Sinar Norma CLA, Europe?

[Daniel Unkefer]

[QUOTE=Bobab;1559384]Attachment 205388

I notice that the very left edge of the rod looks "greyish" dark. It should be clean and shiny like the rest of the rod. It looks like it needs a deep cleaning with contact cleaner and if need be, acetone. Have you assembled the things you need to do a proper cleaning as above ^^? It is not just a matter of squirting some lube on this thing, the old sticky grey stuff needs to be removed, and inside the riser hole too! Then just a super light coating of moly on the two listed points.

I suspect that somebody long ago squirted the wrong kind of lube there, and it has now gummed up the action of the tilt rod/knob. If it is not turning smoothly it must be particularly filthy at these points. Assuming it does not have mechanical damage.

[Daniel Unkefer]

Washer on Norma Tilt Rod by Nokton48, on Flickr

Also each rod should have a small fibre or plastic "washer" as you see above on my Norma. Do you have these washers? They will need to cleaned and lubed as well.

This is a Norma I just got and it has not been cleaned.

[Bobab]

Ok. I just went through a hole can of electrical parts cleaner and am feeling quite light headed. Outdoors too, but I was spraying the who assembly quite liberally and letting it drain off it. Pretty much everything came off quite easily with just the electrical part cleaner. There is some blackening, but I think that is just wear rather than dried grease. In fact there wasn't much gunk at all. Once I got the penetrating stuff on it and let it sit, it start moving and I slowly took it off. Brushed and wiped everything with the cleaner and it is all moving freely. Quite hard to believe actually.

There two washers per rod. I assume that is right. Cleaned them well as I could. Should have probably used some cotton buds to get into the corners.

Is it worth going any further than this and carrying out the additional steps, or are they significantly trickier than this?

Ps: thanks for your help.

[Daniel Unkefer]

Sounds good.

How are the other mechanisms as far as overall smoothness? If you are satisfied the tilt is now working smoothly and you are ok for now with the rest of it, maybe take a break? And move on to getting the camera up and running You can always continue on in the future..... Also everything should lock down very tightly. There are two washers per rod Yes.

As a minimum I would clean and lube the points shown in the instruction book. Taking the micro drive apart is a BIG job. Of course you will have to make that call.

Well Done!

[Bobab]

The micro drive is the focus bit? That is relatively smooth. It is a bit inconsistent in its smoothness, but perfectly usable I think. The rise and fall (is that what it is called?) Is not particularly smooth. I really have to force the front and back frames up and down the risers. Should I maybe use some silicon lube on the outer surface of the risers?

Other than that I think it is usable actually. Though I will only know once I start using it.

[Daniel Unkefer]

The micro drive is the focus part. A complicated mechanism which can be seriously messed up if you are not sure what you are doing.

Yes on the silicone spray, it will make the riser rods more slippery. Carefully examine the rods for impact damage. Sometimes they can be corrected by smoothing out. The silicone spray is also good for lubricating the basic camera rails, so the front and rear standards glide smoothly. Don't forget to clean and lube the threads on the rail clamp. That's super easy to do.

Get the camera up and running and decide later if you want to work on it further.

[Bobab]

Is it possible to buy minor parts for these Normas still. The previous owner of the Norma had for some reason bent the tab on the sliding clip the wrong way, and it effectively broke when I was playing around with it. It must have been holding on by a few atoms at best. Is it impossible to get a new tab? I guess it still functions - I would have to use that sliding clip on the bellows side, and just not move it very often. But it would be good to get a replacement if possible.

[Daniel Unkefer]

Usually I find it is cheaper to buy a partial camera than to buy single parts. Also you have more parts that can be interchanged.

Like this one....... Auction is over but this is the idea:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sinar-Norma...wAAOSwX39ek1W0

Sell off the rest of it after you have the parts you need.

[Bobab]

Usually I find it is cheaper to buy a partial camera than to buy single parts. Also you have more parts that can be interchanged.

Like this one....... Auction is over but this is the idea:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sinar-Norma...wAAOSwX39ek1W0

Sell off the rest of it after you have the parts you need.

Couldn't find a new standard at less than £100 so ended up using some epoxy to make the repair. Seems to have worked pretty well. I have now opened an cleaned the front and rear frames and greased the ball bearing and the two small black guides (sorry if I am using the wrong). And I have greased and reassembled the front and back standard.

One thing I am not sure about though is how I decide when to use grease and when to use the silicon lubricant. For example, between the surfaces that move each other when you use the pivot. Or the track/surfaces that move against each other when you use the precision focus, or the track for the left and right shit of the front and rear standard (sorry about terminology again), is grease the best choice or the silicon lube?

[Daniel Unkefer]

The best is the moly grease, that is what Phillip Morgan indicates to use, and it is similar to the original grey/black Norma grease that came with the camera. The silicone grease is good for making the circular base rails more slippery, and smoothly slide the standards back and forth on the rails. He also indicates to just use a light amount, so as not to over-grease. Just an "emulsion" thin coating of moly grease will do it.

Sounds like you are getting it done. How is the actions of the camera now? It should be quite smooth I imagine.

Congrats!