Vulcanite Chip - Should I glue it back on?

[Mark59]

My M2 has its first vulcanite chip. It is fingernail size chip above frame preview lever. It came off in three pieces which I was able to find. Is there any reason I should not crazy glue the places back in place??

Camera is otherwise in “user” condition so I do not want to recover unless it gets really chippy.

Seems like a good solution to me, just wanted to make sure I was not missing something….

Mark

 

[M. Valdemar]

God might strike you dead.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Don't bother gluing it, much less with Krazy Glue. You may want to start shopping for a cover, either from the eBay vendor or from Morgan, in Cameraleather.com.

Just let the vulcanite dry and deteriorate further.

 

[Al Kaplan]

Go for it! Clean off the metal and the chip as much as possible. I'd suggest epoxy. You can wipe up any that oozes out with a paper towel or piece of cloth dampened with rubbing alcohol. Vodka works too.

You can make a paste out of epoxy and cigarette ashes to fill tiny chips. It dries up a bit darker than it looks, a pretty close match for aged vulcanite. Use the wide end of a flat toothpick as your spatula. Put in in your mouth for as few seconds first. Your saliva will dampen the wood so the epoxy doesn't stick as much to the wood as to the camera. As it starts to set up you can use another damp toothpick to shape and sculpt the vulvanite pattern into the epoxy. But as my doctor says, "I'm supposed to remind you that you should stop smoking!"

I did re-skin one body with a covering from Cameraleather. It's easy enough to do once you get the vulcanite off.

 

[FrankS]

A regular camera skin from Aki Asahi costs $19 paypal and shipping included. That's what I've done.

 

[Nikon Bob]

You might find something here too http://nemeng.com/leica/032b.shtml .

Bob

 

[pachuco]

I just let those fall off of my M3. Looks cool all beat up I think.

 

[Bill Blackwell]

If you want to salvage the vulcanite, then DO NOT use crazy glue. It simply dies too fast and makes the "brittle" problem worse.

I have had a number of M cameras and I have tried a handful of brittle vulcanite remedies. And believe it or not, the best glue for salvaging vulcanite is Elmers. It's water soluble, which makes it easy to apply and work with. It also dries clear and matches the consistency of the vulcanite.

I once purchased a mint, like new, M3 and once I started using it the vulcanite chipped and fell off in large chunks. I reapplied the pieces with Elmers and filled in the few cracks and gaps with a black crayon. I never had a problem with the vulcanite after that and no one could tell the vulcanite had been repaired.

 

[Tom A]

You can make a paste out of epoxy and cigarette ashes to fill tiny chips.

Al, I love that solution, though you have to find a smoker, or take it up yourself. What an excuse " I started smoking so I could fix the vulcanite on my Leica M" Best excuse so far!
As far as patching vulcanite, - the few times i have bothered I have used Elmer's glue. It works fine and as long as you clean the surface, sticks well.
If you want t get fancy, you can "melt" the edges around the chip with a soldering iron too.
I usually don't bother patching, unless it is a substantial chunk that comes off and then I usually cover it up with black gaffers tape.

 

[rlouzan]

Camera repair technicians use Picien Wax - just get a new skin🙂.

http://aki-asahi.com/store/html/M2/LeicaM2.php

 

[Al Kaplan]

Tom, I produce plenty of ashes, more than I can use. What do you have to trade?

 

[noah b]

I'd suggest getting a new vulcanite from cameraleather.com, best investment you can make to recondition the camera 😛

 

[richard_l]

Black acrylic artists paint (I use Liquitex Mars Black) has adhesive properties similar to Elmer's glue and can even be used in place of ashes and glue to fill small chips. I've used this in several places on my M3, and it is next to impossible to detect the repairs.

Richard

 

[Bill58]

Get the black Griptac covering from cameraleather.com and never look back. It's tougher and provides a much improved grip.

 

[MCTuomey]

no, no, no ... here's what you should consider, in no special order:

1. black gaffers tape (white if you're looking for the *bandage* look, which i like)

2. black sharpie (fine tip)

3. black crayon (crayola brand highly recommended), as pointed out above

let's face it, we're on the verge of being labeled camera cosmetologists here.

 

[peterm1]

I have done this and it works fine - although I would expect that if some is chipping eventually other bits might do so too. I used crazy glue (AKA super glue as we call it in Oz.) I flooded it carefully under the surrounding vulcanite where it had lifted away from the base metal in order to stabilise it / preventit from breaking and then carefully stuck the original bits back in place using the same stuff. Where I had lost a small (match-head sized) piece I used a substance I bought from the hardware store - a black bitumen based product originally used to seal and water proof joins in things like metal guttering. It's an old fashioned product that is cheap and works extremely well as a vulcanite replacement - originally soft and malleable right out of the can it eventually sets to a more hard rubber like product with a color and look very like vulcanite. Only problem is that it can take a few days or more to set. Oh and make sure you buy the thicker trowel-able version not the thinner paintable one.

 

[Tom A]

Tom, I produce plenty of ashes, more than I can use. What do you have to trade?

Al, being a pipe smoker I would have to try out some different mixes to get a matching color. Hell, it is hard work, but i am willing to suffer for it - he says as he is chipping away at the vulcanite of that old M2 and coughing!