Spent $45 on a used lens spanner tool from eBay and it stripped my first helicoid screw

Bought a cheap generic spanner off eBay because I didn't want to drop $150 on a proper one. First time using it on a vintage lens, the tips bent and scratched the brass threads. Cost me another $30 in replacement screws and a whole afternoon filing the slotted heads down. Should've just saved up for a VOH brand wrench. Anyone else get burned by cheap repair tools?

2 comments

2 Comments

hollym8220d ago

I picked up a vintage Pentax 50mm and the same thing happened to me with a $12 spanner from Amazon. The tips just folded over on the first try. I ended up filing the cheap spanner tips down to a sharper point and then heating them with a torch to harden them a bit. It's not perfect but it got the job done on a few more lenses before I replaced it with a proper one from Micro-Tools (which honestly wasn't much more than that eBay one).

young.spencer20d ago

funny how nobody talks about the spacer issue. If your spanner is even slightly too thick for the slot it'll just twist the tips off no matter how expensive it is. I had a cheap one that fit perfect on old soviet glass but totally failed on modern Chinese stuff. The slot depth varies way more than people realize.