What you really need is one drop of "Drop'l Do It".
This is truly great stuff. Apparently molybdenum in a highly volatile solvent. I learned about it from tthe Leica Users group and managed to get a small quantity a few years back. I have yet to find a diaphragm on which it does not work with one application.
Alec,
Another trick can be used here, but make sure the naptha vapors are gone first.
Try heating the barrell with a blow dryer set on high heat. The heat will soften any old gunked up lubricant, be it oil or grease. Then work the flange back and forth and see if it doesn't get a little easier. The barrell will end up being very warm (hot) to the touch, so use a rag to handle it.
A combintion of doing the lighter fluid trick after heating the barrell may just remove enough of the old junk in there that you'll not need to pay for a repair.
Let us know how it turns out.
DG
I have the same lens and 11x14 camera. Focusing a lens of this type is very difficult; I found it impossible without a recessed lens board. No matter how I tried, the edge of the bellows clipped the edges of the frame as I compressed them down. It is a hard lens to use on ULF, like any extreme wide angle lens will be.
Alec,
Most B&L barrels that old did not have threads on the aperture ring, they used a different arrangement. Just remove the front lens cell, pull off the front beauty ring straight forward, turn the aperture ring to full open and pull it straight forward. It needs to align with the stop screw for the beauty ring. If it's stiff, try the hair dryer to warm it up. Careful with the lighter fluid, once should be enough.
Good luck with it.
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