Epoxy putty does CPR on a Rapidwinder

[sanmich]

A while ago I bought a Rpidwinder described as "non-functional" with the thought of repairing it, or sending it to Tom for a repair.
when it arrive, it appeared that I wasn't THAT smart, and the description wasn't THAT accurate. The small half moon part locking all base plates to the cameras was broken. I contacted Tom, only to find that I couldn't buy a new housing for this older design.
I tried to think of an aluminum patch, but the machining people I asked told me that cost would be prohibitive. One of them suggested to use Epoxy putty, and for the first time in my life, I tried the stuff.
I prepared the aluminum base for maximum adhesion, and the camera for no adhesion (a bit of oil on the area). After assembling both, I used the putty to make a patch, with the imprint of the small locking piece on the camera.
some filing and sanding and here is the result...
Ugly, but looks functional.
Next: more sanding, and then I'll paint the housing in black so the patch is er... less ugly.

[FalseDigital]

Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do :P

I repaired my FED3 vertical adjustment using a metal washer. It's a little ugly but worked perfectly in terms of functionality. (Not to mention, cost effective)



I'm sure once you paint it, it will look great.

[Tom A]

The weakest spot on the Rapidwinder is that point where the pin on the camera engages the with winder. The alloy used in the housing is very strong - but part of the "lip" is tapered to 0.8 mm and if the winder is dropped, it can crack. I did a fix on one by bending some brass and attaching it with screw and filing it out to fit. A bit ungainly - and extremely time consuming. Hope the epoxy will hold up well. That version of the winder has a different housing design and I have none of them left (it dates back almost 15 years by now.
Best advice is not to drop the winder!

[sanmich]

Tom
I just had a thought:
I suppose this part of the design is just as strong as the original baseplate, maybe stronger.
The problem might be the weight of the winder, yielding a much higher kinetic energy if/when it hits the floor.
At any rate, thanks for your help.
I am sure the epoxy is much less resistant to impact than the metal because it looks brittle to me (I may be wrong), and I suppose that dropping it will break it again, although the fact that the material is much thicker there and that there is no hole may help.
The good part is that it seems really easy to remove most of the epoxy, and re-do the patch.
I'm not dropping my gear very often, so touch wood...

[Bill58]

JB Weld ought to work for a long time-it's great stuff!