www.MG42.us

phase two is complete. The upper and lower tripod are done! The search fire mech. will have to wait until next summer. I will be starting on the MG34 build next.

TC

Replaced pics 1402, 07, 05, 03, 1399, 98, 97, 91---- 42rocker

TC, you know how I loathe saying so, but YOU ROCK!

Hi Guys,
Just thought I would add something I find works great on old leather, for the tripod pads and old holsters. After many years of experimenting with other products I find these methods best. First never use saddle soap or similar, it does make any dried out leather soft as butter, even real dried out and cracked leather can be made soft again but it will change the leather color to black! An easy way to get a nice finish on the leather is to use shoe polish. It works well at preserving leather, try to get the polish shade as close to the original as possible, scuffed leather can also be improved with the special shoe polish which has dye in it, such as the Tuscan range of shoe polish, this has a dye in it which will cover the scuffs. Another way to soften leather is to use Vaseline intensive care hand and nail lotion, its in the pink tube, your wife will know it Its clear and works superbly on old leather, makes it very soft then goes hard again over time so you get the support and stiffness back in the leather over time. commercial Leather fat products are also good, such as hide food or similar but I perfer the other methods I have listed. These thing all work but try them first yourself before you use it on your expensive leather item and see if its right for your project. I found all of the above methods better than the shop bought specialist products.

When you start on the search fire mechanism, make sure you thoroughly document what goes where. I did manage to reassemble mine, but it would have been easier if I kept track in the first place. It is hard to see in the pics, but did you manage to save some of the lime green or beige anodized aluminum pieces? Or where they painted over?

I plan on taking lots of pictures again of the search fire as I take it apart.

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That's what I like to see

wow nice job

Thanks Graywolf.

Replaced pic 1485 ---- 42rocker

Ok, can't find pic 1485 -- break time -- going to work with my lefettes

man that's hot ,,, looks excellent..what psi did you use when you sprayed it?

GrayWolf wrote:man that's hot ,,, looks excellent..what psi did you use when you sprayed it?

oh, I don't know. "I use the force" and just go by feel. I think it was around 40 psi.

TC

This looks just fantastic tomcatshaas! I have a Norwegian converted Mg34 lafette and after seeing your restoration project I like to do the same with mine. I have a sandblaster and a desent paint spray gun are pretty cheap here in Norway.
If its not to much trouble I have a few questions:

Is it difficult to strip down and put together the tripod(except the search fire device)? I do have a english translated Lafette 34 manual for help though

Could you make a list of the parts that need to be blued and what needs to be painted? The pictures are very imformative but a complete list would be much appreciated

hello there,

1st post thanks for the info in this thread, it has been most useful for my Mg 34 tripod. I am currently taking it apart at the moment and i have become stuck in something. how do you take the fire control mechanism off from the upper part of the tripod ?

thanks
Tom

welcome to the forum Tom!

There is no way of getting around it. You have to punch out the pins that are captured by the washers. Try to save the old pins and reuse them. But if they are not usable then then you can easily make new ones if you have a lathe or just buy some from Ryan Schnee .

TC

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hi tom,

thanks for the post,

I was wondering if i had to do that or not, because i looked at the section where it has 2 screws (in your pic ), when i un did them i was like, erm, how does that work then but now i know. Thanks


Ill let you know how it goes tomorow
Tom

well, i took the search fire of today. I also took apart the top section of the upper lafette , you got those 2 springs which connects to those catches ? well i didnt realise they were in and when i used a hammer to take the top bit off, it stretched the springs so it wont lock into place now , HA. just got to make them small again

Tom

I ran out of cake mix for the easy bake oven months ago, and my sister ate the last of the cakes. Gotta call Barbie and Ken and get some more. Can't find the little apron... Bil, can I borrow yours?

Weather starting to get to ya? Sure! ---bil

Following TC's lead I took my Lafette pad to the upholstry shop - leather redo please - 130-bucks per pad - that's quitre an upgade on a 800-dollar mount maybe later

Hi! i'm new here! I have found in the ww2 trench a german Lafette 34 and now disassembling it< i wan repair it. Can anyone tell me how can i pull out that long rod with spring in the bottom mid
download/file.php?id=5209&mode=view

This rod stands in its position and covered with rust. Is there a thread or i should just hit this out?
THanks ans sry or my english!

greetings from Russia!