Tape stuck in Zorki

[Whateverist]

I made the mistake of lending out my Zorki and it came back, quote, "broken".

Rather than use the take-up spool's hook someone's tried to secure the film to the spool with *a lot* of sticky tape. It got loose while rewinding and is now scrunched up against the pressure plate on the supply side.

Is there a trick to get it back out, or do I have to open up the camera? I'd like to avoid disassembly if at all possible (one screw was broken when I bought it, and I have no idea if the body will even come off because of that) but at the same time I know what a bad idea it is to poke around inside with foreign objects.

Any suggestions?

 

[fidget]

I can imagine a logjam of tape on the input side of the pressure plate.
One of my favourite tools is a (set of) spring hooks. They look like fine and in some cases weirdly shaped dental picks.
They are great for picking out bits of debris and could help here. I found that they are pretty good at hooking springs too! Not sure about their value to dentistry, I've not tried them for that yet.

 

[rxmd]

That's a Zorki-1 you're talking about, yes?

For the coarser bits I normlly use a crochet hook (very carefully), for the finer work I got myself a set of dentist's picks at a flea market. (A flea market in Uzbekistan, where the tools are sold used by a dentist and are bought for use by other dentists. For some reason I never went to the dentist in Tashkent.)

However you should seriously consider opening the camera. Getting the cover off is not difficult and described in detail on Jay's and Rick Oleson's sites.

 

[Whateverist]

I've had another Zorki open before, so normally that wouldn't be an issue. The problem is the broken screw - I don't even know if it's possible to open the body, so before I start disassembling the lens mount - possibly in vain - and lose several hours of my life cursing I'd like to exhaust all other options.

The crochet hook idea sounds like it's worth a try though.

 

[wolves3012]

Are we talking about a Zorki 1 here? It's not a hard job to take the whole shutter crate out of the shell, that way you can be sure you have removed all the debris. I'd want to make sure if it were mine!

 

[Whateverist]

Lacking a crochet hook I decided to take it apart anyway. The broken screw turns out to be broken cleanly just inside the body, so the outside came off easy. The entire back of the camera was filled with bits of tape, much of it in places I wouldn't be able to see let alone clean if I hadn't taken it apart. Nothing in the gears, though, fortunately.

 

[rxmd]

Much better idea. Good that nothing is seriously broken.