Steadicam Merlin 2 guide ring stuck?

[Andy Kim]

Hi guys, I made a dumb mistake today. I didn't carefully read the manual and I made the dumb mistake of rotating the guide ring too much to the point where it's too tight and now stuck. Is there any way to undo this without taking it apart or breaking it? Thank you!

 

for reference, this is the guide for the steadicam merlin 2:

http://www.tiffen.com/userimages2/Steadicam/LIT-812000_Merlin2_Manual.pdf

[Ned McIntosh]

Hi Andy,

I just removed my Merlin 2 gimbal to see if there is a way.

From what I see, the small tongue that locks into the groove in screw-housing on the stage will completely retract if you apply sufficient pressure to the small button in the guide. That's the button you have to press to allow the guide to screw in or out.

Provided you can get the button down below the surface of the guide, that should retract the tongue enough to allow the thread to start unscrewing.

As far as I can see, the Merlin 2 gimbal cannot be disassembled - once the factory build it, it's fixed for the life of the unit. The tiny pins for each bearing appear to be press-fitted and the ends swaged slightly into place.