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Thread: Time for annual maintenence!

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    San Joaquin Valley, California
    Posts
    9,599

    Time for annual maintenence!

    When I first got my 'dorff v-8 I read the maintenence article on the Deardorff Historical website and around my birthday every year I indulge my old gal with a "spa day."
    After a over all good cleaning the gears get a wee bit of Lubriplate (the thick stuff) and wood to wood bearing surfaces and leather handle get a wipe of beeswax and the rest of the shell a coat of Butchers wax. The bright metal work gets wiped down and her bellows are made of a rain coat material so they just get wiped down with a damp cloth and allowed to air dry.
    I like to keep most of my camera toiletries in a cigar box---a few old, well washed diapers, that tube of thick lubriplate, some beeswax candle stubs from a hospital chapel.
    Anyway, thats going to be my "camera work" for this week. What annual maintenence do you give your camera? I'm open to any thoughts or suggestions as I figure my old gal deserves the best!
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  2. #2
    Daniel Stone's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Los Angeles area
    Posts
    2,157

    Re: Time for annual maintenence!

    Well, my 8x10 camera hasn't been with me for a year now(Calumet C-1), almost 9mo though . I give it a wipe down with a dust "grabber" cloth I picked up at the 99c store. Works nice to keep dust and particulate from building up on the bellows, and every few outings or so, I vacuum out the bellows with the shop vac and a DIY fine brush tip. So far so good. I also vacuum out my holders when doing the bellows, and it has really aided in helping to keep fine dust particulate from accumulating.

    But a small tube of "white grease" on the metal/metal contact surfaces helps keep things moving smoothly too

    -Dan

  3. #3
    MIke Sherck's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Location
    Elkhart, IN
    Posts
    1,312

    Re: Time for annual maintenence!

    Disassemble and wipe off any dirt, being especially careful to get any grit or sand out of the focusing tracks. Then I polish up the wood with a coat of Renaissance Wax and put it back together. Looks nice, takes an hour or two per camera (4x5 Zone VI and 8x10 B&J Grover monorail.)

    Mike
    Politically, aerodynamically, and fashionably incorrect.

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