Screw for rewind knob on Contax IIa

[edhebert]

Hi-

 

I was wondering if anyone with a spare Contax IIa parts camera would

be willing to part with the RH thread screw used to secure the rewind

knob for a fair price. Or if anyone could direct me to a place where

I could acquire one that'd be great too. Somehow I managed to shear

off the screw head in the course of everyday use today (wasn't even

rewinding!), nearly losing the entire knob in the process. Luckily I

caught it before I lost the piece. Still, my camera's somewhat out

of commission until I can find this one little screw.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Ed Hebert

[vick_ko]

I have a parts IIIa, and the rewind knob is different than one a IIa.

 

Maybe try Henry Scherer here, for parts:

 

http://www.zeisscamera.com/

 

Good luck

Vick

[nicolas_douez]

Dear Ed,

 

I must tell you here that I have contacted Mr S. once to ask him if he hadn't a pair of spare screws for my Contax IIa accy. shoe for sale since mine had got damaged ones by a biting screwdriver head ; please feel free to contact me offline if you want to know what he answered (that could be useful for you because I assume you don't like to waste your time...). Finally I got two perfectly matched Swiss stainless steel screws from my local watchmaker, for the price of a handshake and a smile.

 

I've presently another IIa taken apart for service, and I just measured the rewind knob screw with my caliper, see the attached image, I hope it will be useful. As with the most "decorative" screws on Zeiss Ikon cameras it's made of chrome plated (soft & fragile) brass.

 

As the head is flat and quite large (regarding the threads size of course) I would say that this screw matches the DIN 921 standard (just Google that term, you will see what I mean) for flat heads screws.

 

I you read my webpage about my Contax IIIa restoration you will see that I was lucky to get a DIN 923 screw from the Bohrenfeldt company (www.bohrenfeldt.de) located in Jena, for the selftimer lever, after many weeks of deep researches...

 

Also, as far as I can see while looking at my Ikonta 523/16 (Stuttgart) camera, I would say that the screws which hold both the film advance button and the rewind button on this cheap 6x6 folding camera are cent per cent identical to the one you are looking for. This Ikonta model is fairly common and can be grabbed for a bargain on the auction site if it's fitted with a basic Novar lens. "Cannibalizing" a defective although cosmetically decent one would be a good idea IMO, unless you find the lone proper screw - BTW a pure stainless steel screw, one properly felt & machine polished, will shine as much (and even more) than the original chrome plated brass screw does, and the aesthetics of your camera won't be the least undervalued.

 

Hope this helps. Good luck. I'm sure you will find a good one.<div></div>

[nicolas_douez]

Addendum : if you can live with a nickel pan head slotted screw, you can get some from Micro-Tools for a bargain, just click <a href=http://www.micro-tools.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?LTPLanguage=EN&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=MS-2263&Category_Code=HDW&Store_Code=MTE>here</a> to see. You just will have to cut it down so that the threads length will match (a child's game). Not a bad idea IMO because 1.7mm metric threaded screws might be a bit hard to get from new in America.<p>All the best, and please don't stop to display your masterpieces shot "beneath the blue ocean"...

[nicolas_douez]

Ed, I had mismeasured the screw (so, so, so sorry), the threads are <b>1.5mm</b> (metric) NOT 1.7mm.<p> I just checked my spare screws box, I have several 1.5mm screws BUT the head diameter will be a major issue, as standard heads which are generally 2.8mm in diameter go through the spacer and the knob itself, thus they are not usable in any way on the IIa. The screws Micro-Tools sell are of that type, so my advice is still to look for a DIN 921 1.5mm metric threaded screw, or to remove some identical screws from another cheap Zeiss Ikon camera such as the Ikonta 523/16. Good luck.<div></div>

[edhebert]

Nicholas and Vick-

 

Thanks so much for your assistance. Nicholas, you've been especially helpful with your explanation and photos. I believe I actually may have an old inoperable Ikonta kicking about somewhere! I'll see I might be able to salvage something off of its carcass.

[michael schub]

HS does great work but can be - well let's just leave it as scornfull of anyone else's work or attempting work. There is an outside chance one of these people might help:

 

Mr. W.W. Umbach

Z-V Service

P.O. Box 754 / 1410 Seafarer Drive

Oriental, North Carolina 28571

Telephone: 919-249-2576

 

Mr. Warren Winter Winter Repair, Ltd.

3 High Street

Mount Kisco, 10549-2909

Telephone: 914-241-1653

[edhebert]

UGH. I just checked my inventory of old cameras, and believe that I gave my old Ikonta to a friend who needed the parts a couple of years ago. BUT, at least that leads me to a source for potential replacement screws at a reasonable price.

 

Question...being a non-machinist type...if ordering from a source like Micro-tools, would I need to order a special right-hand threaded screw? I believe that the rewind screw on the Contax IIa seats opposite from a normal screw, correct?

[nicolas_douez]

Uncorrect - the screw is a normal screw regarding the threads orientation.

<p>

Again, the head must be large, so look for DIN 921 M1.5 screws (called : slotted pan head screws with large head) which have a 4.5mm diameter head when the threads size are between 1.4mm and 1.5mm.

<p>See <a href=http://www.bohrenfeldt.de/html/detail/d921.jpg>the following blueprint</a> which comes from from http://www.bohrenfeldt.de and feel free to send them an email explaining your situation - which I did, and they sent me a bunch of special screws which exactly matched the expected specs. when I was desperately looking for a self-timer screw for my IIIa.<p>BTW my advice would be to lock the screw, when you've got it, with Loctite lockscrew (blue) or any equivalent semi-permanent locking fluid like Penlock, etc.

[michael schub]

Here is Warren Winter's web site http://www.contaxstore.com/

He does list some parts. I think Z-V was the official Zeiss repair facility.

[nicolas_douez]

The latest update of their homepage was made on September, 30th 2002. I'm afraid all the info displayed might be severely outdated. Interesting though.

[nicolas_douez]

I just discovered by chance that my caliper has very recently become misadjusted and overmeasures by 0.1mm each time I measure something, so the actual dimensions of the screws Ed is looking for are below, in a 3rd picture which cancels the former one once and again. <p>Otherwise Ed knows that he needs a DIN 921 M1.4 stainless steel or brass chrome plated screw, so if any of you hears from some, thanks for him.

<p>

<i>Errare humanum est</i> - sorry.<div></div>

[edhebert]

Nicolas and I have continued this discussion offline, and he's been quite helpful throughout. In case anyone else is looking for these types of screws, I think I may have found a source for appropriately sized NHIS watch screws <a href="http://www.ofrei.com/page1009.html">here</a>. I've ordered a few, and they seem to be a match.

 

Thanks