[Leica] the amazing Sherry Kraeuter

[GERALD HAUSSLER <GHAUSSLE@email.usps.gov>]

     Patrick;
     i have a similar story. i found out the hard way that my
     28 elmarit didn't lock on just one body. eventually it
     made it's way to the pavement. (couldn't have happened
     while i was on the Concours lawn, now, could it ?) just a
     short drop, not even 4 feet. the glass was fine.
     that's where to good news ended. the focusing was jammed.
     (helicoid was toast). the lens would no longer mount.
     (flange bent) the price of new parts would be almost as
     much as i had into the lens to begin with. Sherry hand
     cut the helicoid. then she lapped, and she lapped... and
     then she lapped some more. the flange was also sorted out
     "manually". the only new part installed was the focusing tab.
     in her own words it was "...truly a Golden Touch moment".
     i couldn't echo those words more loudly nor recommend her
     more highly.
     best
     jerry haussler

     <schnip>
     >I finally gave it to Sherry Kraeuter a few weeks back, expecting I'd
     >hear it couldn't be repaired, but I got it back yesterday.
     >Amazingly, Sherry managed to straighten the whole thing out, top to
     >bottom, and now it looks and works just like my other cameras -- a
     >ding here, a scrape there, but all aligned and working perfectly.  I
     >mounted it on a motor, put some film in it, and it ran like a clock,
     >probably for the first time in more than twenty years.  Sherry's
     >description of what she had to do to make it right is the longest one
     >I've ever seen on a Golden Touch receipt, but as always the price was
     >very reasonable. I can't recommend her highly enough.  She has the
     >values of a real master craftsperson, someone who understands what it
     >means for things to be right, knows how to make them that way, and
     >does just that.
     >- -Patrick