Am I the only one who fixed a sticky aperture by shooting it with a hair dryer
Had a customer bring in a Canon FD 50mm f/1.8 last month with an aperture that would not stop down past f/4. I was about to pull the whole rear element group when a guy at the shop in Portland told me to warm the barrel with a hair dryer on low for about 2 minutes. The old grease softened up and the blades snapped free on the second try, no teardown needed. Saved me 90 minutes of work but I am still not sure how long it will hold before it gums up again. Has anyone here done the heat trick and had it come back on them?
Did you happen to notice any oil on the blades themselves when it freed up? I did the heat thing on an old Nikkor once and it worked great for about three weeks, then the blades got sluggish again right when I needed it for a shoot.