[LargeFormat] wollensak optimo

[Scot]

Thanks for the replies.

I had two lenses that were not working properly.
One was on an Ansco 120 folder. The shutter leaves were not moving at all.
The timer would move for the appropriate amount of time though. This lens
was very simple to disassemble(a little harder to put back together). I
soaked it in lighter fluid (sans elements) for only two minutes before the
leaves unstuck. It took MUCH longer to put it back together, but it now
works fine.
The other was the Optimo. It was not as easy to disassemble. The face plate
slides around counter clockwise to reveal the innards. It took me QUITE a
while to figure that out.
On the Optimo there is a doohickey that when unthreaded reveals a small
brass plunger. When I initially looked at this it was not attached to
anything inside the shutter, something was obviously awry. I removed the
elements and soaked this one overnight and when...five head scratching hours
later..it was reassembled it worked.
The lighter fluid worked well for my circumstances, as I  have less than
fifty bucks invested in the two together.
BTW... I have never opened a shutter...two for two right out of the box!

Scot
From: "Michael Briggs" <MichaelBriggs@Earthlink.net>
To: <largeformat@f32.net>
Sent: Sunday, March 24, 2002 12:25 PM
Subject: RE: [LargeFormat] wollensak optimo


>
> On 24-Mar-02 Scot wrote:
>
> > Also a LF search I found that someone soaked these old lenses in lighter
> > fluid to ungum them (after removing the elements). Are the shutter
leaves
> > and other what nots in the older lenses all capable of withstanding this
> > treatment?
>
> There is at least one older shutter model that used rubber blades, which
will
> disolve in some solvents.  Most shutters have metal blades which will not
be
> harmed by lighter fluid.  The repair approach of doing minimal disassembly
> and cleaning with lighter fluid is a makeshift repair that shouldn't be
counted
> on to last.   It might work, it might not.  This approach might make sense
for a
> shutter that isn't worth the cost/effort of a full repair.
>
> --Michael
>
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