Graflex.org

[alski2005]

Hi everyone,

Thanks Rangemaster for pointing me in the direction of http://southbristolviews.com, where i could download some PDFs. They've been very helpful.

About the other day. I'd been playing with my Crown Graphic in the kitchen when it decided to fall apart (our kitchen floor = hard tiles). The bleedin little bearings and spacers bounced all over the place, including under the fridge & freezer. I thought i'd picked them all up, but at 2h30am i just wanted to get into bed.

45PSS, the tip with the magnet was great, as yesterday i'd collected 3 more bearings and 2 more spacers. Still short of the magic 44 bearings and 42 spacers as mentioned in the PDF. I've got 36 bearings and 35 spacers now. I'd tried to ream out some crud stuck in the focus tube, but could only get down part of the way. So there might be a few still in there.

I've just put the whole lot back together, and with the tab on the focus rail pushing the pushrod all the way into the tube, the rangefinder arm is sitting 3/4 of the way along the cam profile.

I'm definitely missing a few as when the tab isn't pushing the pushrod, the rangefinder arm slips down the other side of the cam and the focus rails lock up. The only way i can release it is by lifting up the cam cover and pushing the cam out from underneath the arm.

I wondered if any of you guys could please look at your Crowns and tell me if the rangefinder arm uses the entire profile of the cam from close up to infity. I did check the range finder, and it was out by a lot at 6-7feet and was on the first part of the cam.

Tomorrow i'm going to get a mate to help me, i'll put the Crown on a tripod. Focus with the GG, then try and work out where the cam should be. Hopefully i'll be able to get some 2mm-ish bearings from Halfords. And patch it up.

Can any of you recommend someone in the UK with some experience repairing Graphics? Or does anyone have any ideas on how i can repair it myself?

Sid- going to go to that old camera shop near High Holborn. There's an old boy in there with tons of old cameras and lenses. My 135mm Xenar's a bit of a mess.

Bert, put them all back in without any lubrication.

Dan - do you have Carol Miller's contact details? Just in-case i can't find someone in the UK to help fix my shutter issues.

Thanks again to all of you. I'm still gutted about the bleedin focusing being in lots of little pieces. But you guys and this forum are a big help!

Thanks,

Alex

[alski2005]

Hi everyone,

In the frustration i'd started a new thread instead of replying to the other.

Fixed the problem. Nicked a couple of beads off of a beaded chain. Filed the edges off the beads first.

I've now got use of the whole of cam's profile. But the lens was out by a bit. So adjusted the focus stops, and now it all looks ok.

Think i have to set it all up for infinity again.

Alex

[Dan Fromm]