose the ball bearing for the aperture 'clicks' as I lifted the lens out of the box I was using to prevent such a catastrophe.
I know it is a tiny little bugger but was wondering if anyone had an idea as to what size it was? looks like I will be ordering a bunch.

Thanks.

 

[JBanderob]

Update: Still haven't been able to find the bearing, however found a screw I lost out of my iphone when repairing that... Maybe I should just stop repairing things.

 

[kshapero]

Way too deep for me. Stumped.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

I guess you keep handy men and repair people in business... best of luck finding your bearings (bad pun unintended!) 😉

 

[JBanderob]

I guess you keep handy men and repair people in business... best of luck finding your bearings (bad pun unintended!) 😉

Ha! you could say I do repair work for much of my living, Cameras are a side hobby of mine... I had the *barstool* in there and as I lifted it to get at a screw hole I lost my grip and the spring launched the bearing across the room lol

I ordered up a slew of bearings from 1-1.5mm, Ill just try fitting them in the hole without them falling inside the spring or binding. Not a completely critical measurement if those requirements are met.

 

[Huss]

Update: Still haven't been able to find the bearing, however found a screw I lost out of my iphone when repairing that... Maybe I should just stop repairing things.

Ok, that's pretty funny!

Good luck with the lens.

 

[KRaZiGLiTcH]

Ok, that's pretty funny!

Good luck with the lens.

I laughed to hard at that too hahaha.

But hope you get it all fixed up and don't give up on fixing things.

 

[colyn]

If it is a steel bearing a magnet should help you find it.. I usually take a magnet and wrap it in a white napkin and sweep the area with it.

 

[JBanderob]

If it is a steel bearing a magnet should help you find it.. I usually take a magnet and wrap it in a white napkin and sweep the area with it.

Yeah, I tried that to no avail... it was my shop floor, concrete and not particularly clean... I know which way it went as I could clearly hear it hit my compressor but who knows where from then.

 

[rick oleson]

I don't know the size of that particular ball, but 1.5mm is pretty common.

To get a pretty good idea, pull out the little coil spring from the hole and measure its diameter. A ball of the same diameter as the OD of the spring should work fine.

They have them at Micro-Tools, you might just want to order a couple of sizes to be safe.

 

[x-ray]

Every time I drop something like that I search for a half hour wit no luck. Then I call in my wife and she finds it in 30 seconds. This happens every time. Women have eyes like Hawks.

 

[icebear]

Maybe a stick tape roll like a lint roller or clothing roller, to remove dust and hair could help, same effect as the magnet suggestion but you can easily cover a wider area of the floor faster... good luck and have fun😀
And of course a bright LED head lamp comes in extremely handy in such situations.

 

[Peter Jennings]

Would the ball from the tip of a ball point pen do the trick? They come in different sizes and are readily available. Might be an inky mess getting it out, though.

 

[Darthfeeble]

Try using a baking sheet to do your repairs on. They come in various sizes so you can suit your needs.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Ha! you could say I do repair work for much of my living, Cameras are a side hobby of mine... I had the *barstool* in there and as I lifted it to get at a screw hole I lost my grip and the spring launched the bearing across the room lol

I ordered up a slew of bearings from 1-1.5mm, Ill just try fitting them in the hole without them falling inside the spring or binding. Not a completely critical measurement if those requirements are met.

Hats off to you, Jacob... and still sending you good vibes so that you can find the bearings. 🙂

One thing that never fails: look for something else you may have dropped. In the process, you'll find what you were looking for.

 

[Ronald M]

I work over a light color bath towel. Stuff does not bounce and roll away.

For serious work, I use the towel inside an empty box with cut outs for my arms.

Knew a watch maker in younger years and he had a canvas loosely fitted on a frame that pulled out from his bench. Anything that fell, rolled to the center and was easily found.

 

[johnnyrod]

I've nearly done that a few times - at least managed not to lose it entirely. Some people de-click their lenses - you could just use it without. The actual accuracy of the aperture i.e. hole the light comes through, can be quite poor so not getting it exactly pointing a thte right number isn't a big deal

 

[JBanderob]

Would the ball from the tip of a ball point pen do the trick? They come in different sizes and are readily available. Might be an inky mess getting it out, though.

So, ordered proper bearings last night but I was curious, take a small pair of sidecutters to the tip of a pen and squeeze about 1mm away from the ball of a pen and the ball will end up resting on the back edge of the sidecutters, no ink or mess... I am 5 for 5 but they are all too small.

 

[tbhv55]

Yeah, I tried that to no avail... it was my shop floor, concrete and not particularly clean... I know which way it went as I could clearly hear it hit my compressor but who knows where from then.

I've no idea whether these ball bearings would be stainless steel, but if they are, then a magnet won't attract them.

Maybe a stick tape roll like a lint roller or clothing roller, to remove dust and hair could help, same effect as the magnet suggestion but you can easily cover a wider area of the floor faster... good luck and have fun😀
And of course a bright LED head lamp comes in extremely handy in such situations.

Good suggestions - particularly the head lamp. An additional thought on that: I have often found that using a head lamp or torch, and turning the regular room lights off, creates a greater likelihood of the missing item glinting more noticeably under the beam of light in the ambient darkness. That has worked more than once for me.

 

[JBanderob]

Update:
Thank you everyone for the input, very glad my misfortunes were able to get a laugh out of some people!

I have fixed the lens using a 1.5mm ball bearing ordered from bearings Canada... HOWEVER I believe that the original BB was approx 1.3-1.4mm, which means that the 1.5mm ball bearing has fixed the 'loose' aperture ring which, as I have read, plagued these lenses (LTM variants) and increased the tactile response of the aperture clicks to a point I am very pleased with.

If anyone needs to figure out one of these lenses let me know, as I have come to know these lenses fairly intimately over the past few days.