Leica IIIa pressure plate reblacking

[screwthread]

I have a new to me IIIa where the film pressure plate has been worn to the brass & is very reflective/ shiny. How were these blacked? Any suggestions?

 

[Roger Hicks]

I have a new to me IIIa where the film pressure plate has been worn to the brass & is very reflective/ shiny. How were these blacked? Any suggestions?
View attachment 98936

Chemically. Model makers do this a lot: Google is your friend.Try "blacking brass chemically". Some gun blacking compounds may work too.

Cheers,

R.

 

[newspaperguy]

Like Roger said.

In addition to gun shops, try a hobby shop - model railroaders use it, too.

 

[Bill Clark]

Gosh, if it were mine I would invest some money and send it to get the plate replaced and get a CLA. These cameras will last forever, at least longer, in my present form, will be here on earth. Why not get it done so it can last a long time and work each time you take it out to make photographs. Perhaps one or more of my grand children will aspire to making photos with film!

Just my thoughts and experiences as I have a couple of IIIf Leicas.

 

[Dralowid]

My question would be why bother?

Surely unprocessed film is completely opaque so the finish of the backing plate, so long as smooth, is of no real consequence.

Or am I missing something?

 

[Roger Hicks]

My question would be why bother?

Surely unprocessed film is completely opaque so the finish of the backing plate, so long as smooth, is of no real consequence.

Or am I missing something?

No, it's not. Look at a film leader. On the other hand, some cameras had chrome pressure plates, so quite honestly, if it's just worn to the usual dull brass, I don't think I'd worry until after I'd tried it with a few sun-in-shot pictures.

Cheers,

R.

 

[KoNickon]

I think it's commonly called bluing in the firearms world (at least over here); plenty of stuff available to do this online or at a gun shop.

 

[screwthread]

Thanks for all the replies, I did try some gun blue (permablue) on it, but that didn't work...will try a film through it first & if needed look for some brass black.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

It would have the biggest effect on films that have no of a poor anti-halation layer (like Lucky film). With other films it would be way less noticable.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

If the backing plate is brass then gun bluing won't work as it is a process applied to steel; in fact the blue black is a version of rust albeit a posh version.

I'd be interested to know the outcome of this, I've one or two elderly cameras with similar damage to the pressure plates. It seems there's much to be said for the black glass of the Periflex...

Regards, David

 

[KoNickon]

Oh, very good point about the bluing working only with steel. I'm wondering whether a hard gloss black enamel would work -- once adequately cured I would imagine it would hold up quite well.

 

[Dralowid]

Chemically blackening brass is a well known though rather hit and miss process. Look it up. Small bottles available from model railway enthusiast supplies. But I don't think it very durable.

 

[newspaperguy]

As Mr. Hughes said, you need a "Brass Black" not a bluing solution.

(Several brands available on this side of the pond. Try Amazon.)

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...ckener,aps,206&rh=n:3375251,k:brass+blackener

 

[Luddite Frank]

I have a couple of cameras / film backs with mirror-nickel or chromed pressure plates: one is a "Kodachrome back" for 9x12cm European plate cameras
( the roll-film part is the body from a Kodak 35 ! ), I believe the other is a Graphic 35 RF camera from the 1950's...

As Mr. Flibble mentioned, so long as your films have decent anti-halation layers, the brassing of the Leica pressure plate should not be a big issue... ( at least not as big an issue as lens-flare from period Leica lenses... 😀 ).

If you do elect to chemically darken the pressure plate, it would probably be best to remove it from the camera, strip the existing blackening, then re-blacken the whole surface, to achieve an even result.

I'm sure any greases or skin oils will cause uneven blackening, so follow the instructions very carefully, and don't chimp on the preparation.

Let us know how things turn-out...

LF

 

[Pioneer]

I was always under the impression that the antihalation backing was intended to prevent light rays from bouncing back into the film, whether those light rays were bouncing off the gloss back of the film or a film back. Of course I could be wrong.

 

[screwthread]

Not much of an update, but in the end I just used a permanent black marker pen & it worked. I read that the chemical blacking paste didn't give very deep or durable results.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

Thanks for the up-date. I might just try it as I've one or two with rust spots on the pressure plate and they are crying out for restoration but I don't know anyone in the gun trade who could do it.

Regards, David