KMZ Drug/Droug/Droog camera

[kktra080]

Hi everyone,
I have a question for Drug camera users. Today I got two of them back from the repair shop. One of them was impossible to wind, completely gummed up and the other one had a "skipping" winder which required two strokes to fully wind and cock the shutter.
Now, they are both "single stroke" winders but winding them is somewhat crude and coarse. Is it supposed to be so or shuld winding a Drug be a smooth operation?

Regards to all,
Marko

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

The word is pronounced Droog in Russian, and it means "Friend."

 

[kktra080]

I am aware of that, and druzya is the plural form meaning friends. I am from Slovenia (ex Yugoslavia) so russian pronounciation is not new to me.
My question about crude winding is still there....any Drug users among forum members?

 

[Crazy Fedya]

It depends on a Friend, that you have. 😉
Some of them will be smoother, some rougher, but generally any FSU camera, with a very few exceptions, will be on a rougher side of winding.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

... but generally any FSU camera, with a very few exceptions, will be on a rougher side of winding.

It is known fact among "advanced" 🙂 users what any Zorki or FED-2 is advanceable with film by index finger IF camera is recently CLAed and it was done properly.

But FSU with advance lever might be different story, I couldn't get Z-6 to be as smooth as M4-2 is. 😉

Here is the picture from rangefinder.ru thread about Друг camera.

http://rangefinder.ru/club/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8056&start=40

Don't know how smooth it supposed to be...

 

[kktra080]

I have several other FSU cameras and you are right Sam, they seem to share that rough side of character. But after this same repairman CLA'd my Zorki 4 and 6, they are much smoother. He could make the Friends wind again, but not as smooth as the Zorkis.
Somewhere, I don't remember where anymore, I have read about certain lubricants that can make Friends wind smoother. The winding mechanism has a chain inside, much like bicycles do. Someone even proposed WD40, what others strongly advised against. Any experience with Lithium grease, watchmaker's oil, Teflon grease?

 

[kktra080]

Thanks for the link Ko.Fe.!
There's my chance to work on my rusty Russian...

Cheers,
Marko

 

[nongfuspring]

I have several other FSU cameras and you are right Sam, they seem to share that rough side of character. But after this same repairman CLA'd my Zorki 4 and 6, they are much smoother. He could make the Friends wind again, but not as smooth as the Zorkis.
Somewhere, I don't remember where anymore, I have read about certain lubricants that can make Friends wind smoother. The winding mechanism has a chain inside, much like bicycles do. Someone even proposed WD40, what others strongly advised against. Any experience with Lithium grease, watchmaker's oil, Teflon grease?

I CLA'ed a fed-2 a while ago using lithium grease normally used for remote control cars which worked great, got it off ebay but I imagine any model making store would have some. I'm not actually sure WD40 is a 100% bad idea, at least as a cleaning agent.

 

[ABrosig]

I CLA'ed a fed-2 a while ago using lithium grease normally used for remote control cars which worked great, got it off ebay but I imagine any model making store would have some. I'm not actually sure WD40 is a 100% bad idea, at least as a cleaning agent.

You want to be very careful with WD40. It's a great lubricant/cleaner, but it will tend to stick around and gather dust, etc., particularly into finer applications. I'd probably aim for the model-makers lithium grease or a dry lithium spray lubricant. Liquid Wrench (I think) makes a good dry lithium spray I've used on a variety of applications, including lubing the rewind crank on a Kiev IV. It dries very quickly so the lubricating properties stick around without the worry about attracting dust.

 

[kktra080]

Thanks ABrosig, my idea of using WD40 was to use it solely as a cleanig or solving agent and immeadiately after WD40 would do its magic apply lithium grease. I have a feeling that is the optimal way. I have read also that one should not spray WD40 directly into the camera but spray some into a cup and then apply it with care and in teardrop ammounts to critical parts with a toothpick or simmilar precision tool.

 

[locheeboy]

WD40 isn't actually a solvent. The propellants don't remove everything when applied, they do remove dirt, moisture etc but once evaporated, a very thin oil film (from the lube) is left behind.

For cleaning ah'd use the old standby, iso alcohol, applied with cotton buds.
Once clean and dry try the WD40. Spray the lube onto a cotton bud, then wipe the clean chain with that.
WD40 may be all the lube that that camera chain needs.

Personally, ah wouldn't use lithium grease in any camera, although for some reason it's becoming popular. As a cyclist, ah've been using lithium grease for many years and wouldn't dream of using it on chains. Hubs, bearings, yes. Elsewhere, it attracts all sorts of muck - IMO it's too heavy for a camera's innards.

If ye feel that the WD40 isn't enough, try a dry lube, teflon, graphite or such types, applying again, as above.