The sticky aperture blades debate - how long did YOUR fix take?

I had a Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 come in last week with sticky aperture blades. The oil on the blades was pretty bad, so I figured I'd pull the lens apart, clean them up, and have it done in an afternoon. Three evenings later I was still fighting with it. The problem was that the oil had gotten between the blade stack layers, not just on the surfaces. I ended up having to separate each individual blade, clean them with naphtha, and then carefully reassemble in the right order. Took me about 6 hours total across four sessions. Some folks swear by the soak method where you just bathe the whole assembly in solvent. Others say that's risky because it can damage the coating. Is there a consensus on which way is actually faster or better? What's the longest you've spent on what looked like a simple job?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_oscar25d agoMost Upvoted

Honestly, six hours sounds about right for a job like that. I spent a whole weekend once trying to clean leaves out of a lawnmower carburetor because the gas had turned to varnish, similar kind of sticky mess. Ngl, sometimes the simplest looking repairs just spiral into a whole ordeal.

viola_ward24d ago

Oh man, "looked like a simple job" is the story of my life. I totally get that. I had a similar thing with a 35mm lens once, thought I'd be done in two hours. It took me four days on and off because I kept trying to just clean the oil off the top blades and it just kept coming back. I finally had to do the same thing you did, take each blade out and clean them one by one with lighter fluid. It was a total nightmare, but now it works perfectly. Just goes to show that "quick" fixes on vintage gear are never really quick.