Broken Spring on a Toyo Back.

[false_Aesthetic]

Hey-0,

One of my students broke the spring on a Toyo CX 4x5 back (you know, that crappy light weight field camera).

I called Toyo and I *can* order the part but they mentioned that there's a pin that has to be removed from the back to insert the new spring. The pin is cemented in. Chris at Toyo suggested I buy a new back. But spending $480 on a new back sounds RIDICULOUS!!!! (I might be able to get one through the MAC on Campus ed discount but its probably only $100 off... which is still ridiculous).

Considering the student must pay for the replacement (not my policy) I'd like to try to get the pin out and save her some money.

Needle nose plyers haven't worked.
Heating the back up with a torch hasn't worked.
Driving the pin in to break the cement connection hasn't worked.
I now have it in a vise with PB Blaster sitting on it hoping that it might work something loose.

Any other suggestions--besides drilling it out? I really really hate to charge the kid this much $$.

T

[Old-N-Feeble]

That sucks. Maybe someone has a beat-up camera they can part out or sell cheap?

[E. von Hoegh]

Hey-0,

One of my students broke the spring on a Toyo CX 4x5 back (you know, that crappy light weight field camera).

I called Toyo and I *can* order the part but they mentioned that there's a pin that has to be removed from the back to insert the new spring. The pin is cemented in. Chris at Toyo suggested I buy a new back. But spending $480 on a new back sounds RIDICULOUS!!!! (I might be able to get one through the MAC on Campus ed discount but its probably only $100 off... which is still ridiculous).

Considering the student must pay for the replacement (not my policy) I'd like to try to get the pin out and save her some money.

Needle nose plyers haven't worked.
Heating the back up with a torch hasn't worked.
Driving the pin in to break the cement connection hasn't worked.
I now have it in a vise with PB Blaster sitting on it hoping that it might work something loose.

Any other suggestions--besides drilling it out? I really really hate to charge the kid this much $$.

T

Can you post a good closeup of the pin? That whole camera shouldn't cost $480.

[Brian C. Miller]

Is the pin pressed in on a blind hole? I.e., there's nowhere for the pin to go if you could punch it out.

Your best bet may be to compress the springs, and then drill the pin out. Is there a machine shop on your campus? This should be easy for the machining classes.

[Jon Shiu]

Check Keh.com for a replacement camera.

Jon

[sully75]

Toyo parts are so expensive it makes buying them for repairs prohibitive.

[false_Aesthetic]

Eh,

I ponied up and bought a new one. We don't have a machine shop on campus I could send this to. Used to be that we could "call in a favor" from the facilities dudes but the school's policy has changed so much that it just won't happen... or I'll have to pay their hourly rate which is . . . stupid.

I ended up checking out budget and deciding to split the cost of a new back with the girl. In 3 years this is the first time I haven't been able to repair something myself. Seriously. I even tore down our Colex when I first got there.

FWIW, that camera is a PIECE OF CRAP. If I could I would've just broken it myself and bought a used Wista from KEH . . . but I'm apparently not allowed to buy used gear of any grade. You know, because charging families $50k a year is just too little and god forbid I reduce our budget a little bit.

[Old-N-Feeble]

That's pretty darned nice of you to help your student with the cost of the repair. Not many folks would do that.

[IanG]

There's some complete Toyo revolving Graflok backs on Ebay at the moment (in the US) one's not to high a price $125, not sure if these fit the 45 CX

Ian

[false_Aesthetic]

That's pretty darned nice of you to help your student with the cost of the repair. Not many folks would do that.

It goes like this: Students at this school are, for the most part, rich. Many (not all but a majority) come from the wealthier parts of OC, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, etc. We charge them $50k a year for an education that is now the equiv of a HS diploma 15 years ago. Whether or not they *can* afford it, it's not my job to nickel and dime them. I seem to be the only person in this dept that tries to spend less every year. When I started our lab fees were a ridiculous $150/semester. Now they're down to $80 for intro students and $100 for advanced. Whether their parents are paying or whether they'll be, contributing to their debt seems immoral.

I've been like this for a while (maybe its cause my extended family is still living in Bolivia on a few hundred a month) but after finding out that my GF can't go back to school (state school...even with Pell grants and stafford loans she's still about $10k short per year) it seems even more important to fight against the current trends in higher ed.