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Easy filter ring dent removal TTP with photos.
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 18, 2014 4:42 pm    Post subject: Easy filter ring dent removal TTP with photos. Reply with quote

The Fed 3 I bought recently had had a fall and there were a couple of dents in the filter ring of the lens. I decided to take photos of my own tried and tested methods to remove it.

Tools.
Lump of Blu-Tak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-Tack
About 10cm of 5-8mm dowel. I prefer bamboo to wood because it's harder and doesn't split or fray.
small hammer.

Taper the dowel and give it a semicircle tip, see photos:



Secure the lens to a work table with a lump of the putty. I made sure mine was under the filter ring too. make sure the dent is in the lower position.



Put the dowel over the centre of the dent and tap gently with the hammer. The Blu-Tak will stop the lens moving and provide a cushion.



You will need to keep 'plumping up' the blu-tak between tapping. Do it gently, and gradually the filter ring will assume it's normal shape within a few minutes.

The previous owner had used the time honoured method of pliers on the second dent so there is a small split in the filter ring and a little paint loss. However it is straightened out now and a hood or filter will fit nicely. The dent was directly above the left f11 mark on the DOF scale.



EDIT April 2021. the original photos have been lost. This crude graphic illustrates how it works i hope


#triedtestedandproven


Last edited by philslizzy on Sat Apr 17, 2021 5:55 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Fri Feb 21, 2014 1:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've been making radiused formers, I shall try blue tac in future.


PostPosted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 8:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

finally tried this trick today with a lens I picked up for cheap at goodwill with two nasty dings (it looks like someone took pliers to it in order to fix it), and it worked! some blu tak, a hammer, a disposable chopstick (they're bamboo), and some patience, and i can now put a filter on it (not 100% smooth, but doable)!

thanks Smile

before


after (but still in need of a cleaning)


PostPosted: Mon Mar 24, 2014 12:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yaaay! TTP. Your chopstick idea was good too, I used a peg from a mug tree. I did actually try a pencil but the wood just squashed, dowel did the same. The bamboo doesn't even mark. Remarkable stuff. I have a table made from it, a pair of underpants made from it and I eat it at least twice a week (with it).

I have another lens to do. A 28-200 tested elsewhere on this forum. It is (or rather was) Olympus OM mount but I must have pressed the release catch and when I focused it just fell off the adapter. Nice big dent! I had a similar problem again recently. The release catch is forward of the body on a NEX adapter so its easy to do. But not now, I converted it to M42!!!

Yep bamboo underpants.


PostPosted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 7:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

and you eat your underpants ? Shocked Wink

Thanks a lot for the above tip. I'll try it on a severe dent I have on a 135mm.


PostPosted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 9:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bamboo is a food, not just reserved for pandas.





PostPosted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 10:35 pm    Post subject: Re: Easy filter ring dent removal TTP with photos. Reply with quote

philslizzy wrote:
The Fed 3 I bought recently had had a fall and there were a couple of dents in the filter ring of the lens. I decided to take photos of my own tried and tested methods to remove it.

Tools.
Lump of Blu-Tak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-Tack
About 10cm of 5-8mm dowel. I prefer bamboo to wood because it's harder and doesn't split or fray.
small hammer.

Taper the dowel and give it a semicircle tip, see photos:



Secure the lens to a work table with a lump of the putty. I made sure mine was under the filter ring too. make sure the dent is in the lower position.



Put the dowel over the centre of the dent and tap gently with the hammer. The Blu-Tak will stop the lens moving and provide a cushion.



You will need to keep 'plumping up' the blu-tak between tapping. Do it gently, and gradually the filter ring will assume it's normal shape within a few minutes.

The previous owner had used the time honoured method of pliers on the second dent so there is a small split in the filter ring and a little paint loss. However it is straightened out now and a hood or filter will fit nicely. The dent was directly above the left f11 mark on the DOF scale.



#triedtestedandproven


Nicely done! The metalworkers use this technique to shape thin sheet (but with metal tools) called repousse or chasing.


PostPosted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 11:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

hi jamaeolus

I did some of this type of work many years ago and we had a kind of soft linoleum matting which absorbed the hammer blows. I guess this was in the back of my mind when I thought of this idea.

phil


PostPosted: Sun Jul 20, 2014 10:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Blue-tak works just fine. Cool


PostPosted: Sun Jul 20, 2014 10:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow, thanks Phil. I'm glad I found this thread. I have a Pentak K 1.8/55 with a loose filter ring but I can't remove the name ring to
repair it because of a very small ding in the threads. It should be quite quick using the blu-tak. Even people who eat their underpants
can have good ideas! Smile


PostPosted: Sun Jul 20, 2014 11:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't think I have any bamboo or any blu-tak come to that. My chopsticks are white plastic, like ivory, and they're too thin anyway. So
I'm going to shape a piece of beech hardwood and use some thick waxy putty stuff that was left over when they renewed our overhead
supply cable.


PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 12:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

peterqd wrote:
I don't think I have any bamboo or any blu-tak come to that. My chopsticks are white plastic, like ivory, and they're too thin anyway. So
I'm going to shape a piece of beech hardwood and use some thick waxy putty stuff that was left over when they renewed our overhead
supply cable.


Sounds like it may do the job. Please let us know.

Blu-tak absorbs the impact and holds the lens in place as you do it. It has a two-fold purpose. It only costs a pound or so.


PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 10:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

philslizzy wrote:
peterqd wrote:
I'm going to shape a piece of beech hardwood and use some thick waxy putty stuff that was left
over when they renewed our overhead supply cable.


Sounds like it may do the job. Please let us know.

Blu-tak absorbs the impact and holds the lens in place as you do it. It has a two-fold purpose. It only costs a pound or so.

Haha, I'm not being mean, honest! Smile This putty stuff is much stiffer than Blu-Tak but it becomes pliable when you warm it. I was
thinking it might offer better resistance to the hammering and I won't need to reshape it so often.

I'll try it later and let you know.


PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 10:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Peter.
Please ckeck your private messages. Wink


PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 11:18 am    Post subject: Re: Easy filter ring dent removal TTP with photos. Reply with quote

philslizzy wrote:


Tools.

Lump of Blu-Tak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-Tack

About 10cm of 5-8mm dowel. I prefer bamboo to wood because it's harder and doesn't split or fray.
small hammer.



Great idea!!

Forum members in the USA might consider using this in place of the Blu-Tak

Click here to see on Ebay

This can be bought regardless where in the USA you live, but it is of course especially appropriate for folks living in Oregon. Wink Laughing


PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 11:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm sure that's the same stuff.

I've seen lenses that have been 'repaired' with the pliers and other contraptions that are available, and mostly they are wrecked. I would use the method of a radiused stick and either Blu Tack or a former every time. It might seem unlikely, but there is more control over the repair operation by this method.


PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 3:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lloydy,dumb question but what is a "radiused former"?


PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 1:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

To make the former I mark around the good part of the filter ring I want to repair on to some 10mm thick plastic sheet, but wood will do the same job. Then I carefully cut the crescent out and file / sand it smooth and to shape. Then with a shaped punch I carefully tap the dent out of the ring as it lays in the former.



It's a crude drawing, but I'm sure you get the idea.


PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 2:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

peterqd wrote:
I'll try it later and let you know.


It worked fine! I shaped a piece of 10mm beech dowel and used the wax, which was brilliant, but very sticky. I managed to knock out
the ding sufficiently to remove the engraved ring, thanks to a LOT of effort and a little lubricant. There was just one screw holding the
filter ring on, which had very nearly worked loose. The other two screws are missing but I can replace those. The filter thread is better
but still not right - I can only screw the engraved ring back in a few turns. Needs a bit more hammering yet.


PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 8:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks David I thought as much but wasn't prepared to back myself. Very Happy


PostPosted: Mon Oct 23, 2017 8:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've used this "stick and blu-tak" method on three lenses now. The first, a Pentax-M 28mm., (bought for £1 with camera attached!), took a few taps 'till I got the feel for it, then a half-decent whack sorted it! The second, a Helios 44-2, is made of much sterner stuff. I think I've made a difference, but it's still too buckled to fit a filter and I'm worried about the aperture pre-set mechanism getting damaged in the process. This'll wait 'till I get braver (or make one of the expanding devices, or strip the lens). The third lens is my very recently acquired Lydith f/3.5 30mm. Again I was concerned about the aperture pre-set mechanism, but the front of the lens unscrewed easily, leaving just the damaged part to work on, then a few taps, now filters and lens hood fits fine.

So thank you sir for a wonderful solution to an annoying problem Smile


PostPosted: Sat Jun 23, 2018 12:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kypfer wrote:
... a Helios 44-2, is made of much sterner stuff. I think I've made a difference, but it's still too buckled to fit a filter and I'm worried about the aperture pre-set mechanism getting damaged in the process.


Further to this previous posting, careful examination of the filter thread on my Helios-44 revealed that the thread was deformed both laterally and longitudinally, so all the hammering in the world was never going to allow me to fit a filter.

However, a bit of lateral thinking (pun intended) came up with the following solution.

Most screw-in filters have both a male thread to fit into the lens and a female thread to receive further accessories, lens-hood etc.

Taking an old filter of correct dimension, I removed the glass and filed all the male thread off the filter, plus an extra little bit to clear the deformation on the lens. This "modified" filter was now a "push-fit" into the lens and a slight twist caused it to lock into place against the deformation. A smear of cyanoacrylate adhesive before finally re-fitting the modified filter ensured that it wouldn't fall out in use Wink

This newly-created female thread can be used much as the original would have been, the fact that it is a millimetre or two further forward is of no consequence on any modern cropped-sensor camera and probably of little concern on film or a full-frame digital camera.


PostPosted: Sat Aug 10, 2019 7:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

philslizzy wrote:
I did some of this type of work many years ago and we had a kind of soft linoleum matting which absorbed the hammer blows. I guess this was in the back of my mind when I thought of this idea.


I just wanted to say thanks, Phil, for posting this method.

I first tried it out a couple weeks ago, and (after a little practice) I've managed to fix dents in several lenses - well enough that they'll accept filters and hood again, at any rate.

I started with some regular wooden dowels I had on hand, but they proved to be prone to breaking in the middle, so I got some bamboo chopsticks and they work a lot better. If they fracture they crack on the end near the filter (with a little grinding you can keep using them) and they start out with a nice taper to the impact point.


PostPosted: Tue Aug 13, 2019 12:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

KEO wrote:
philslizzy wrote:
I did some of this type of work many years ago and we had a kind of soft linoleum matting which absorbed the hammer blows. I guess this was in the back of my mind when I thought of this idea.


I just wanted to say thanks, Phil, for posting this method.

I first tried it out a couple weeks ago, and (after a little practice) I've managed to fix dents in several lenses - well enough that they'll accept filters and hood again, at any rate.

I started with some regular wooden dowels I had on hand, but they proved to be prone to breaking in the middle, so I got some bamboo chopsticks and they work a lot better. If they fracture they crack on the end near the filter (with a little grinding you can keep using them) and they start out with a nice taper to the impact point.


Cheers KEO, glad to help. A pity the photos have gone. If I can find them I'll re-post


PostPosted: Wed Apr 14, 2021 9:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi all,

i am new here and would love to get those pictures that were in the original post of this topic. Is there any chance they could be reposted?

A friend of mine just dropped my beloved Yashica lynx 14 and now it has a bad one sided dent. ;(

Thanks in advance.