Remove APO Nikkor front element

[AnselAdamsX]

Anyone know how to remove the front element of a 610mm APO Nikkor? I removed the rear two relatively easily. I don't see where a spanner would go on the front.

Thanks
Chris

[AnselAdamsX]

Anyone know how to remove the front element of a 610mm APO Nikkor? I removed the rear two relatively easily. I don't see where a spanner would go on the front.

Thanks
Chris

[Tracy Storer]

Apo Nikkors are usually difficult to free up, I believe they put thread-locker on the threads. Usually there is a decorative ring at the front that surrounds the actual cell mount, once you get that off, you can get a grip on the cell and barrel. More often than not I have to resort to clamping the front cell in the lathe chuck and gripping the barrel with a strap wrench......extreme measures.

[AnselAdamsX]

In the photo I removed the ring with lettering on it. Whats left looks like its inside the barrel. Not sure how you get that off.

[Tracy Storer]

Found this looking through old threads... some versions of the Apo NIkkors had a ring (like the one pictured above) that hold the glass cell in place... They didn't intend these lenses to ever be mounted in "between the lens" shutters, so they didn't adhere to the conventions of easily separable front and rear cells.
EDIT: To illustrate the two different types of construction of Apo-NIKKOR.
On the earlier one, with "straw yellow" coating, the entire front cell can be removed as a unit
On the later one, with blue/purple coating, the front bezel is unscrewed, and the front lens "cell" simply lifts out.

[EdSawyer]

Try a friction device, and sometimes a heat gun helps too.