Agfa Billy Compur Manual Transmission
I have had much better results using heat rather than solvents to soften the old grease that was used on the focus threads in Germany in the 50s.Put the two stuck elements in the oven, then turn on the oven on the lowest heat setting. Wait a few minutes, then you can probably unscrew the pieces with your hands- without having to use any tools. A few minutes in boiling water would probably do it, too.I don't think such low heat and such a short time will affect the glass or the coatings. If it is a 3-element lens, then there's no lens element cement to worry about, either.Anybody know the melting point of 1950s-era lens element cement?
Agfa Billy Compur Manual Transmission Fluid
Or at what temperature a lens coating would be damaged? Most Agfa/Ansco folding cameras (and most of other brands, too) use simple triplet lenses without cemented elements.
The only lens with cemented elements used by Agfa on folders was the Solinar lens.This being said, you can use heat deliberately to free a frozen focus. Don't waste your time using solvents - a hot air gun will free the focus in minutes. Once you got it apart clean the threads, pry out each and every particle of old grease with wooden toothpicks, and regrease with non-gumming grease such as silicone grease. Hi, Matis I'm a bit confused here about what exactly is stuck on your Billy Compur, mate. The usual problem with AGFAs is that the focussing movement is either stuck solid or very stiff, which can be unstuck via the methods you've mentioned.However, the Billy Compur came with various lenses, not only the f4.5 3-element Apotar (like on mine) but also including the TOR 4-element Solinar - which as Winfried has said, was the only one with a cemented pair up front in typical Tessar-clone style. So, if your lens has such a Solinar lens, then you may be trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.If this is so, then I'd give the focussing movement some serious squirting with a quickly-evaporating solvent like CRC Electronic Aerosol cleaner, before trying out any Sunday roast cooking.
I've found that this magic spray clears all known AGFA greengreasitis stuck focussing problems known to Mankind - other than the weird helix system used on late 20s Standards, which defy every method other than total disassembly. It's true that some solvents might free up your focus enough to use the camera. And then dissasembly might not be necessary. That may or may not make the focusing action smooth enough for you, and it can be hard to keep the solvent only where you want it.The heat method is good if you are intendng to take the brass pieces holding the lens glass apart anyway, clean off the old grease and then put in new grease. Then of course, in order to ensure accurate focus (at least for three-element lenses), you would have to check the focus at the focal plane and set the ring with the distance markings. Hi, Matis OK, so it's probably the same model as mine, which was known in some countries as the 'Speedex-Compur'. Same camera, different name.
Agfa Billy Record
Here's a three page scan montage from my IB (dated July 1936) which is hopefully of some help regarding closing the beast. Regarding the stuck focussing, stay with the CRC Electronic Aerosol cleaner or lighter fluid until it frees up. Then you need to use some silicone-based lubricant, but VERY lightly, because otherwise it will just sieze up again overnight. Trust me, mate - you are not re-inventing any wheels here! This is a very common condition with old AGFAs, but thankfully one that is usually easy to fix.
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