Agfa Colorflex

[retina]

G'day All,

Here is the latest addition to my collection. I've just had an interesting day getting it all back up and running. The shutter blades were absolutely gummed up with oil and during the CLA process I found that a gear in the self-timer mechanism had lost a tooth. Anyway, that's what spare parts boxes are for, and now it is all working nicely.

Oh, and I only lost one spring in the process, and had to use something from the spare parts boxes for that too.

I find springs in particular tend to disappear during repairs. I usually later recover two out of every three 'lost' springs during the hunt for something else...

Regards, Chris

[daveh]

Chris,

I can imagine your boxes. Forty years ago I knew a camera repair man in Cardiff. He had drawers and drawers full of all sorts of spares - particularly those infamous springs. It's that sort of collection that just gets dumped when a tidy-up is performed, especially by someone else.

Dave.

[retina]

G'day Dave,

Yes, I've built up a good selection of parts over the years. A lot pillaged from dead cameras that beyond saving, and many more gained from purchasing the stock from the estates of a camera repairmen. I was fortunate enough to secure a large trove of Retina parts from the estate of a repairer in the UK. I had to get up at 4am to get my final bid in as I recall.

I did ask about any special camera repair tools that might have been with all those parts, but one of the sons had declared them too specialised to be of any use, and had promptly dumped the lot!

When parts were to be had from the manufacturer, it was common for them to be sold in handy quantities, rather than as singles, perhaps 10 screws, or 5 springs. Consequently, repairers often had a good variety of odd parts on hand.

Regards, Chris

[daveh]

"I did ask about any special camera repair tools that might have been with all those parts, but one of the sons had declared them too specialised to be of any use, and had promptly dumped the lot!"

Chris, don't you just love people like that!

There used to be an excellent shop in Cardiff which sold tools for watchmakers and instrument repairers etc. They had the real high quality "Swiss made" stuff. I used to drool in the window with "I'll buy some of them in a year or two". Of course I never did. As ever shops like that close down and no one else seems to sell the pukka stuff. (There was also a shop, just down the road from my flat in Cardiff, which had all the proper rexine, leather, carpet, double-duck and other such materials for automobiles: all the fittings too. I need that shop now, as I contemplate the rebuild on my MGTD. They don't have shops like that now, they just seem to have sellers who charge top dollar for the products.)

On a different tack, NZ did somewhat better in its last test series than England managed. Still, you have SA next up which should be a bit more of a test for you. I hoping that you do well as SA can take the No. 1 off England if they win that series with something to spare.

Dave.

[jayd]

Beautiful !
I would like to get my hands on one of the Agfaflexs they just look so nice. With changeable finders and lens on some models.
I can attest to Chris having Springs and knowing where they go: Chris has saved me more than once, really showed he is the Retina master when he resurrected my IIc I sent him which had set in baggies for over a year after I lost a spring from the compur shutter. Note: don't take apart advanced compur shutters unless you have extra parts and experience! send them to Chris
Springs seem the bane of my existence ! when I lose them they never seem to return, I'm thinking of making a magnetic chamber to work in so springs stick to the walls, well maybe a less cluttered work area would be a good start. LOL

Jay