Horseman repair needed

[Chuck P.]

I have a 4x5 Horseman LE and the front standard "swing" locking mechanism has apparently become stripped or maybe loosened internally, IDK, but I cannot tighten the front swing movement. Are there any owners of this camera that can tell me if it is a quesiton of something inside being loose or actually something broken?

Thanks in advance.
Chuck

[Ted Harris]

Chuck, you can replace the entire mechanism. Call Jim at Midwest and order the part. You are going to have to do some significant disassembly IIRC but it isn't difficult. Expect to pay a good bit for the part.

[Chuck P.]

Thanks Ted, I sent an email describing the situation to Jim at mpex. That part about "a good bit" makes me shiver, hopefully he'll get back with me soon.

Chuck

[Ted Harris]

Well, see how much it is. I know I paid $25 for a knob some 5 years ago and haven't needed any parts since. Jim usually has a couple of Horseman L frame cameras around and there is usually a good chance you can buy a standard or a "beater" camera with a good standard for the price of the new part.

[Peter De Smidt]

I've had Precision Camera Repair work on some of my large format cameras. They did an excellent job with quick turnaround. You might call them up and talk to them about the problem. They are in Illinois, I think. Happy New Year!

-Peter

[Chuck P.]

Well, see how much it is. I know I paid $25 for a knob some 5 years ago and haven't needed any parts since. Jim usually has a couple of Horseman L frame cameras around and there is usually a good chance you can buy a standard or a "beater" camera with a good standard for the price of the new part.

Ted,
I must have misunderstood from your post. I did not think that you were saying to replace the entire standard as I hope it doesn't come to that, but I see what you are saying now, sorry.

[Andy Eads]

Good news: normally this is just a matter of adjusting the locking mechanism. Unless something is terribly wrong, it should take about 5 minutes to fix. You will need a metric open ended wrench of the correct size (8mm as I recall). Just under the lever, you should see a nut which you can adjust to achieve proper locking. I try to adjust mine so it locks at about 80% of the lever's rotation. Good luck.

[Chuck P.]

Good news: normally this is just a matter of adjusting the locking mechanism. Unless something is terribly wrong, it should take about 5 minutes to fix. You will need a metric open ended wrench of the correct size (8mm as I recall). Just under the lever, you should see a nut which you can adjust to achieve proper locking. I try to adjust mine so it locks at about 80% of the lever's rotation. Good luck.

Andy,

Bingo. That was it. However, 8mm was too small. Not exactly sure which metric size it is because the box end gets just a bit fatter with each wrench till it won't even fit the gap. But, I did have skinnier 7/16 wrench that was not too fat to fit the gap to go around the nut, but no room to actually move it to tighten. So, i just used one side of the open end and pushed to get it too tighten, and that worked.

I can see the nut want to loosen each time I release the tension on the lever. Needles to say, that wrench is now in the backpack.

Thanks
Chuck

[Andy Eads]

I'm glad it worked for you. Definitely cheaper than the alternatives!!

[Preston]

Chuck,

You might want to look around for a thin-walled 1/4 inch drive socket that will fit the nut and a small socket wrench and then carry them along with you. A socket will have less potential to round the facets on the nut than will an open-end wrench.

-PB