Mamiya 6 folder disassembly

[rocksteady]

I need to remove the top of my Mamiya 6 and can't figure out how to remove the film advance knob. That's the only thing that's keeping me from getting the top off. So, how does this knob come off?







Paul

 

[kuzano]

Unscrew from top....

Unscrew from top....

On my Automat 6, you open the door. Take a pair of small pliers or needlenose and hold the shaft where the keyed section fits into the slot of the film roll. May want to put duct tape on the jaws of the pliers. Then, holding the shaft inside from turning, simply grip the advance knob with your fingers and turn it (looking down on the knob) counter-clockwise. It should NOT take a lot of effort to bring it loose. It spins out nicely at that point.

Now this is a late Mamiya 6 (1955 era) folder (I presume you ARE talking about the folder model). If you experience difficulty with this, don't force it. The earlier models may differ.

 

[kuzano]

I might add a bit here....

I might add a bit here....

If you are going under the hood to deal with any issues regarding the film stop and count mechanism, I know professionals who won't touch this system. Make sure you document every step of dis-assembly.

I've had two of these camera's develop problems, and not being able to find anyone who will attempt repairs, I have simply stripped out the "stop and count" mechanism. This leaves using the ruby window for film advance and leaves the double shot prevention and automatic shutter cocking in place.

My current Automat was dropped on the advance knob by it's previous owner, which damaged the stop/count mechanism. So it has been taken out, and the rangefinder mirror went to Jurgen Krenckel for re-silvering.

Nice cameras, great image quality, and very nicely thought out focusing mechanism. Sturdy front standard and excellent film flatness because of the film plane focussing method.

Overly complex on the film count/stop system however.

 

[rocksteady]

Thank You! You were exactly right only I was able to do it without any tools. I just held the keyed section with my thumb and finger and unscrewed the knob. I thought that it might come apart this way but didn't want to try it and break something. I will document everything when I take it apart. The problem is that the rangefinder doesn't seem to be working at all and at the least, I think I need to get in there and clean everything.






Paul

 

[kuzano]

Good... glad it worked out.... Now....

Good... glad it worked out.... Now....

As I recall the rangefinder mechanism is quite separate from any of the film count/stop mechanism under the wind-on knob. You should be able to do any maintenance needed on the rangefinder without touching any of the film count/stop mechanism. The rangefinder components are all (when looking from the back of the body) on the right side of the camera.

I'm about to put the rangefinder back together on mine and get it back in service.

Just stay on the right of the camera and if the count/stop functions seem to work, steer clear of the left side of the camera under the wind knob.

Good luck on the rangefinder. It's a fairly typical operation with an external port (screw on back of the top which you remove to access the adjusting screw inside) for adjusting the rangefinder .

 

[miloss]

Could someone PLEASE post a step by step procedure for removing the top for this camera. I need to clean front and back viewfinder windows form the inside as they are fogged. Thank you in advance!