Good suggestion Mark. We use them but generally have the best luck laying the rubber sheet on a firm flat surface, then pressing the filter down on it. Obviously if it's a pola filter, the ring has to be on the bottom. Now try twisting the filter off the ring.
Didn't come free? With it still on the mat and flat on the surface, systematically work the fingers of each hand around the ring or filter, pressing down firmly after each move. Take care to keep your hands on opposite sides, and work in the direction you would normally turn to part the filter and ring. Often the jam is due to binding or crimping, and this systematic application of pressure will often free it. Now try to spin it off.
Didn't work? Time to get more aggressive. Apply a thin bead of a good grade of fine penetrating oil all around the joint, and allow it to sit for 5 or ten minutes. Many step rings are aluminum, which can accumulate a fine dust of oxide in the threads which will bind. The lube helps loosen that up.
Still stuck? Move the filter off the rubber mat onto a firm surface with the filter down and the ring up. Grab a screwdriver or other longish tool with a rubber handle. Reverse the tool in your hand and use it to gently tap all the way around the rim of the ring right over where it mates with the filter (and not back on the threaded portion that mates with the camera. Sometimes jams are due to fine sand grains, and this technique will often crumble the sand grain while not hurting anything else. Provided of course you aren't hitting hard enough to break the filter!
Still didn't work? Try it again tapping harder. You might risk breaking the filter, but there's less risk of damage than such extreme measures as large pliers.
The fine dust is all too common in the Southwest and here in Alaska (volcanic ash up here). The best long term solution is to dump the aluminum step rings altogether and replace them with brass ones. B&H makes theirs out of brass, as may some others. These have much less tendency to bind from any cause.
All those fine threads naturally collect and hold small particles. We make thread cleaning a part of our normal maintenance chores, which helps a lot but doesn't completely eliminate the problem in the two regions we shoot most. A friend reports great success lightly treating his threads with lock lubricant- the liquid kind rather than the powder. Evidently it isn't oily and doesn't hold additional dust, while still leaving behind a residual coating that's mostly graphite. Haven't tried it yet, but I bet I'm moved to it the next time I get a jam. And I most certainly will.
Posted by Toni Lankerd on January 29, 2008 at 9:08 PM
I ran into a similar situation not long ago and put a rubber band around one or the other...the band should be wide enough to almost cover the ring. Try not to squeeze either the ring or filter. That just makes it more difficult to take the two apart.
Posted by Mike Sellers on January 29, 2008 at 9:24 PM
Thanks for the tips. So far I have tried the rubber sheets but no luck. If I get penetrating oil on the glass will it come clean?
Always has for me. Alcohol and gentle elbow grease will do the job. Just don't get carried away with it, which can result in excess down within th glass mount of the filter. It will then "bleed" out for a while, sometimes requiring repeated cleaning sessions. It's a hassle, but not fatal.
Posted by Kent Staubus on January 30, 2008 at 9:20 AM
Here's what I do. Stick the whole thing in your freezer, or just out on your back porch if that's a colder place (like it is where I live. ) Wait a couple of hours. Take the filter out of the freezer and immediately try twisting it off using the rubber jar openers. This has always worked for me. The cold makes the different metals contract at different rates, putting a small gap in there. The colder the better.
Kent in SD
Posted by Danny Burk on January 30, 2008 at 7:27 PM
I always have someone at my workshops who gets filters/step up rings stuck together. Try this: apply thumb and first 3 fingers, evenly spaced, to one ring. Do the same on the other ring, with fingers opposite the gaps on the other ring. Press firmly and twist. So far it has never failed me. The trick is to apply even pressure. Using only thumb and 2 fingers doesn't work as well.
Posted by Mike Sellers on January 31, 2008 at 5:11 PM
I finally got the ring off by using some Prolong penetrating oil. I tried the freezer routine but that didn`t work. Thanks for all the suggestions.
Discussion
8 repliesMike
Didn't come free? With it still on the mat and flat on the surface, systematically work the fingers of each hand around the ring or filter, pressing down firmly after each move. Take care to keep your hands on opposite sides, and work in the direction you would normally turn to part the filter and ring. Often the jam is due to binding or crimping, and this systematic application of pressure will often free it. Now try to spin it off.
Didn't work? Time to get more aggressive. Apply a thin bead of a good grade of fine penetrating oil all around the joint, and allow it to sit for 5 or ten minutes. Many step rings are aluminum, which can accumulate a fine dust of oxide in the threads which will bind. The lube helps loosen that up.
Still stuck? Move the filter off the rubber mat onto a firm surface with the filter down and the ring up. Grab a screwdriver or other longish tool with a rubber handle. Reverse the tool in your hand and use it to gently tap all the way around the rim of the ring right over where it mates with the filter (and not back on the threaded portion that mates with the camera. Sometimes jams are due to fine sand grains, and this technique will often crumble the sand grain while not hurting anything else. Provided of course you aren't hitting hard enough to break the filter!
Still didn't work? Try it again tapping harder. You might risk breaking the filter, but there's less risk of damage than such extreme measures as large pliers.
The fine dust is all too common in the Southwest and here in Alaska (volcanic ash up here). The best long term solution is to dump the aluminum step rings altogether and replace them with brass ones. B&H makes theirs out of brass, as may some others. These have much less tendency to bind from any cause.
All those fine threads naturally collect and hold small particles. We make thread cleaning a part of our normal maintenance chores, which helps a lot but doesn't completely eliminate the problem in the two regions we shoot most. A friend reports great success lightly treating his threads with lock lubricant- the liquid kind rather than the powder. Evidently it isn't oily and doesn't hold additional dust, while still leaving behind a residual coating that's mostly graphite. Haven't tried it yet, but I bet I'm moved to it the next time I get a jam. And I most certainly will.
Kent in SD