alternative retaining rings?

[tim atherton]

Has anyone got any good ideas for alternative sources of retaining rings for non standard lenses - i.e. things from the hardware store/mechanics shop or such?

I have an old Voigtlander brassie that I swapped with the Gillimeister. It fits reasonably neatly through the copal 3 hole in a lensboard, but obviously I need something (cheap) to hold it tight? (there also isn't a huge amount of thread...)

so, any ideas?

thanks

[Jack Flesher]

Hot-Melt glue... Not a good permanent solution, but does the trick if you are in a studio and/or just want to test a new lens

[Michael Graves]

Has anyone got any good ideas for alternative sources of retaining rings for non standard lenses - i.e. things from the hardware store/mechanics shop or such?

I have an old Voigtlander brassie that I swapped with the Gillimeister. It fits reasonably neatly through the copal 3 hole in a lensboard, but obviously I need something (cheap) to hold it tight? (there also isn't a huge amount of thread...)

so, any ideas?

thanks

Do you know the thread pitch and diameter? I have a couple of really old retaining rings that don't fit anything I own. Maybe one of them will work.

[Ralph Barker]

I've also read reports of people using Masonite or similarly quasi-soft materials as temporary or even quasi-permanent retaining rings. The trick, I suppose, is "drilling" the ring material to a size that the lens/shutter threads will cut their own corresponding threads in the ring material.

If doing that, I might add three or four dots of hot glue on the back side of the lens/retainer joint as an added precaution.

[Dave Brown]

I've got a lens that's been performing just fine for five years being held on by electrical tape and a hose clamp.

[Gene McCluney]

In a wood lens board, you can just drill the hole tight, and the threads from the back of the lens can "bite" into the wood a little, you just screw it into the lensboard. Or, if the hole is loose, you can line it with felt from the crafts store that has an adhesive backing to stick to the wood. This will give something for the teeth of the lensmount to "bite" into to hold the lens.

[Struan Gray]

Older brassies often have quite a pronounced flange in front of the screw thread. You can hold them against the board with three or more screws/bolts fitted with washers that press on the flange. Use rubber washers or o-rings if you're worried about marring the brass.

[Bob Salomon]

Just bring it to a machine shop along with the borad and have them thread the board for you.

[Don Hutton]

Just bring it to a machine shop along with the borad and have them thread the board for you.

Have you actually tried to find a machine shop in the US in past five years? I think Azo grade 3 is easier to find....

[tim atherton]

Have you actually tried to find a machine shop in the US in past five years? I think Azo grade 3 is easier to find....

hmmm - that's what I swapped the lens for (or maybe it was grade 2?)

and you're right about the machine shops - I hunted all over this city of 1 million a while back to get someone to drill a metal board no luck (plenty of "machine shops" listed - as long as you wanted parts for you oil or gas pipeline fabricated...). We actually still have an old fashioned used-camera store - floor to ceiling bits and pieces, and he still repairs stuff - but he had no idea who could do it anymore either

It's a metal board, with an existing copal 3 hole - which is already just a tad bigger than the lens thread already...

thanks all some good ideas

the hose clamp sound like a good idea for now... (and I just saw a store/warehouse in the industrial area this afternoon called "Edmonton Nut and Bolt" - so maybe I'll take a look there!)