Bolex autopsy

Annie Wengenroth · December 17, 2004

I found this little treasure on ebay for 35 bucks and was told it didn't work. So my dad and I decided to take it apart and figure out *how* it worked, since it wasn't running anyway. Of course I took pictures to commemorate the occasion.

http://www.syncpopdesigns.com/bolexstuff.html

I'm wondering why the motor began running after I moved the shutter. Maybe the shutter was just stiff and thus not allowing the gears underneath it to move either? Does anyone know? :blink: I have also noticed that the spring on the right side of the pressure pad seems like there is not enough tension on it, though this could be because the turret is off and the plate on the underside of the turret is therefore not holding everything into place.

Anyway, it's an interesting little endeavor and if I get it completely fixed (and cleaned) I'll let you all know.

John Pytlak RIP · December 17, 2004

Something was likely binding and preventing the shutter from rotating. Since the drive motor seems to be okay, unless the gears/cam are stripped or damaged, a good cleaning and lubrication should make it run fine again.

Annie Wengenroth · December 17, 2004

Yeah that's what I figured. I'm still working on it and cleaning it right now. It's actually an H8 that takes double and super 8 and the serial # is 32911 which I believe makes it from 1930 or earlier. I'm now wondering if my camera (H16 rex-3)has a similar problem. And if so, why would that happen; maybe something hit it from the front? But I can't imagine that these cameras would be *that* sensitive, not to mention, I have always taken really good care of my rex-3. ;)

December 17, 2004

hey there!

Please continue with your bolex dissection on your website and keep us posted. It makes a nice narrative if nothing else.

And some of us are too chicken to take apart cameras when we can pay the old german guy in town to do it right.

thanks

EH

Annie Wengenroth · December 18, 2004

Oh boy. I guess I should explain what happened with the H8, whose parts seem to have multiplied all across the kitchen table. Pictures coming soon!

Phase two: We took the shutter off so we could see what we were doing. I will add that we had a hell of a time getting the turret off without banging up the shutter on the way out, which sucked because in trying to fix the original problem we may have made things more difficult.

I'm now wondering how the !@$! they get the turrets off at the factory without screwing anything else up....I mean, it's obvious that they have to be adjusted to a fraction of a centimeter in order to allow the shutter to pass through properly. In simply adjusting the tension of the screws on the turret by tiny increments, (as in, not even a full turn!) it affects the way the shutter opens and closes. This absolutely blows my mind. No wonder nobody in the states fixes these things!

Anyway, then I noticed that there is this metal rod on the inside that controls the camera speed and *that* wasn't cooperating either (needs oil?) so somehow I have to get to that from the front of the camera. The metal rod corresponds with this plate that slides in and out as you turn the frame speed dial, but sometimes these two parts are not always in sync, which leads me to believe that the mechanism is stiff and that if I shot a test with this camera, it would not be running at accurate speeds.

We also noticed that on the inside of the camera on the left, right below the left loop former, there are two screws that are now disengaged from some sort of piece that, while inside the camera, is still closer to the *other* side of the camera (which we can't open up; in other words it only opens from one side). So apparently taking out the entire inside, where the film goes, is NOT the way to go!

I don't know how those Swiss guys do it...