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A guy in my shop showed me a trick with a toothpick and old shutter grease.
He came in with a 70s SLR that had a sticky mirror, said he learned it from a repair guy in Chicago. He took a flat toothpick, dipped just the tip in some fresh grease, and worked it into the hinge point without taking anything apart. The mirror snapped back clean after three tries. Anyone know other quick fixes for sticky mechanisms without a full tear down?
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dylan_brown301mo ago
Old grease is the problem, not the fix.
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john_fisher1mo ago
Lighter fluid on a toothpick, huh... so the real fix is just setting my camera on fire in a very careful way. Makes sense. I guess if the old grease is the problem, adding more of the same gunk is like trying to put out a grease fire with a stick of butter. Jamie's probably right, but man that feels like fixing a watch with a hammer.
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jamieb801mo ago
That trick can work in a pinch, but using old shutter grease is a bad idea. That stuff breaks down over time and gets gummy. It's probably what caused the stickiness in the first place. A tiny drop of lighter fluid on a toothpick can often free up a hinge without leaving new grease behind.
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