Can someone offer a repair for what must be a common problem in old wooden cameras? I have numerous screws that hold the hardware on my 8X10 that will no longer tighten, but just spin. Is there a type of filler or glue that should be used to restore the hole and allow the screw to cut new threads?
Re: Repair Stripped screw holes
Brings back the ghost of Ron Wisner. He said to put a toothpick in the hole and then cut it off flush. Also there is a product, Behlen Master Swel Lock, that you can put a drop in the hole and the screw fits pretty tight if it is just a name plate or similar no load part. The tooth pick works well. Don't use super glue as there is no coming back from it if you mess up.
My bottle of Swel Lock says Behlen is in Hudson, NC,28638
I don't know about cameras, but around the house, the method to restore screw holes in wood is to dip a toothpick (or other narrow stick of quality wood) in glue and insert it into the hole. After it's dry, trim it off, and the screw has more material to grip.
Wooden toothpicks and wooden matches are the traditional farmer's method of screw hole repair. A more sophisticated method is use hardwood dowels (and glue), drilling out the hole, if necessary. A good hardware store should have them down to 1/8".
Charley
Hello from France
It depends whether the camera is of any historical value, or if you simply wish the camera to continue its faithful operation, regardless of "authenticity"
If this approach seems suitable, as mentioned in the previous post, there exist threaded metal inserts that you can glue inside the wood with epoxy glue, and you''l screw regular screws for metal inside the insert. This is of course a non-reversible repair.
The limits of this technique, besides some aesthetic issues, is of course the availability of enough wood in depth and width around the damage original threaded hole.
Another approch, closer in spirit to what cabinet-makers do in terms of reversible repair for old furniture.
I remember when I was 11, I learned to play the bassoon and the instrument was lent to me by the local music school. The instrument was an old one and suffered from the same problem as mentioned here ; all musicians playing wooden wind instruments used to re-glue their faulty screws with a kind of natural resin : shellac (the French for it is : gomme-laque)
You put some tiny bits of shellac inside the hole, then heat the screw with the flame of a lighter, and screw-in. Shellac will melt under heat, and when cold will properly glue you screw in place.
And the repair is reversible, tou can re-heat, and I think that shellac can be dissolved in alcohol or aceton. If you simply use epoxy glue, the repair could be non-reversible. But epoxy is much stronger than shellac ...
Fred Picker continually pointed out that "stripped wood screws" were a problem with Deardorf and Wisner cameras.
He didn't use wood screws in the manufacture of his Zone VI wooden cameras. Instead, he used fasteners that went all the way through the wood (as does Canham).
When I formerly owned two Wisner Tech Fields, I ended up using most of an entire box of toothpicks refastening those little brass wood screws that no longer tightened down in the soft mahogany wood.
Well, looks like wood toothpicks it is. I may dip them in wood glue as jp498 suggests. Thanks folks.
Yes, there is a simple way, used by models builders, how to detach parts glued with super glue. Freeze the parts in a freezer for several hours and the glue will become brittle like ice.Originally Posted by Herb Cunningham
I agree with the dowl being the best method with a good wood glue and the tighter the dowl is in the hole the better.
The toothpick method works very well. Gorilla glue expands as it cures so the the hole, toothpick all become as one. You may even need to drill a new pilot hole but the combination of toothpick and gorilla glue will be a solid fix. You need to wet one surface of the wood with water to start the curing of the glue.
John
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