Question about field Camera Focusing Bed

[sidmac]

Today I had a problem with my nearly 30 year old Wista DX. I was at 14,000 feet on Mt. Evans in Colorado and it suddenly turned quite cold. In fact it started to snow. My Wista focusing rack suddenly just seemed to freeze up. The focusing rails on the bed are wood against wood and they have at times been stiff. Is there any way to lubricate these rails. I finally got it working and cleaned the rails but I'm afraid this problem might return. Does anyone have any experience or ideas about this.

[Gem Singer]

Not unusual for wood focusing rails to shrink or swell under conditions of extreme temperature and/or humidity.

Rubbing the dry rails (at room temp.) with a good grade of furniture polish will help solve the problem.

I'm sure others will chime in with the name of their favorite brand of wood preservative.

[Archphoto]

I never had this problem before as a repairman, but one would think of a wood oil first.

Some caution: do not let the oil come into the bearing of the focussing-rod !
Put a drop of fine machine oil (used for sewing machines i.e.) at the bearing first !

Any non-petroleum, non-synthetical oil contains resin that hardens over time.

I have some hard wood over here and do a test in the comming day's with a synthetical grease and see how that workes out.

Is your Wista the red one ?

Peter

[sidmac]

I have the brown cherry wood model.

[Archphoto]

I just asked because the synthetic grease I normaly use for gear is reddish.....
This grease is aircraft-rated, Mil spec's and so on.
Let me test and get back to you.

Peter

[briand]

Hi there;
you could try some bees wax,its was used quite a bit by carpenters and cabnit makers in the old days,should be a good lubricant,
hope this helps

[Archphoto]

Without seeing the camera:

Clean the surfaces with a damp micro-fiber cloth.
I am not shure whether the wood of the camera is oiled or has a clear coat.
It has been over 25 years that I had a wooden Wista in my hands.

In any case you can use a good wood oil to keep the moisture out of the wood and to prevent it shrinking and expanding too much with changing humidity.
Please do check the alignment of the focussing mechanism.

If this does not help I would use some lithium based synthetic grease, like Mobilgrease 28, onto the sliding surfaces.
A very light coat will do.

Peter

[Bob Salomon]

Before you go to far you might want to call Wista service for the USA and ask them what they would use. That way you would not end up using something that might make the problem worse.

252 652 4401 is their phone number.

[sidmac]

Funny thing. The next day after wipeing down the rails in a nice dry motel room the problem went away. We went back up the mountain to about 12,000 feet and I had no trouble at all. I'm going to clean the rails more now that I'm home with a microfiber cloth and see if things work out . Thanks to all who provided input on the subject. It's nice to have others out there to consult with. The only advise I have for you in return is that if you want to keep photographic pease around the house get your wife a Chamonix.