Need a bit of help, I am looking for a repair shop that can repair lens element separation, I have a 135mm f3.5 Schneider Xenotar large format lens that need to be re-cemented.
I am thinking of doing this repair myself so any repair tips would be most appreciated and of course repair shop referals.
Here is a link to "Focal Point".
http://www.focalpointlens.com/fp_intro.html
Xylene (Xylol) will apparently dissolve the balsam usually used to cement the lenses together, so this should remove the traces of the old cement allowing you to redo it. Good luck!!!
This is an older lens with 4 elements and just one balsam layer - perhaps with non high tech mounting and collimation?
Should be OK for the methods described in the balsam threads.
If you don't have any experience with this, it would be best to practice on some "junk" lenses. It's too easy to turn a good lens with a separation issue into a trashed lens. Recementing isn't very difficult, just requires some experience and familiarity.Originally Posted by alpenhause
You could pick up one or two old RR lenses, if you are lucky, two lenses will give you four cells to practice on. You could wind up with two perfectly good RRs to resell, as well as the requisite experience to recement your own lenses. (smiling smiley)
One man's Mede is another man's Persian.
Agreed. The learning curve falls quickly, though! I can do a balsam job now in between preparing vegetables in the kitchen. The only really danger events are removing from the cells and handling.
Often the hardest part of cementing is getting the elements out of the barrel. This shouldn't be too hard with a modern lens like the Xenotar, but many earlier lenses had their elements burnished in, and bending back that strip of brass can be difficult.
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