Tried using a plastic spudger on a Canon FD mount and it went really wrong

Everyone says to use those nylon tools to avoid scratches, so I tried one on a stuck lens release lever. The tip snapped off inside the mechanism after about 15 minutes of gentle pressure... had to take the whole top plate off to fish it out. I learned that sometimes a thin, polished metal pick is actually safer because it won't break and leave junk behind. It just needs a very light touch. Has anyone else had a plastic tool fail on them during a simple job?

3 comments

3 Comments

xenah122mo ago

You know what else can work? I've had good luck with a wooden toothpick for stuck levers on old cameras. It's soft enough it won't mark the metal, but it won't snap like cheap plastic. The key is to wiggle it, not pry. That plastic spudger probably just got brittle with age.

finley_wells662mo ago

Yeah that's a solid point. It's like we've gotten so used to buying special tools for everything that we forget basic stuff already works. I've used a guitar pick to open a phone case and a butter knife to fix a loose outlet plate. Sometimes the simplest fix is already in your junk drawer.

diana8295d ago

Snapped a brass spudger inside a lens mount once, swore off plastic tools after that.