Take-up sppol jamed in a FED1g

[Sylvaticus]

The take spool is jammed onto its spindle in a FED 1g (latest variant) I just bought. Or was. I had to pull it out with pliers, which didn't improve the screw threads at it it's outer end. I searched this forum without finding anything similar, found mostly postings about missing spools. Does anyone have experience of a spool jammed onto the spindle of a FED 1? Or have a solution.

Could it be the wrong type of spool? I've compared it with photographs wherever I could and it looks right. Spools offered on Ebay are said to fit FED, Zorky and Kiev. It's stamped 20K at one end as though it were millienium-updated.

There are tabs cut into the end of the spindle and I've tried easing them inwards, thinking it might improve the fit. But it's still too tight to push right on without force, then I won't get it out again.

By the way, what is the screw thread for? Is there an extractor tool that will screw on and give a better grip?

Sylvaticus

 

[pshinkaw]

I think they are just finger grips.

It's possible it came with the wrong type of spool.

-Paul

 

[pvdhaar]

There's no screw thread on the take up spool in my Fed 1g. Like Paul said, it's got a grip pattern, just like the rewind and advance knobs have.

Also, it doesn't appear that the tabbed ends at the end of the spindle hold the take up spool. That is held by a black cylinder somewhat deeper over which it slides. The tabs on the spindle fall over the pin that extends on the inside of the bottom plate instead.

Picture shows grip pattern on take up spool (red arrow), and the tabbed end of the spindle (green arrow) into which the pin on the inside of the bottom plate (blue arrow) goes.

 

[Sylvaticus]

Thank you Paul and Peter

1. Regarding the "threads", yes you are right, the outer end of this spool is not threaded, it has four parallel ridges that, superficially, look like the thread on the larger type of tripod bush. I was too hasty. I've seen it often in photos on websites, as well as the knob style you illustrate. So it's a grip, but not a useful one in my case because of the tight fit.

2. Regarding the spindle design, mine doesn't look like Peter's photo at all. But yours reminded me of something I'd seen on the web while searching for a solution. Here's a quote from http://jay.fedka.com/index_files/Page391.htm where the differences between the first FED and Zorkiy models are described:

"Early FED could accommodate Leica spools. But some of their spindles were shaped so that no other but FED spools can fit. Then, when the shutter button changed shape, the spindles too were changed. From a full spindle which reached to the end of the take-up spool, a modified „short“ spindle which held the spool by friction alone was used. This type of spindle was used by the FED-2 as well. "

Peter's picture appears to show this earlier longer spool design, whereas mine seems to have the later shorter design that can be seen on the Fedka page (link above) if you scroll down to section 3 about spools and look at the picture on the left.

So I'm getting closer to a solution - I might have the wrong spool, I might be missing part of the spindle, or both. Spools currently offered on Ebay are said to fit all camera types, and my spool looks like them. But this Fedka page suggests some models have unique spools. I would welcome comments or experience of this.

The shorter spindle had a friction grip (I presume the others had some sort of latching grip, maybe using the notches seen at the end of Peter's spindle). But how tight was the grip? Tight enough to pull the film from the cassette, but still loose enough to get the spool out without recourse to violence. The Fedka page says the shorter friction grip spool was also used for the FED-2. The FED-2 is frequently described as desirable and sought-after. How tight is the frictio grip there and which spool fits? Do FED-2 users have any comments or experience of this?

Sylvaticus

 

[je2a3]

You are right, the Fed 1g came with the later short spindle also found in later Fed cameras. If the spool is too tight you can try and "pinch" the friction fingers to size using long nosed pliers. It usually came with a spool wherein you can unscrew the threaded tip so that it extends down [lower than the bottom of the camera body] which gives more leverage in pulling it out.

Joseph

 

[Sylvaticus]

I sent my query to Oleg Khalyavin, who explained the short spindle is best since it accepts most (but not all) spool types. The long spindle came in various versions, each with its unique spool. He sent a replacement short spindle with matching spool and now it's working fine (at least the first film is halfway through). Oleg K is recommended warmly in many postings to this forum, and he was certainly very helpful and responded immediately in this instance.

Sylvaticus