My first lens dissembly, tips?

[Tristin]

While shooting at the beach recently, I think I got a little sand in my 105mm f/1.8, so tomorrow I plan on getting it out now that I have some JIS screwdrivers.  While I am in there, I'd like to see what I can do about f/22 recently becoming difficult to turn to/out of.  Any knowledge is much appreciated!

Funny enough, I took very few shots with the 105mm at the beach and all while standing.  Changed to the 50mm on my backpack which layed on a clean sheet.  Proceeded to do plenty of shooting with the 50mm laying dug into the sand while a child threw sand at me and my camera.  The 50mm seems to have no sand in it.  Go figure. 

[richardHaw]

Sorry, I think you lost me there. so, you cannot turn your aperture ring to f/22?

if that's it then it is a simple fix 

just remove your bayonet mount and clean the sand from the aperture ring and the mount. clean off the old grease and re-grease it. 

i doubt that the sand has gone inside and jammed the aperture horn deep inside the lens. even if it did you would have removed the sand on it by simply flicking your aperture open and close for a couple of times.

[richardHaw]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNMErPx7-pc

before i open up a lens for cleaning, i always try and see if somebody else has something uploaded. one of the first places that i go to is daitocamera and mikeno62 on youtube 

[Tristin]

The aperature ring started getting a bit difficult to turn into/out of f/22 about a month ago, no idea why.  Well before the beach trip.  Sand is the suspected culprit for a slight gritty feeling on one end of the focus ring that manifested immediately following the beach trip.

[richardHaw]

The aperature ring started getting a bit difficult to turn into/out of f/22 about a month ago, no idea why.  Well before the beach trip.  Sand is the suspected culprit for a slight gritty feeling on one end of the focus ring that manifested immediately following the beach trip.

it's probably dirty, that is the first culprit 

another might be that the detent spring might have been damaged (unlikely).

lease likely is something getting into the iris assembly. you will never know until you open it up 

it's like pain when you pee. it can be a lot of things, specially if you are a bad boy  for people with kidney problems like me, just drink more water 

[Tristin]

Also, just realized I had no grease.  Perhaps I should have some ready before dissembly?  What would you recommend?

[richardHaw]

well, depends on the lens you might just get away without even the need to grease the aperture ring 

the grease that I use is what I would recommend (S10), but since the aperture ring is not part of the focusing unit then silicone grease should be OK. so long as you clean the old stuff away first. just put a little. a little goes a long way when talking about aperture rings. the most important part to grease is the slots where the detent goes as well as the surfaces where it comes into contact with other parts of the lens. it will squeak if you dont lubricate that. you can try using it without the grease first and see if it's OK.

[Erik Lund]

  mikeno62 is a repairman in the camera store here in CPH, One Of Many Cameras where Bjørn and I go often to scavenge the shelfs - He's a really nice and skilled guy.

Anyway, it sounds like a grin of sand has entered the aperture ring /aperture lever assembly - Not the aperture as such

Try removing the mount and examine the inside of the aperture ring/leavers,,,

[richardHaw]

yes, he is a very nice guy 
i will do an interview on him in the coming months

[Tristin]

I will be refering to the pie es as A, B and C from left to right.

So I cleaned the helicoids and re-greased them.  Now I have gotten stuck at re-assmbling as I can not seem to get the helicoils to screw back together.  I got B and C screwed together after a lot of attenpts, but not sure how.  Then I couldnt get them to screw onto A.  So I took B and C apart with the idea to attempt getting A and B together, then putting C on.  What am I doing wrong in putting the helicoils together?

[richardHaw]

did you mark where your helicoids separate? 

they should only be mated on a certain position...if not then your focuing will be off or you will not be able to put your lens back 
did you take pictures along the way?

[Tristin]

I did not mark where the helicoids separate, I was working under the assumption that I could put the two together and lightly rotate them until they caught.  Looks like I lined myself up with hours of trial and error. 

[richardHaw]

I did not mark where the helicoids separate, I was working under the assumption that I could put the two together and lightly rotate them until they caught.  Looks like I lined myself up with hours of trial and error. 

yes, looks like it 

or you can watch some videos to give you a hint

[Tristin]

I've gotten A and B to go together a few times, though the never closed together fully so it was not the correct position.  I did notice though, that as it got near the end of tightening it got gritty.  The helicoid in B that attaches it to A is the only one I did not clean as I have no idea how to access it.  Is it the one screw next to "Made in Japan"?  If so, what tool do I need for that?

[richardHaw]

do you have a clear picture of it? 

usually, screw drivers are OK