Leica M Rewind lever, Total Tease

B-9

B-9

Devin Bro
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This projects been on my todo list for a while now. Escaping the mesquitos has given me an excuse to waste some materials.

First, a crappy plastic concept.
Complete with .22 caliber rewind lever.


Messing around in the shop, my goofy prototype rewind lever for my old M3, Shot with IPhone. by N&N Fine Photographic, on Flickr


Messing around in the shop, my goofy prototype rewind lever for my old M3, Shot with IPhone. by N&N Fine Photographic, on Flick


Needless to say, it was rough and wouldn't stay put, instead brassed a few knurles on my rewind knob. So now onto Aluminum, blank was cut from a piece of square tube left over from a Jeep CJ5 lift with a typical angle grinder and cutoff wheel. It was then filed and sanded to shape. This is what I've got as of tonight... Enjoy!


Second go at it. by N&N Fine Photographic, on Flickr
 
First 5 callers get a free rewind lever on the second Tuesday of Next Week! WoA

Seriously, this couldn't be my worst DIY, no interest at all?
 
Hmmm, not my style. Looks a tad tall and adds a bit too much bulk on the sides.

BUT great initiative. DIY is the way to go. Most people don't have the drive to do something like this.
 
I love this type of project. Looks like your skills are 10X mine though. The only couple of things I cobbled together that involved Leica was a bottom plate to center the tripod bush on my M4-2 and a Rube Goldburg bellows contraption that allows me to mount the lens head from a 90 LTM Elmar onto my Pen F. By good fortune (cetrainly not by clever design) it will focus from infinity down to 1:1.

On another note; Don't you just wish someone still made that tiny 35mm f3.5 lens? What a neat jacket or cargo pocket camera that makes. Pair it with a 50 f3.5 and 90 f4 Elmars and you have a ultra compact travel kit.
 
I'll take one if you make a smaller version ;-)

Question, how tight is the grip? Any lateral sloppiness or is the aluminium plenty rigid for the job?

Nice job btw
 
The piece is already very small, it is entirely hand shaped.
Except of course for some carefully placed drill work.

I did have to venture across town and barter a few brews for a tap set.

The fit is good, I've added a bit of cycle inner tube to prevent any brassing.

The "handle" is a spent .22 casing, and although it may look tall, it feels perfect in action.
The front half of this lever is about 1/4inch longer than the face of the camera, and about 1/8inch around the outside edge. Oversized, to some maybe 😉

No plans to make any more unfortunately, this one was already a test of my patience (and finger tips) Also if you've never worked with aluminum, the dust is stubborn to say the least. Sand, wash hands, test fit, sand, wash hands, test fit. It gets old quick.

Of course I haven't reinvented the wheel here, but If you have the materials, time, and tools this can be a competent project for a serious DIY'er.

I was lucky, I managed to utilize materials already in a friends shop.
Total cost was around 3.50$ USD, the price of 2 brews at the Korner pub.

For all those who wouldn't/couldn't do this at home, here's a link to a cheap rewind lever that nearly had me throw this project out, Check them out!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/171350588917?redirect=mobile
 
B-9 said:
No I haven't, but I did seriously consider it for the price.
I suppose you do get what you pay for? Eh
Click to expand...

Very much so. It's made with some sort of soft pot metal, poorly machined and finished, rewind knob came apart on first use after I figured out to bend it to make it fit properly, and since it's so soft, the torque from the rewind makes it so it pops off the rewind knob every so often. Keep your $35.
 
Fortunately my rewind has stuck solid and true for a whole day now.
There is no noticeable flex in mine, once tightened stays firm even when rapidly rewinding an empty camera. Luck? Only time will tell!

If I had more than a drill press and basic power tools I might consider making a version 3.0.
You can imagine the amount of work I crammed into two evenings.
 
I have no such Leica, but looking at the one here, I wonder if it might be possible to remachine the folding crank from an SLR to replace the existing knob. Of course that's kind of invasive, but it looks as if the existing knob is held on by a screw, and could be replaced. As an alternative, perhaps one could remove the screw, and screw some accessory to the top of the existing knob instead of going around it.

Of course to do this would require some pretty fine machining, an obstacle if you do not have the requisite machines, especially for what might be a very odd custom screw. Just thinking aloud.
 
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