I just bought a Welti on the bay...

[FallisPhoto]

I have done the gun blue idea on a very thin steel plate. It was then engraved, blued and laquered. It never rusted and it looked great. The gun blue idea would look nice on a camera but the laquer could come off for the same reason paint would.

I'm gonna do the baking thing with auto enamel(thank you very much). If this doesn't work I'll try my idea with the epoxy.

Vincent

Gun bluing (the real stuff) isn't laquer or any other kind of paint. It is an oxidizer that forms a type of blue-black oxidized coating (basically, a type of controlled and stained rust) on the metal. It won't come off unless you wear through it. It is mainly just for looks though, and to help the metal hold oil; it won't stop moisture from rusting the steel. Like Jurgen Kreckel, I got into restoring cameras after being a gunsmith.

 

[FallisPhoto]

This should be another thread. No one has mentioned Weltis (til now of course).

Anyway I've found myself with another nice little Zeiss Contessa. This will be my second 'cause I like a parts camera.

The light meter doesn't work very well on either and I will try to repair both of them. Any thoughts?

Not sure if this will work (you need a certain amount of space under the top cap), but there is a page I used to have bookmarked on how to replace an old selenium cell in a Russian Zenit with a modern photocell. That might work, and you wouldn't have to worry about the meter dying for another couple of decades. I'll see if I can find it.

Yep: http://www.xs4all.nl/~tomtiger/zenrep/meter.html

 

[FallisPhoto]

This should be another thread. No one has mentioned Weltis (til now of course).

Anyway I've found myself with another nice little Zeiss Contessa. This will be my second 'cause I like a parts camera.

The light meter doesn't work very well on either and I will try to repair both of them. Any thoughts?

BTW, if you do the thing with the potmeter, then you can replace it with a normal resistor. Just measure the resistance after you have adjusted it to give good readings. That ought to fit in a Contessa.

This is assuming that the meter isn't working because of a dead or weak selenium cell. If the meter itself doesn't work, you have no realistic option but to replace it.

 

[FallisPhoto]

This should be another thread. No one has mentioned Weltis (til now of course).

Probably shouldn't even be in this particular forum, since it isn't a 120 camera. It's just that I couldn't find any place else to post it. There IS no place for 35mm folders here (even rangefinders) unless they are Retinas. They have entirely overlooked the Balda, Agfa, Welta and Voigtlander 35mm folding rangefinder cameras -- and so on. There is no forum here for you if you have a Karat, a Super Baldina, a Weltini, or a Vitessa.

 

[literiter]

Gun bluing (the real stuff) isn't laquer or any other kind of paint. It is an oxidizer that forms a type of blue-black oxidized coating (basically, a type of controlled and stained rust) on the metal. It won't come off unless you wear through it. It is mainly just for looks though, and to help the metal hold oil; it won't stop moisture from rusting the steel. Like Jurgen Kreckel, I got into restoring cameras after being a gunsmith.

I'm with you here, I've done quite a bit of blueing using the hot bath as well as the Birchwood stuff. I meant that coating the blue with a laquer or varnish protects the blueing a bit as well as preventing rusting. Never did the gunsmithing thing but spent a childhood around guns and I've had a few in the past.

 

[literiter]

BTW, if you do the thing with the potmeter, then you can replace it with a normal resistor. Just measure the resistance after you have adjusted it to give good readings. That ought to fit in a Contessa.

This is assuming that the meter isn't working because of a dead or weak selenium cell. If the meter itself doesn't work, you have no realistic option but to replace it.

I may try a solar cell as well. I have a few fairly small ones.

 

[literiter]

I've noted that quite a few people who share an interest in cameras and photography also seem to have an interest in firearms. Look around this site a bit and you'll see what I mean.

I don't know if you could consider cameras or firearms as an artform but both devices seem to have a similar cachet. As well, any really well made device, perhaps a Stanley hand plane from the '30s or '40s, a Winchester 94 from the same time, a Leica iiif, my little Welti 1, etc. etc.

For me now, pointing a telephoto at a critter is as far as I'll go. I'm fortunate in that I live near one of the world's largest wildlife parks. (15 minutes drive)

My background is of a fairly extensive technical nature. As I think of retirement I'm considering doing camera restoration. I have the tools and soon I may have the time. I don't want to get too industrial about it, but, if I make a few bucks in the process thats good.

So far I've only done CLAs. I've set up a jig with a frequency counter and a photocell arangement for shutters which is more than accurate enough. I have a nice little lathe with which I've made a few parts. I'm in the process of building a lens collimator which will be much cheaper than buying one. Silver soldering seems to be important for repairing some shutter parts and I can do this as well. As I need stuff I get tools from "Micro Tools" and watchmakers suppliers.

Working on the old stuff is fascinating. I'll concentrate on complete restorations of early cameras and avoid SLRs and digital stuff.

It looks that you've come a good long way toward this. I think that we will see more and more people turning to restoration of things like cameras, tube radios, tube amplifiers, furniture, guns etc.

 

[FallisPhoto]

I'm with you here, I've done quite a bit of blueing using the hot bath as well as the Birchwood stuff. I meant that coating the blue with a laquer or varnish protects the blueing a bit as well as preventing rusting. Never did the gunsmithing thing but spent a childhood around guns and I've had a few in the past.

I don't think laquer, or any other kind of paint, would stick to bluing very well. You need something with either the same kind of base or that has a tooth that the paint can grab.

 

[FallisPhoto]

I've noted that quite a few people who share an interest in cameras and photography also seem to have an interest in firearms. Look around this site a bit and you'll see what I mean.

I don't know if you could consider cameras or firearms as an artform but both devices seem to have a similar cachet. As well, any really well made device, perhaps a Stanley hand plane from the '30s or '40s, a Winchester 94 from the same time, a Leica iiif, my little Welti 1, etc. etc.

For me now, pointing a telephoto at a critter is as far as I'll go. I'm fortunate in that I live near one of the world's largest wildlife parks. (15 minutes drive)

My background is of a fairly extensive technical nature. As I think of retirement I'm considering doing camera restoration. I have the tools and soon I may have the time. I don't want to get too industrial about it, but, if I make a few bucks in the process thats good.

So far I've only done CLAs. I've set up a jig with a frequency counter and a photocell arangement for shutters which is more than accurate enough. I have a nice little lathe with which I've made a few parts. I'm in the process of building a lens collimator which will be much cheaper than buying one. Silver soldering seems to be important for repairing some shutter parts and I can do this as well. As I need stuff I get tools from "Micro Tools" and watchmakers suppliers.

Working on the old stuff is fascinating. I'll concentrate on complete restorations of early cameras and avoid SLRs and digital stuff.

It looks that you've come a good long way toward this. I think that we will see more and more people turning to restoration of things like cameras, tube radios, tube amplifiers, furniture, guns etc.

Well, as for me, I started off as a machinery technician in the U.S. Coast Guard (a combined rating of engineman, boilerman and machinist's mate), and from there I joined the U.S. Postal Service. I started collecting and building Pennsylvania/Kentucky long rifles as a hobby, and it kind of grew and became a second occupation. Eventually, I got tired of it all (I was getting worn out and was developing back problems) and, after selling about 20 drawings to a major publisher, I quit my other jobs, sold most of my guns and became an illustrator/photographer. To suppliment my income, I also started doing camera repair. People were coming to me for photography advice anyway (I'm pretty good at it and have the awards and publishing credits to prove it), and eventually some started coming with broken/non-functioning cameras. I found that I could fix most of the common problems and that just a simple CLA would take care of most of them. I got more into it, and started collecting, repairing and restoring vintage cameras.

I think more people are becoming interested in restoring these things simply because the craftsmanship isn't there anymore that you used to see, and in many cases, the old stuff is certainly built better than the new, and it often works better too. For example, I wouldn't trade a K-1000 or a Spotmatic II for any of Pentax's new cameras.

 

[FallisPhoto]

For me now, pointing a telephoto at a critter is as far as I'll go. I'm fortunate in that I live near one of the world's largest wildlife parks. (15 minutes drive).

I like wild game too much to ever say that. I hunt for meat though, not for trophies (mostly flintlock and archery).

 

[literiter]

Spent a few summers of my childhood on a hunting lodge. Very good summers they were too. Worked one summer at a hunting lodge when I was 19. Grew up when and where wild game was a staple of our diet.
Saw the movie Jeremiah Johnson in the '70s and bought a Thompson Center caplock (I really wanted to build a flintlock).
We have a marvelous employee who will bring a bit of venison for us now and then. That is about it for hunting now. Most big game will have to succumb to my 300mm Nikkor.

Quote: FallisPhoto

"I think more people are becoming interested in restoring these things simply because the craftsmanship isn't there anymore that you used to see, and in many cases, the old stuff is certainly built better than the new, and it often works better too.
For example, I wouldn't trade a K-1000 or a Spotmatic II for any of Pentax's new cameras."

I'll not trade my old Spotmatic either. It looks a though much of today's product is meant for just that, today, not likely here tomorrow.
There is great satisfaction for me to see a old camera restored, like the marvelous job you've done, particularly on the old Moskva. When work settles down after Christmas I'll tackle a few complete rebuilds.

I have a really nice old Super Ikonta C that needs a new bellows and the viewfinder sorted out. It has reasonable paint, I resurrected the shutter and lens, and the leather had only one Zeiss wart. The bellows must be a good one so I'll try that place in the UK.

I have two other "C"s as well, one a coated Opton tessar and the other an uncoated tessar. They work very well, if you can forgive the Albada finder.

I've had reasonable luck restoring some of the old leather cases. I've restitched the entire top of one by hand. Then I applied some good leather finish.

 

[FallisPhoto]

The bellows must be a good one so I'll try that place in the UK.

There is a guy in Hawaii who hand makes bellows for about half of what that UK place charges, and by all accounts, he's pretty good at it. Let me see if I can find his webiste.

Yep: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~mkapono/bellows.htm

 

[FallisPhoto]

Saw the movie Jeremiah Johnson in the '70s and bought a Thompson Center caplock (I really wanted to build a flintlock).

Why didn't you? It isn't that hard. They even have starter kits now. Built my first flintlock when I was about 18 (a sawtooth duelling pistol, in 80 caliber), around an old Victorian era twist steel barrel I found in an antique store. I cut it down to 14 inches, crowned the barrel, got a tiger maple stock blank and a lock from Dixie Gun Works, along with some mounting hardware, and just took my sweet time with it, trying to be a skillful, and yet authentic, as I could. I even stained the stock with a mix of hot linseed oil and pitch, as they would have back then.

 

[literiter]

Why didn't you? It isn't that hard.

That was a while ago. It may have been a time thing or a money thing. I did get the Dixie catolog and pour over it but that is as far as I went. I developed a interest in Winchesters for a while and got myself an old 38-55 (1907) and a 30-30 (1954). That was the end of it.

A friend built a Hawken replica from pieces. He actually did a perfect job of carving a stock from a piece of maple. Did the barrel and lock in a plum brown by letting everything rust carefully for a time on his roof.
I bought my Thompson Center about that time.
We loved shooting the things and coming home to our wives smelling like sulphur and gun oil.

Now it's work, photography, the internet and the wife and I spend much of our free time hiking. I take my camera and she takes a sketch book.
I've also been building regenerative radios from antique parts gleaned from various sources like Ebay. (This is another story altogether)

Now we have a small gallery and I sell some photos and she sells quite a few of her paintings. Never in my wildest dreams did think I'd have a gallery. We represent about five artists altogether.

There is time to pusue camera restoration.

 

[literiter]

There is a guy in Hawaii who hand makes bellows for about half of what that UK place charges, and by all accounts, he's pretty good at it. Let me see if I can find his webiste.

Yep: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~mkapono/bellows.htm

Yes I've seen his site and will contact him as well for a quote. I have heard that the oufit in the UK does an impeccable job of it and they have been recommended. I guess I could try both, it looks like I need two bellows.

 

[FallisPhoto]

Yes I've seen his site and will contact him as well for a quote. I have heard that the oufit in the UK does an impeccable job of it and they have been recommended. I guess I could try both, it looks like I need two bellows.

Well, if you can afford it. I'm told (by people on the Classic Camera Repair Forum) that the English company's prices for a 6x6 bellows start at $80; for that, I could buy half a dozen Kodak 66 cameras and take their bellows out (really bad, cheap plastic cameras, but with good bellows).

BTW, assuming you mean rangefinder instead of viewfinder, this is how to "sort it out": http://www.dantestella.com/technical/superfix.html

 

[literiter]

Well, if you can afford it. I'm told (by people on the Classic Camera Repair Forum) that the English company's prices for a 6x6 bellows start at $80; for that, I could buy half a dozen Kodak 66 cameras and take their bellows out (really bad, cheap plastic cameras, but with good bellows).

BTW, assuming you mean rangefinder instead of viewfinder, this is how to "sort it out": http://www.dantestella.com/technical/superfix.html

I've got three Super Ikonta 531/2 "C" cameras. The format on these is 6x9. I suspect I may have to replace the bellows on two.
Oddly/luckily on all my 6x6 cameras, four SI "Bs" and a Certo six have very good bellows.

As well I've got a two Kodak Monitors (I don't know why, but I like these cameras) that have really bad bellows. Hold them up to the light it's like looking through a screen door. Mechanically these things are very good. I'll use some bellows I've got from Frenakfurnari on Ebay.

Incidentally, I have an interesting solution for at least a temporary repair for some bellows, in this case a Kodak Tourist and a Vigilant:
Get some artist grade black acrylic paint and spot this carefully on the leaking areas on the inside of the bellows. Then apply the paint with a tooth brush on the inside as well, scrubbing the paint well into the cloth. I've applied the paint to a finger and really scrubbed it into the cloth on the inside as well. The corners need the most attention.
I let this dry, ( for a day) with the bellows extended of course, then apply a bit of black shoe polish on top of the paint. The shoe polish prevents the acrylic paint from sticking to itself. Works really good. I did this to a really grotty old Kodak Tourist and a Kodak Vigilant and they have had no issues for just about three years. Still have no issues.

I'll not do this to my Ikontas.

Vincent

 

[FallisPhoto]

I've got three Super Ikonta 531/2 "C" cameras. The format on these is 6x9. I suspect I may have to replace the bellows on two.
Oddly/luckily on all my 6x6 cameras, four SI "Bs" and a Certo six have very good bellows.

As well I've got a two Kodak Monitors (I don't know why, but I like these cameras) that have really bad bellows. Hold them up to the light it's like looking through a screen door. Mechanically these things are very good. I'll use some bellows I've got from Frenakfurnari on Ebay.

Incidentally, I have an interesting solution for at least a temporary repair for some bellows, in this case a Kodak Tourist and a Vigilant:
Get some artist grade black acrylic paint and spot this carefully on the leaking areas on the inside of the bellows. Then apply the paint with a tooth brush on the inside as well, scrubbing the paint well into the cloth. I've applied the paint to a finger and really scrubbed it into the cloth on the inside as well. The corners need the most attention.
I let this dry, ( for a day) with the bellows extended of course, then apply a bit of black shoe polish on top of the paint. The shoe polish prevents the acrylic paint from sticking to itself. Works really good. I did this to a really grotty old Kodak Tourist and a Kodak Vigilant and they have had no issues for just about three years. Still have no issues.

I'll not do this to my Ikontas.

Vincent

Wait a minute! Your cameras are 6x9? Are you out of your mind? Why would you get bellows from England for $80 each, when you can get 6x9 bellows from that guy on ebay that are perfectly sound and have never been used at 3 for $10? If you just measure and get the right size, well, a bellows is pretty much a bellows. Basically you have straight and tapered. If it is long enough, if the rear opening is the right size, and if the front measurement will let you install the lens in it, then it will work fine.

I've got Kodak bellows in several Agfa cameras. All it required was trimming the bellows flaps at the front to fit the Agfa front bellows insert. If necessary, the hardware itself could have been ground down a little, but that wasn't needed. I don't understand why you can't do this with your 6x9 cameras.

 

[literiter]

"I just bought a Welti on the Bay"

Just to resurrect this old post. It looks like I'll have it in 2 weeks or so. I don't know if it is possible to pay too much for these things 'cause they are so neat, but if it is possible then I did.

 

[FallisPhoto]

"I just bought a Welti on the Bay"

Just to resurrect this old post. It looks like I'll have it in 2 weeks or so. I don't know if it is possible to pay too much for these things 'cause they are so neat, but if it is possible then I did.

Did you just buy a Welti or did you have one sent off for new bellows? Either way, they are really nice cameras.