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Fixing the achilles heel of the Leica CL / Leitz Minolta CL - with a brand new take up spool

twcxz

By twcxz,
in Leica M-A / M7 / MP and Film M

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twcxz

twcxz

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    Hi everyone, 

    I'm currently working on a project to once and for all fix the analogue Leica CL's broken take up spool problem, by 3D printing them. 

    I've ran a roll through mine with version 2 of the spool and it works pretty good, but i'm working on version 3 which should be better still - I got the dimensions slightly wrong on this one - it's too short.

    How many of you CL owners would be interested in buying such an item? They'd cost around £20 and be sold through eBay all said and done, and I'd make a video showing how to take apart the CL and install them, as well as reassembly - International shipping would happen too through the eBay GSP as I'm UK based.

    The attached photo is version 2 and not by any means the final version as this is still in very early development, but the quality of the ones that go on sale will be much higher. This one was printed by a friend of mine, but I'm soon going to acquire my own printer and make them much better.

    I know also that this doesn't look anything like the original, but when I copied the original part dimension for dimension, curve by curve, it didn't work and suffered the same problems as the original.. immediately. Thus I simplified it and made it more "3D Printer friendly."

    Thanks

    Tom

     

     

     

     

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    M.piras

    M.piras

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      Interesting but basically not a solution if you arr in mind to use PLA. It could be interesting having a ABS injected part, PLA after some months of use will definitely destroy. But idea is noce if you have time to manage. Then see too many error in your print. I Suggest to use at least a resin printer. Not filament at all.

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      twcxz

      twcxz

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      12 hours ago, M.piras said:

      Interesting but basically not a solution if you arr in mind to use PLA. It could be interesting having a ABS injected part, PLA after some months of use will definitely destroy. But idea is noce if you have time to manage. Then see too many error in your print. I Suggest to use at least a resin printer. Not filament at all.

      Thanks, There are a few errors in this print, as it was not done by myself so it's an early prototype done by a friend of mine. So far it's survived 2 rolls and isn't showing any signs of breaking. Once I get version 3 installed i'll use it for a month or so and pass several rolls through it to test it out.

      I think the final product will be made from PETG as it is stronger overall and has a higher melting/deformation temperature. ABS is actually weaker (from my understanding) and an injection moulded part would require a costly piece of equipment to manufacture. 

      Resin printing is not something I've looked into, but certainly will to see if it's cost effective (and strong enough) before I start selling these.

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      • 3 months later...
      mbray

      mbray

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        I have just installed this new take-up spool on my CL without any real problems (just a bit of filing to make the slot at the top of the spool large enough to slip over the top mechanism). Good thing I did replace it as I discovered that the connection between the white and black parts of the original was using just friction rather than the three little tabs that should hold them together. The installation was easy: I made a small tool out of a flat screwdriver bit to get the spindle nut off; even the meter still works! I have just loaded some FP4+ and am looking forward to keeping the camera going for another good few years!

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        twcxz

        twcxz

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        2 hours ago, mbray said:

        I have just installed this new take-up spool on my CL without any real problems (just a bit of filing to make the slot at the top of the spool large enough to slip over the top mechanism). Good thing I did replace it as I discovered that the connection between the white and black parts of the original was using just friction rather than the three little tabs that should hold them together. The installation was easy: I made a small tool out of a flat screwdriver bit to get the spindle nut off; even the meter still works! I have just loaded some FP4+ and am looking forward to keeping the camera going for another good few years!

        Awesome to hear, thank you! 

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        twcxz

        twcxz

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        Just thought I'd make an update to this post: 

        Many prototypes later, the spools are on sale. They look a lot nicer than this one in the photo. Here's the new spool!

        eBay link

        Edited by twcxz
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