Stupid Question - Removing Lens

[ic-racer]

Heat can be your friend here. About 5 years ago I started heating stubborn lens rings with great success. I have an old platen style print dryer onto which I set the shutter and let it heat up for 15 to 30 min or so. It will be too hot to touch. I use Playtex-style gloves. They have some insulation to keep from getting burned and the cheaper knock offs are made of a very 'grippy' rubber. Grab and twist.

[lenser]

Leigh,

My earlier advice regarding the strap wrench should be limited to the now red ring at the rear of the assembly. I would NEVER apply a strap wrench to the shutter assembly because you would run the extreme risk of dislodging any or all of the projecting bits, like the cocking lever, the preview lever, the PC post and the aperture marker. Goodbye shutter in that case.

If you need to get a better grip on the shutter, far better to head for the grocery store to find one of those rubber pads that are sold to hold reluctant jar lids while you turn them. That won't provide torque so much as grip which is what you need on the front end.

You need a third hand, so as I mentioned before, clamp the lens board in a vise, use the rubber gripper on the shutter and the strap wrench (get one with the leather or rubberized strap, not metal) on the back red thing and then go to work. Once that rear ring is off, the actual retaining ring will be a piece of cake.

[Leigh]

My earlier advice regarding the strap wrench should be limited to the now red ring at the rear of the assembly. I would NEVER apply a strap wrench to the shutter assembly...

That's kinda obvious, I think.

- Leigh

[E. von Hoegh]

One way to get a good grip on that ring without distorting it (very important) is to superglue it to s flat bar of metal. Once the glue sets, use the bar as a wrench to unscrew it. You may have a butterknife that will work. Remove the ring from the "wrench" with acetone.

[lenser]

Agreed, it should be quite obvious, but another member a few posts back suggested using two, so I thought I'd better jump back in.

[E. von Hoegh]

Agreed, it should be quite obvious, but another member a few posts back suggested using two, so I thought I'd better jump back in.

I'd advise against the vice, too.

[Bill_1856]

Just out of curiosity, why do you want to remove it?

[Leigh]

Just out of curiosity, why do you want to remove it?

There's an unmounted lens visible in the first photo.

I'm assuming he wants to dismount this one so he can mount the other one on this lensboard.

Plaubel lensboards are not the most common in the world. It took me quite a while to build up a collection of them.

- Leigh

[dmb]

Just out of curiosity, why do you want to remove it?

Wanting to mount to a different camera.

Will try and track down a strap wrench methinks...

[Frank Petronio]

If you can't find a small strap wrench, sometimes a rubber stopper can fit into the spacer and give you the friction and leverage to twist. They sell these in those parts bins at Lowes, Home Depot, etc. try a couple sizes.