Srt Repair Tools, Glues, and Lubes

Friction Wrench - This tool is used to remove the film advance lever. This can be simply fabricated with a small piece of wooden dowel and a piece of thin grippy rubber. Cement the rubber grip to one end of the dowel. You use this tool by pressing down on top of the winding lever with the dowel and rotating it like a regular wrench. The friction between the dowel and rewind lever retaining nut should be enough to get it off. I put a hole in the middle of my wrench so that the shutter button would not be engaged by this tool. I'm looking for a rubber grip that is used in the kitchen to remove to tops from jars. I'm thinking that that may work better than this device does, but I haven't run across one, yet.  Specialized tools called flexi-clamps are also available from Micro-Tools.

Screwdrivers - I couldn't find a phillips screwdriver that fit the small phillips screws on this camera, so I filed down the head on a craftsman 000 phillips driver until it fit the screws well. This screw driver now fits the phillips heads on my SRTs so well that it has become a prized possession.  I understand that the Whia screwdrivers available from micro-tools (see links page) will fit well without filing.  If you are going to fool around with shutter speed adjustments, I highly recommend getting an assortment of small screwdrivers.

Spanner Wrench - I fabricated one from an old tweezers I had around. I bent the end to a 90 degree angle and filed the tip to a shape that matches the arrangement of the slots in the rewinding seat.  Surprisingly, this home made spanner wrench works almost as well as the purpose made one I have since bought.  You can also bend an appropriately sized paper clip into a U shape to get the self timer screw off.  Hold this paper clip close to the screw head with a pliers and you should be able to get the screw out, with little or no damage to the head.

Shutter Tester - See the separate web page to see my simple design.  Links to several other shutter testing devices can be found in the links page.

Variable Light Source - See the separate web page to see my simple design.

Contact Cement  - Use this glue to reattach the fake leather covering on modern cameras.  I don't bother to let the cement set up before reattaching and it may come apart easier, if you need to remove the covering in the future.  Some people have gone to using double sided tape for this appication.

Shellac  - Use this glue to reattach the real leather covering on olders cameras.  I have used the very thin shellac found in hardware stores, but I think that  gasket shellac found in some auto parts stores might work better (I haven't tried it yet).

Elmers White Glue  - I have used this on occassion as a form of screw lock - a little dab on the head of a screw should prevent it from coming loose.

Optical Cement  - I have used Duco Clear Expoxy for cementing CDS cells to SRT prisms in a pinch.   Other optical cements are available from Micro-Tools and Summers Optical.  See links page.

Fine Shutter Oil  - Use a fine oil like Nyoil for timing gears.  If you have plastic in your camera make sure the lube you use is plastic compatible.  Most  of the oils used on model railroads are also plastic compatible.

Grease  - I've been using some high end bicycle bearing grease that is no longer in production.  Make sure any lubricate you use is plastic compatible.