eBay & Me

A Dangerous Combination but Oh So Fun

So the other day I decided to do something rather taboo for me. I jumped back onto eBay to peak at all those wonderful things they have up for bids. While I was actually looking for something specific for someone else, I happened upon this little camera. Beaten, broken and looking entirely forlorn it pulled at my heartstrings. If not already assumed, I love cameras, including if not especially old ones. As the auction was close to closing, I decided that I would make a bid for it. No one else had bothered yet and by the looks of the camera - it was going to be rare the someone would. My $1.00 bid went it as .99 cents and low and behold, some time later, it was mine. This little Kodak Brownie Special Six-20 (circa 1938 - 1942) was in my mailbox this afternoon.

After a quick wash down for dust, I proceeded to take it apart.

The inside was fairly clean (go figure) so a brief cleaning and it was off to pull apart the shutter mechanics.

The leather covering was almost all off, so I cut the long piece that was hanging off, cleaned the body of most the of the heavy rust and glue residue and cleaned, dryed and oiled the covering.
After consulting the all mighty internet I found that ordinary school glue was a good recommendation to reattach the covering. (Huh, Who knew?)
Just over an hour or two worth of TLC and elbow grease and the final result:

Not to bad for 99 cents huh?