Refurbished Rittreck View 5x7 Field Camera

[Paul Kinzer]

You may be able to repair the threads with JB Weld or similar epoxy. A helicoil may be a better option if, as Dan says, you can use it.

Could you explain that, or maybe give me a link to one. I have heard of this, but don't have the skills. Wouldn't using JB Weld (which I have right here) mean that the bolt would essentially be permanently glued in place?

I'm heading to the hardware store as soon as I post this. I'll ask about this there. Thanks!

[Paul Kinzer]

Well, I've been to a few stores, to look over whatever might work for my purposes, and nothing will! The bolt I have apparently has 3mm threads, but they are coarser than the 0.5 threads which are the only 3mm bolts available now; not just there, but online, too. My hope was to simply get a longer bolt that would thread into the hole that's already there. That seems to be right out.

I think I figured out what el french meant about repairing the threads: put JB weld into the hole and re-tap it. But with a bolt that has odd, unavailable threads, that won't be possible.

My choices now seem to be either

1. See if one of my machinist acquaintances can fabricate something for me, or

2. Put JB weld into the hole, and then put everything back together and clamp it down till the JB weld sets. I'd need to be careful to not have the JB Weld get onto the parts that must be free to move. And, of course, the 'fix' would be permanent.

Any thoughts?

Here's a photo, showing just what needs to go where. Match the colors to figure it out, if you can. It's a bunch of stuff that needs to go together just so, and there are two different springs -- one quite aggressive -- that will pull and push against whatever I do.





Here's another, showing the bolt, it's dimensions, and what might be done to make the replacement more robust against the pressure of the springs:

[Paul Kinzer]

Well, as often happens, I ask some questions, and then come up with my own answers. I ended up ordering some items form McMaster-Carr. It would be nice to be able to just go to a store and pick one of each thing that I need instead of ordering 10, but that's the way it goes!

I'm getting a 'Hex Drive Flanged Rounded Head Screw', 3/8-inch long, 6x32 (I had to get 10 of these). I'm also getting a 'Stainless Steel Unthreaded Spacer 1/4" OD, 1/16" Length, for Number 6 Screw Size'. These will be close to what the old bolt is in size. (While I was at it, I also ordered some static-free zip-lock bags to store my 5x7 backs in. Might as well save on shipping by getting it all at once.)

I'll have to drill the hole out in the cam (the hole is shown circled in red in the last post) because the current hole is only 0.225 inches in diameter. I'll wait for the stuff to arrive first; maybe the diameter of the spacer will be off.

I'll also need to re-tap the the hole circled in blue above, to accept 6x32 threads, but that's good because it's the whole cause of the problem.

I may also have to grind away part of the top of one of the 'Hex Drive Flanged Rounded Head Screws', since it will need to slide under the cross bar of the camera rail guide. But I'm getting 10 of them, so I'll have lots to make mistakes on.

For anyone reading this, thanks for bearing with me as I post my process. I should probably wait until I'm done, and then just report what I did,once I do it!

[B.S.Kumar]

Paul, if this doesn't work, let me know. I need to check, but I may be able to get you the bottom part with the spring and the black levers, or even the entire front standard.

Kumar

[Paul Kinzer]

Cool, Kumar! That would be great. But the stuff is on it's way, so I'll let you know.

Thanks!

Paul

[el french]

You need to use a release agent on the male screw threads. You may or may not need to tap the threads after the JB Weld has cured. There are also products made specifically to rebuild threads which also may be better than JB Weld.

[Paul Kinzer]

Thanks, el french! That makes sense. But I'm going to wait for the parts I ordered. I won't re-drill and re-tap the hole in the bottom of the front standard until I can look everything over with the new parts in front of me. But if all looks doable, my fix will actually make the whole thing stronger, with a slightly larger bolt being screwed further into the frame.

[Paul Kinzer]

Okay, the parts arrived from McMaster-Carr, and they seem to do the job. I tried several different arrangements, using lots of different spacings of various washers, but no matter what I do, pulling on the lever loosens the screw each time, even after lubricating things with dry graphite. It's so little that I would need to move the standard many times before it would be a noticeable problem, so I'm just going to live with it. I figure it's happening because I'm not using the exact parts the camera came with, and things are rubbing together a bit. I'll just make sure to keep the proper Allen key with me; tightening it up for long periods of use takes about five seconds.



Above is an 'exploded' view of the order things had to go in. The brass spacer/bearing fits into the slot shown by the red arrow. The slot has gotten a bit rough in spots over the years, which might be one more reason things loosen up. I also had to drill out the hole marked by the blue circle. It was a hair smaller than the 1/4-inch I needed for my new spacer.





Here it is, put back together and resting on my knee.






And here is the camera, re-assembled. I had to use a different, thinner washer than the one shown on the bolt at the right in that first image. It was too thick to let the bolt assembly pass under the bar on the rail bed.

Everything works as it should now!

[Jools89]

Paul, congratulations and thanks! I bookmarked this one.
I recently picked up a Rittreck View myself. Mechanically it seems to handle well but I have decided that no amount of patching will save the bellows. So a replacement is in order to make it come alive.
I thought of making a bellows myself but I've never made one, and replicating the thickness of the paper bellows so the camera can close properly seems either difficult or as costly as a replacement.
Anyways, your fotos/info of the bellows replacement have been extremely helpful and encouraging, as I know next to nothing about this camera and info seems hard to find.
Happy shooting, Julio.

[Paul Kinzer]

Paul, congratulations and thanks! I bookmarked this one.
I recently picked up a Rittreck View myself. Mechanically it seems to handle well but I have decided that no amount of patching will save the bellows. So a replacement is in order to make it come alive.
I thought of making a bellows myself but I've never made one, and replicating the thickness of the paper bellows so the camera can close properly seems either difficult or as costly as a replacement.
Anyways, your fotos/info of the bellows replacement have been extremely helpful and encouraging, as I know next to nothing about this camera and info seems hard to find.
Happy shooting, Julio.

Hi Julio,

I'm really glad that my specific comments are of help to someone. It makes it seem much more worthwhile! Good luck with your Rittreck.