Contractor stripped a screw on my Leica and I had to drill it out

A local crew was rewiring my shop last Tuesday and one of them knocked my M3 off the bench. The screw on the baseplate got so chewed up I couldn't turn it with anything. I spent the whole evening with a tiny extractor kit from the hardware store in Portland, drilling slow and praying I didn't hit the threads. Took me about 40 minutes and a lot of patience, but I got it out and replaced it with a fresh screw. That guy never even said sorry, just handed me a $20 and walked off. Anyone else have to recover a body from someone else's carelessness?

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the_ryan6d ago

That electrician handed you 20 bucks because he knows he broke it. That's not carelessness, that's him paying for his mistake. Most guys would've pretended nothing happened and walked. You got something out of it. The real issue is you left a Leica sitting on a bench in a room where guys are pulling wire. That's on you. A camera like that belongs in a case or on a shelf, not out where a tool bag or ladder is gonna knock it. And drilling it yourself for 40 minutes could've wrecked the threads way worse than the screw was. You got lucky, not smart.

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