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My brass lens retaining ring fused after 20 years, had to drill it out in Tucson
Last week I had a 1978 Pentax 50mm come in where the retaining ring was stuck so bad from old dried grease and corrosion that even heat and a proper spanner wouldn't budge it. Ended up drilling two tiny holes opposite each other and using a lens wrench, which worked, but I scratched the inner barrel a bit. Has anyone else had luck with freezing the ring instead of heating it for these old brass ones?
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coleman.jamie2d ago
Freezing works but the problem is the aluminum barrel shrinks faster than the brass ring, so you can actually make it tighter depending on the fit. Better trick is to freeze just the ring with a dab of dry ice or a q-tip soaked in liquid nitrogen, keep the barrel at room temp. Old clockmakers did this with steel screws in brass plates for the same reason.
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