Welta Perle Restoration

FallisPhoto

Veteran
Local time
12:22 PM
Joined
Jul 12, 2007
Messages
2,313
I am almost finished with the Welta Perle I am restoring and have taken photos of the process. However, one thing remains to do: At some point in the past, a former owner ripped the film cradle out of one end of it (the supply side). He broke off both studs that hold it in place. The cradle is a fairly tight fit for a roll of 120 film and I don't think I can use screws, because the heads would scrape against the ends of the spool. I'm thinking of grinding the heads of a pair of brads down, paper thin, and then either using epoxy or solder to install them as studs. The brads would be cut down to about 1/16 inch and should work. It would be a lot easier to do it with epoxy. Do you guys think epoxy would be strong enough or should I bite the bullet and get out the soldering iron?
 
It would be a lot easier to do it with epoxy. Do you guys think epoxy would be strong enough or should I bite the bullet and get out the soldering iron?

I like solder a lot more for metal work (been doing it for almost 50 years). The problem is the heat messing things up. Also, reheat and things come apart.
You do seem to know really well what you're doing so I'll leave it at that.
 
The problem is the heat messing things up. Also, reheat and things come apart.

That's what I'm worried about. THe heat might warp the cradle, and the two friction clips might come off (the springs that keep the film tight on the spool). If epoxy is strong enough, it would be a lot less complicated to use that. I'm just not sure how strong it would be if I did it that way.

Maybe this is a question for the folks at the Classic Camera Repair Forum.
 
JB Weld has a fine reputation and available at most auto parts stores-good luck.


Pop rivets would not work, because I would need room I don't have to get them into place and because they would be too big. On the other hand, you've just answered my question about epoxy. That stuff is epoxy, and apparently it IS strong enough.
 
JB Weld sounds like good stuff. In a thread about leather someone mentioned Super Glue. Had you considered it? I have never had good luck with if for some reason, but it does have the advantage of being easy to get off (acetone) if you need to redo something.
 
JB Weld sounds like good stuff. In a thread about leather someone mentioned Super Glue. Had you considered it? I have never had good luck with if for some reason, but it does have the advantage of being easy to get off (acetone) if you need to redo something.

Sorry, but using Super Glue in a camera is a REALLY bad idea. Remember all those Crime Scene Investigation television shows where they use Super Glue fumes to bring up fingerprints? Well, it really does do that. It's can be sheer hell to get them off too, because you can't use acetone everywhere (it can attack some plastics). I know a guy who absolutely ruined an Olympus XA just like that. I use only Epoxy, contact cement, white glue and (very occasionally) this new stuff called Gorilla Glue.
 
Last edited:
Another fine Made in TX product.

Great!

Yeah, isn't it great how those third-world parts of the country still manage to surprise us and contribute something from time to time? :D

If it can stand up to the heat and stress of a highspeed grindstone, nothing in that camera is going to give it much pause.
 
Sorry, but using Super Glue in a camera is a REALLY bad idea. Remember all those Crime Scene Investigation television shows where they use Super Glue fumes to bring up fingerprints? Well, it really does do that. It's can be sheer hell to get them off too, because you can't use acetone everywhere (it can attack some plastics). I know a guy who absolutely ruined an Olympus XA just like that. I use only Epoxy, contact cement, white glue and (very occasionally) this new stuff called Gorilla Glue.

I should have thought of that. I have never seen that on a TV show but I did some work with that back in the mid 80s myself. In fact we used something I used to get from the hospital. I don't recall now what it was, but I think it was a base. We soaked gause pads in it. I think we let them dry and put them in petri dishes. Then dripped Super Glue in that and enclosed those and the evidence something as air tight as possible.

I guess camera bodies would be fairly air tight. But I would have thought after some hours all the plasticizer would have been gone. And you are correct, that if fingerprints form from the Super Glue, they are quite permanent.
 
Not really "great", but just have to put up w/ it.


Yeah, isn't it great how those third-world parts of the country still manage to surprise us and contribute something from time to time? :D

If it can stand up to the heat and stress of a highspeed grindstone, nothing in that camera is going to give it much pause.
 
I should have thought of that. I have never seen that on a TV show but I did some work with that back in the mid 80s myself. In fact we used something I used to get from the hospital. I don't recall now what it was, but I think it was a base. We soaked gause pads in it. I think we let them dry and put them in petri dishes. Then dripped Super Glue in that and enclosed those and the evidence something as air tight as possible.

I guess camera bodies would be fairly air tight. But I would have thought after some hours all the plasticizer would have been gone. And you are correct, that if fingerprints form from the Super Glue, they are quite permanent.

The guy did some kind of repair inside the camera -- and closed it. Within seconds, all his lenses had turned white and a minute later every spot in the camera with a fingerprint was showing them very well indeed. He tried to scrub it out with acetone nail polish remover and it softened and warped some of the plastic parts. He wound up stripping it for parts. After hearing about that, I decided to never use superglue anywhere around any of my cameras. I could probably get away with it, if I used a lot of ventillation, but I'm not sure how long it takes for that stuff to stop outgassing and why take a chance?
 
The goat leather I had originally planned to use didn't work out. You see, the metal was rusty and had to be ground down pretty far in order to get to good metal that could be smooth and even. What was left wasn't thick enough for the .3mm goat leather I normally use. I had to special order a .2mm thick piece, and although I asked for goat, this may be embossed cowhide. Anyway, here's the front and back:
 

Attachments

  • welta perle front.jpg
    welta perle front.jpg
    84.8 KB · Views: 0
  • welta perle back.jpg
    welta perle back.jpg
    92.8 KB · Views: 0
Back
Top Bottom