traveler_101
American abroad
The winding knob on my IIIf seems loose to me. Even after the film has been advanced the knob jiggles a bit and will rattle if the camera is shaken. This seems to have gotten a bit worse over time, but I am not sure. I don't imagine this is normal. Anyone have an idea what it would take to repair it?
xayraa33
rangefinder user and fancier
The knob is threaded on to the main shaft and there is a set screw (or grub screw in UK parlance) on the side of the wind knob for a lock down.
Check to see if that set screw is tight ( do not remove it completely if you have to screw or unscrew the wind knob).
*If the wind knob checks out tight then another problem could be a worn bushing and there is some play hence the jiggling of the whole drive shaft.
traveler_101
American abroad
Thank you very much for your response. Well, I was able to tighten the screw a little, but it did not solve the problem. You anticipated the problem correctly: the entire drive shaft is loose and rattles. This means taking the camera housing off to access the drive shaft as well locating the parts?
xayraa33
rangefinder user and fancier
The videos by the great Nobbysparrow might be a bit of a help to partially get at that drive shaft on the IIIf . You would also have to take the knurled wind knob and film frame counter dial off and check to see if the bushing looks worn (the shaft could be worn too) or just loose as seen from the top plate just under the wind knob and dial.
Also check the small idler gear for wear or loose pinion screw before you do anything else as soon as you slip the body shell off, as it could be as simple as that.
The parts, if needed, have to be bought from someone like DAG or taken from a parts IIIf .
*Also check the bottom cover pin that mates with the drive shaft tip end for wear or broken off parts and bottom cover originality before you do anything first and foremost, you can check that now with ease without dismantling anything.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziAFgEsdl0Q