I received a used Tachihara from B&H and it is really hard to turn the focusing knob. The further the extension, the hard it gets to turn. After trying it out for a while, the skin on my thumb is tingling due to the force required. I mounted the camera on a tripod to simulate normal usage and the focusing seems too heavy to be normal.
The condition is okay otherwise. The metal is all silver colored except the plates that hold together the rear square which are brass colored. The washers are white nylon. The focus knob has two white washers on it. These washers appear to get compressed more and more as the front standard is extended. Some of the wood has wear and one of the metal plates has clearly taken a knock (bent, appears not to be the cause of the binding though). The knob on the left side (opposite the focusing knob) is loose (supposed to be, mentioning it to point out I understand that needs to be loose while focusing). The wood slides appear to have been waxed but the wax buildup is minimal.
Is this normal? Besides this problem, it does seem solid to me when everything is tightened down. If the focusing wasn't so heavy, I'd be happy to keep it. I think it's going back though. The size is wonderful compared to the Calumet/Cambo 4x5 monorail I've been using (45NX I think)
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