Hi, what tools are available and do you recommend to remove flat, and crenulated bezels, without marring or scratching?
Thanks very much in advance!
The back of a mousepad often works well; push the bezel down into it, and rotate.
Your hand in a glove or some kind of cloth, I once tried a scissor/pliers for the removal of a flat bezel, but since my latest one is polished I use the other options to avoid scratches on the bezel.
I use latex gloves to get more grip.
Just push it into the palm of your hand, then squeeze and twist. If your hands are slipping then try out the bottom of the mouse pad. But unless the bottom is rubber it won’t work so well.
It they are real tight, try a band wrench.
Also known as strap wrenches.
http://www.harborfreight.com/2-piece-rubber-strap-wrench-set-94119.html
+1
Like these:
Bottom rubber of a clean shoe or sandal.
Or use a ballon, if you do not have a latex gloves.
I use one of these… Walmart! This is in the kitchen goodies area and is made to help squeeze jarlids when loosening. Works like a dream for bezels!! $1.49 I think.
The rubber shelf liner will work too…but it rips up pretty easy.
Dan
I have those from harbor freight. I wouldn’t recommend them. The rubber started to detatch and exposed what looks light copper threading at the attachment point.
Edit: they also made my whole house smell like jerky. I didn’t expect something as simple as a strap wrench to fail from harbor freight.
That was the first pic I found.
I have a couple, from a local retailer, work fine.
I’ve bought a lot of work-type gloves in my lifetime and while most of them were barely just ok they never fit my hands/fingers as well as these, much less gripped as well as these. I’ve bought 6 pairs already and everyone of them is consistently cut so that I can pick up a dime on a concrete floor without a blink. And man do they grip flashlights well.
I wear a Medium. IOW, the smalls are true Smalls, the mediums are true Mediums, and the Large/X-Larges are true too. Soft knit tuff yet comfortable fabric on the back that still allows your hands to breathe and flex. I don’t know how they did it, but they did it. I’m convinced a glove genius may have designed these.
At less than $3 a pair an unmitigated flaming bargain. On sale they go for $1.99. Ridiculously and embarrasingly effective compared to other POS gloves that cost 10x as much, fit loose in almost every finger, can barely pick up a large screw off the floor, are mis-sized, or cut grossly incorrectly. These are none of that shoddy BS “It’s a Brand Name so it must be good” yet actually non-functional misleading crap.
If you can’t unscrew something on a flashlight with these then call in somebody a lot bigger and stronger like the Mother-in-Law.
Thank me later.
http://www.harborfreight.com/coated-rubber-grip-gloves-medium-90909.html
I’ll definitely pick up a pair on the next trip to harbor freight.
Sometimes you just gotta work at it for a while. Last time I had this problem I just grabbed a grip pad from the kitchen drawer (one of those ones designed to make it easier to twist the lid of a jar) and sat down to watch an episode of Stargate SG-1. I finally got if off about 25 minutes in.
This is true.
You may also wish to try tightening it a bit first, as counter-intuitive as that may seem.
Thanks for all the helpful and useful advice so far! The Harbor Freight gloves referenced above seem to be a good bargain. I’ve also found using a Sharpie style/sized marker, like their fine point series, that fits in crenulated groves if they’re deep enough and gives one leverage to spin off a crenulated bezel… they’re also a soft plastic and shouldn’t damage the metal. It seems to me there should be some plastic tools to remove the really short crenulated bezels or the smooth bezels with dimples along the inside, somewhere I saw mentioned using a watch case removal tool.
Now I’m debating whether to add any lubrication to the bezel’s threads… but hesitate as I don’t want any residue/smear on the lens!
The best IMO. +1
Tape. I just use painters tape because it’s what I have. But don’t use clear tape, use the white tape. Sorry, don’t really know the name of it. Works like a charm for me when I screw the tubes together too hard.
Swim caps work well to improve grip.