Vulcanite repair and using the Leica camera case to hold a film box end...

[Rod.]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

After learning here about Milliput epoxy to repair missing vulcanite, I did a first repair yesterday on my M3. I'd put a kind of superglue along the broken edge while waiting for the epoxy to be delivered from the UK.

For the repair, I cleaned exposed metal with goobegone and scrapped lightly with a small flat blade jewelers screwdriver. The Milliput mixes and goes on fairly easily wearing rubber gloves. I used a flat end of a chopstick that was moistened with water first for the coarse application and then used a wet cotton tipped ear swab to smooth it out. The attempt at making the textured surface was with metal dentist teeth cleaning tools -- which only sort of worked... Photos are attached.

To try and avoid future vulcanite damage, I picked up two OEM leather cases on eBay and modded one so that only the body part is left on the camera. One side benefit, one that may not be the reason for a leather strap sewn into the inside of the case, is that I'm using it to hold the film box end. 

Rod
 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[dpitt]

Nice job. It certainly will hold in the state it is now. In case you want to replace the vulcanite completely one day, have a look here Vulcanite.
The shop is currently down (?!)  because of holidays.

[250swb]

Excellent, I'm sure that should hold as a repair. In future to refine the idea sharpen a cocktail stick to a chisel point and sculpt the creases into the putty by dipping the stick into water so it doesn't grab, it's possible to make an almost exact replica of vulcanite with the time available before the putty starts to set.

[spydrxx]

Honestly, on that large an area on such a fine camera, absent collector value, I'd just reskin the body (having done several over the years. It is an easy fix and the cameras look pristine afterwards. FWIW I mostly use Aki-Asahi products...they're an almost exact match for the original vulcanite.