Still not having much success getting the 80-year-old screws out of the Fox Freehead, and to avoid that frustrating task, I turned instead to replacing the missing telescoping pan tilt handle. I spent a long time studying the bad black and white photographs in the Fox Camera manual, and they showed two possibilities for the missing parts. First is a cast offset piece that didn’t appear appropriate for the Freehead I am working on (Maybe a later version?). The other option is very similar to the Mitchell adjustable pan handle that came with the Mitchell Friction Head. After a little more digging on the internet, and comparing the parts that are here, the Mitchell-style design won out. I drew out some rough sketches, pulled dimensions off the existing parts, and machined myself a new handle. I was able to source a rubber hand grip from a motorcycle parts company that is similar to the original hand grip. Really glad I walked away from my ongoing battle with the screws that don’t want to budge and was able to design and machine this new handle from start to finish. Very satisfying!
