AA1933 Posted February 13 Share #1 Â Posted February 13 Advertisement (gone after registration) I had waited 7 years for a black Barnack Leica and I finally managed to purchase a black Leica II. As I was beginning to service it, my screwdriver unfortunately slipped and damaged the screwhead on one of the screws on the accessory shoe very substantially. Luckily, I managed to very carefully get it out however it was very upsetting as I had waited for so long, and that the screw is completely ruined. The camera will be serviced to full working order and I will most likely be keeping and using it for the rest of my life. I would be extremely grateful and thankful if anyone had a spare screw for the accessory shoe of a black Leica I/II/IIIa that they wouldn't mind parting with. All the best Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted February 13 Posted February 13 Hi AA1933, Take a look here Does anyone have a spare accessory shoe screw for a black Leica II?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
jaapv Posted February 13 Share #2  Posted February 13 Try DAG Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted February 13 Share #3  Posted February 13 Someone here will be able to answer this question, but do you know the size of the screw and the thread specification? Have you thought about buying a second body (even in chrome) and taking a good screw from that and painting it? There will be people that have all sorts of spare parts for old Leicas, but sorting through boxes containing thousands of screws of various sizes is a Herculean task that no one in their right mind would contemplate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitroplait Posted February 13 Share #4  Posted February 13 This is one of those situations where painting a screw should completely acceptable. Especially as you plan to use it. I would go as far as to call it a beauty mark, or a mark of love. Your little mark of (presumably) many, from many owners that shows the camera has been used, loved and maintained for the past almost 100 years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted February 13 Share #5  Posted February 13 You can restore damaged head screws by the following method. You need to get two small sheets (about 2cm x 2cm) of soft aluminium. If the aluminium is not soft, you can anneal it by putting it in an oven at 250ºC for an hour. You then use these two plates to sandwich the damaged screw by the thread, held firmly in a vice. You then need to prepare a small ball peen hammer (~100 to 150 grams) by polishing the peen (rounded) head with sandpaper/emery cloth. You will then find you can very carefully tap the damaged areas of the head of the screw back into place, as the metal these Leica screws is made from is quite soft. This should return the appearance of the screw to near original. If you are not confident about doing this yourself, which I would quite understand, the best people to go to would be a competent gunsmith who restores old guns. Reshaping damaged screws on old guns is something they are very used to doing, as the damaged head screws on these older guns, are often of non-standard thread pitches and irreplaceable. I learnt to do it, when I restored a few Austrian and Belgian hunting rifles from the first half of the 20th century. The earlier owners of these old guns will often have used inappropriate screw drivers to undo them, damaging the heads in the process. When working on old Leica cameras, it is absolutely essential to use high quality screwdrivers. I have a complete set of 12 screwdrivers from 0.50mm to 4mm. These are Swiss made jeweller's screwdrivers by A*F, now part of Brütsch-Rüeger tools in Urdorf https://shop.afswitzerland.com/catalogs/cat.asp . Bergeon Swiss screwdrivers are maybe even higher quality. The blade tips of these screwdrivers are hollow ground, so that they don't slip out of the screw heads. Wilson 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AA1933 Posted February 13 Author Share #6  Posted February 13 Thanks for your replies. @jaapv I have tried DAG and other repair technicians however they have all said that they don't have any unfortunately. @andybarton @nitroplait The screw size is M1.7 which is equivalent to 10BA. Unfortunately, the head on the 10BA sits too proud and the screw slot on the original screw is significantly shallower and thinner. I have tried painting the 10BA screw black but it is very difficult to match the finish etc. and it ends up looking obvious @wlaidlaw Thanks, I live in the UK so it would be very difficult finding a gunsmith. About the screwdrivers, yes I learned my lesson quickly and dressed the blade to exactly fit the slots so that the other screws were not damaged. If anyone does have a spare, I think it would be best to replace it with an original screw since the camera is in exceptionally good condition Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted February 13 Share #7  Posted February 13 Advertisement (gone after registration) One could buy an irreparable Barnack  and scavenge a screw. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted February 13 Share #8  Posted February 13 https://www.peterdyson.co.uk/ For a gunsmith in the UK. Google is your friend. The UK is home to many thousands of  vintage hunting rifles with gunsmiths all over the place. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted February 13 Share #9  Posted February 13 Craig Whitsey, the gunsmith in Arundel (01903 883102) is very competent. I have had him do work for me in the past, which was either beyond me or I did not have the requisite tools. When I gave up shooting some 10+ years ago due to both age and disability, I sold my collection of restored historic rifles to a Swiss Friend, whose family have a very large collection, dating back over 100 years of collecting. His gunsmith was very complementary about some of the work that Craig had done on one of the rifles, to enable more modern telescopic sights to be mounted but without damaging the "claw" mounts for the original classic 1930s Kalhles telescopic sight, which I sold with the rifle. Wilson  Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpotmaticSP Posted February 13 Share #10 Â Posted February 13 I would buy three new screws from Nobbysparrow on eBay. He's from Japan, but he has many new parts (black, chrome, nickel) for us early Leica lovers. And it's not expensive either. Highly recommended! In your case, here is a set of three new black accessory shoe screws. Don't forget to mention the right finish when you order. https://www.ebay.com/itm/304574760308 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlaidlaw Posted February 13 Share #11  Posted February 13 He is very efficient as well. I have bought shutter collars from him. Wilson Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now