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An old timer in Detroit showed me how to fix a stuck shutter release
I was working on a Mamiya RB67 last month and the shutter release button was completely seized. A guy named Bill at the Detroit camera swap meet told me to stop using penetrating oil and just heat the barrel with a soldering iron for 30 seconds. It loosened right up and saved me from having to drill it out. Has anyone else tried heat on stuck mechanical parts instead of chemicals?
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viola_ward1mo ago
Wait, has nobody here thought about the difference between bimetallic expansion and just loosening gunk? I had a old Bronica where the shutter release was stuck not from corrosion but from a tiny misalignment in the barrel. Heating it actually expanded the outer brass sleeve just enough to let the inner steel part click back into place. Cooling it down afterwards locked it right again. So sometimes heat is actually fixing a physical binding issue, not just melting old oil.
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mila_brown101mo ago
My buddy had that same bimetallic expansion thing with his old Nikon! A quick blast from a hair dryer freed it right up.
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alice891mo ago
Heated a seized up focus ring on an old Pentax once. Same deal, soldering iron for like 45 seconds. Worked perfect, no chemical smell either.
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