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Explore the world of vintage lenses through repair notes, real test shots, and detailed archive threads packed with images.

Explore the world of vintage lenses through repair notes, real test shots, and detailed archive threads packed with images.
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very stubborn helicoid
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I've got this 1.4 DX yashinon very cheap because the lens was totally locked , I could open it all the way to the helicoid but this one it won't move at all. I've soaked it in acetone to see if it will release hopefully, but I do see lots of residue releasing, could it be some kind of glue? Just checked it out and it is some kind of very very sticky glue

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Well, if it releases and you can remove it all I think there's no need to worry about what it was.

Glue is unlikely but maybe a poor quality grease of which some of the components have polymerised/cross-linked due to long exposure to oxygen? Maybe one of our resident chemists can jump in here? (I am not a chemist but I have seen base oils separated out of helicoid grease turn into a sort of thin "plastic" film in old ROKKOR lenses, a film that even acetone has trouble removing)

EDIT: another (albeit unlikely) possibility is that the original grease had lithium stearate as a thickener (very common), and someone decided to "refresh" the grease by adding some polyurea-thickener-based grease. In general those two don't like each other very much and tend to harden when mixed, although there are exceptions.


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RokkorDoctor wrote:
Well, if it releases and you can remove it all I think there's no need to worry about what it was.

Glue is unlikely but maybe a poor quality grease of which some of the components have polymerised/cross-linked due to long exposure to oxygen? Maybe one of our resident chemists can jump in here? (I am not a chemist but I have seen base oils separated out of helicoid grease turn into a sort of thin "plastic" film in old ROKKOR lenses, a film that even acetone has trouble removing)

EDIT: another (albeit unlikely) possibility is that the original grease had lithium stearate as a thickener (very common), and someone decided to "refresh" the grease by adding some polyurea-thickener-based grease. In general those two don't like each other very much and tend to harden when mixed, although there are exceptions.


unfortunately it didn´t work , so i´m planning to soak it in gasoline to see the result , another option would be to heat it, but i´m not sure about it regardin alluminum and brass


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Boil it, the temperature won't hurt either metal and the different coefficient of thermal expansion at the same temperature should dislodge it.


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well , this very stubborn helicoid won´t realese after resting inside of gasoline, neither after heating it up , so ...i have to come out with new ideas


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Tap tap tap...to free the jammed metal surfaces. slap it onto a hard flat surface. try sharp taps around the perimeter. use a tool to tap in direction of thread separation. drill some holes for more grip. But before all that have you tried using two strap wrenches?


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I guess , I've used all the options available with no result, unfortunately.


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I would try an ultrasonic cleaner.


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kiddo wrote:
I guess , I've used all the options available with no result, unfortunately.

Both the solvents you've tried are organics that typically work well dissolving organic substances, but they won't be effective on inorganic materials.

So try leaving it in warm water for a while. This will dissolve many inorganics (such as salt). If you have access to an ultrasonics bath that will improve the cleaning from any solvent, but most people don't have one handy...

I take it there is no visual indication on a dent or other such deformation, if there is you're on a hiding to nothing.


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DConvert wrote:
kiddo wrote:
I guess , I've used all the options available with no result, unfortunately.

Both the solvents you've tried are organics that typically work well dissolving organic substances, but they won't be effective on inorganic materials.

So try leaving it in warm water for a while. This will dissolve many inorganics (such as salt). If you have access to an ultrasonics bath that will improve the cleaning from any solvent, but most people don't have one handy...

I take it there is no visual indication on a dent or other such deformation, if there is you're on a hiding to nothing.


thanks, i´ve tried that option with hot water with no luck neither


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"on a hiding to nothing" I had to llok that up! LOL

https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/on-a-hiding-to-nothing.html
Quote:
To be faced with a situation which is pointless, as a successful outcome is impossible. This is usually expressed in terms of a sporting contest in which one of two outcomes is foreseen, either a hiding or nothing. The ‘to’ in the phrase indicates alternative outcomes, as in terms like ‘6 to 1‘ or ‘dollars to doughnuts‘.

The phrase has two applications. One scenario would be that of a team which is expected to win easily but has the betting odds so strongly in its favour that no kudos or reward, that is, ‘nothing’ , would be gained from victory. The other is that of a weak contestant who is expected to be beaten, that is, get ‘a hiding‘.


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no dents, neither deformation , so ´´hiding to nothing´´ still applying lol


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I spent many years as a Maintainence Fitter in the sewage treatment industry and seized pipe threads were an everyday problem. One of the tricks I used was to use a big heavy duty clamp and move it around the pipe joint and use enough pressure to distort the pipe joint slightly oval, and keep moving the clamp radially around the joint. The trick is to not permanently distort the pipe joint, just ovalize it enough that it springs back to round.
I would try a small woodworkers F clamp with plastic covered jaw faces, and just 'massage' the helicoid oval and let it spring back, and keep rotating it.

Start VERY LIGHTLY, it should move the two parts. I was using a bloody big clamp and forcing it tight with a length of pipe on the handle, it was brutal - but it worked in places I couldn't use a welding torch or a a BFH ( Big f*****g Hammer ) to achieve the same results. The method works, it's introducing movement into the seized thread.


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Vercingetorix wrote:
I would try an ultrasonic cleaner.


Bumping an old thread, but want to say that this is the way.

I'd suggest Isopropyl alcohol solution (70%) with a bit of dish soap in it. Especially effective if your cleaner warms your medium. To avoid risk of fire, put the solvent mixture in a separate jar that is immersed in water in the ultrasonic cleaner.

This is very effective at removing both the oils and the the non-lipid fractions of lens grease from deep within the helical crevices