I don't have a proper lens spanner but . . .

There's no end to the potential substitutes for spanner wrenches. This is just the few items I had within reach at the moment taht I've used.

The metal calipers and draftsman's dividers are favorites. Use two needle points though. That also helps to start a sticky trim ring but be careful not to scratch the finish.

A trimmed credit card or other stiff plastic card works.

Somewhere around here there's a collection of custom trimmed and labeled sheet aluminum blades on a key chain.

The thicker blades on a set of feeler gauges are nice when filed/ground to the proper dimensions too and don't affect their use as a gauge.



H2

[dh4412]

pacerr, you never cease to amaze me with your improvisational thinking--- those hybrids use nano tech ?

[sam-joseph]

I recently disassembled a couple of old 50mm lenses for cleaning, and found that a rubber disc (insertion rubber, about 3mm thick), and a socket or piece of tube works well.
Place the rubber disc on the 'nut' you're trying to undo, then press the socket or tube against the rubber disc while turning. The rubber disc keys into the tool-slots, and allows you to undo the friction rings with ease.

Regards

[pacerr]

Place the rubber disc on the 'nut' you're trying to undo, then press the socket . . .

Reminds me . . . a short piece of rubber tubing stretched over a nut can sometimes allow a larger SAE socket to substitute for metric and vice versa.

(For heaven's sake, don't tell Tom, OK? An' about that C-clamp thing, uuh . . . But a Phillips screw driver IS a poor substitute for a JIS cross-point bit if any torque's needed. Any redemption points scored here? )

H2

Shade tree mechanics? Ditch medicine? Jus' get 'er done, boys. We'll 'splain it to the Boss later!

[dh4412]

What is a JIS crosspoint bit ? i guess i will resort to google ?

[pacerr]

Cross-head screws - a caution:

The greater corner radius on the Phillips bit doesn't allow it to seat deeply in the head and makes it easier to damage the screw if too much torque is applied.

[dh4412]

i understand now. they certainly make those lens screws small enough........... still it is kind of daunting taking one of these lenses apart, well, no, putting it back together...... there seems to be more parts , apart , than will go back , a lot of extra pieces of lens.........

[SRT201]

Here are two great/cheap spanner substitutes. The smaller will work for most lenses. Tough steel tips and actually much sturdier than some of those flimsy spanners I've seen on eBay. With a spanner you need a rigid frame and a locked distance between the two points and this works quite well.

6" Locking Wing Divider
12" Locking Wing Divider

Needless to say... you don't need the pencil.


I also use this.

Digital Calipers - Save on these 6 Inch Digital Calipers

The back side wings on the caliper are quite useful as spanners and quite rigid - also has the lock feature to hold the width. However they are also quite sharp and care must be taken. One slip and you can wreck the lens.

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Last edited by SRT201; 10-17-2012 at 07:57 AM.