I'm hoping for some advice on how to disassemble the rail on a Linhof Kardan B1-System 8x10 camera. I was lucky enough to find this in an estate sale with 8x10 and 4x5 backs, the below extension, and the rail extension (and a dozen Fidelity Deluxe holders). It's well used but all there, and apart from a mis-folded bellows (which after careful manipulation has refolded correctly and is under a book) everything works except for the rail extension, which is stuck on. I am new to this particular system, and don't know for sure how the extension is supposed to be released. There is a black plastic cap on the front end, and on the back end of the rail there is an aluminum knob. Unfortunately the knob looks like it has taken a beating - perhaps from the camera tipping over more than once. The knob is askew, as if whatever rod it may be attached to has been slightly bent, now jamming the inside of the knob against the outside of the rail. My assumption is that this knob must be turned to release the rail - or does the black cap on the front function as a knob?
Assuming that the knob must be turned, the next question is how to do so. I wrapped an old bicycle inner tube around it and applied what force I could with channel lock pliers, but I have no way of securely holding the rail itself (which still has both standards on it). Can the black cap on the front be removed without unscrewing the knob? If so I could remove the standards and perhaps find a way to hold the rail in a wood vise.
I am hoping for any advice here, and thanks.
Bookmarks