Thanks Richard, I enjoy reading your lens reconditioning articles.
I was particularly pleased to find the article contains a link to the micro Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 Ais, a lens I own and love. I was a bit dismayed when I read that you would not recommend anyone to buy the micro Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 Ais lens. I got rid of my micro Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D which I had bought new and replaced it with a nice, used 55 - f/2.8.
While others may disagree, for me AF has no place in close up photography, the 60 - f/2.8D isn't easy to manually focus, I would never swap back. The 55 - f/2.8 is one of my most used lenses, silky smooth and sharp as anything, although that was on D200 (DX of course) now I am enjoying my D3, I have acquired a micro Nikkor 105mm f/4.0 which is superb on FX for my flower photography.