cleaning shutter on AGFA pd16 folder

I recently came into possession of an old agfa folding camera that belonged to my dad's uncle. The shutter is sticking. I'd like to see if I can get it to work again. I've read about soaking the whole shutter mechanism in naphtha to loosen it up, but I can't get the lens off the front plate. Is there a trick or do I just twist it off?

Congratulations! To answer your question, on most folders the shutter is held to the front standard via a large retaining ring on the back side, which basically functions as a nut. If you open up the camera back and look at the rear of the lens you should pretty quickly get an idea of what you are dealing with. To remove the shutter you just need to unscrew this ring, which is generally done with an official lens spanner tool designed to engage the slots in the ring. Some people have been known to improvise their own removal tool for the job.

Jeff

Yes the lens cells should unscrew from the shutter, standard right hand thread. You may need to hold the shutter and lens barrel with rubber jar opening aids or a strap wrench on the lens barrel as they become fused after years of assembly. The rear cell usually comes off once the shutter is removed from the camera/lens board.

Soaking in Naphtha only softens the gunk up and gets it going, only a CLA gets rid of the gunk and the shutter working properly.

I managed to get it the shutter off. Got all the glass out of the way and flushed it a few times with lighter fluid. The shutter action improved but was still sticky. I decided to give it a shout and strip the shutter down all the way. Got everything cleaned and thankfully got everything put back together with no parts left over. The shutter seems to be working now. I don't know how well the shutter speeds are calibrated, but it's no longer sticking.

Now I guess I need to check the focus calibration. Not sure how that's going to go. I taped a piece of waxed paper to the film gate to act as a focus screen. It's dark now. I'll have to check it out tomorrow morning. It looks to me like the way to adjust would be by adjusting the position of the center lens element. Is that right?

https://youtu.be/XGu4HFm-JeI?list=PL7tw58PYrKXWTYgHVlHj7evp8V_xLNoDX

here is a video detailing adjusting the focus.


I've done about 5 or 6 of these cameras. Wonderful easy cameras to refurbish. These cameras are great shooters. Sandehalynch.com can make you new bellows. There is no need to calibrate the shutter speeds, that is automatically done by the grooved shutter plate. As for calibrating the focus, Dennis does a great job of explaning it. An easy way to clean this shutter is by disassembling most of it and soaking it in an ultrasonic cleaner of naptha. Harbor freight tools has ultrasonic cleaners. Amazing to see the amount of gunk that is removed.

Greg

I think everything's good. Now I just need a roll of film. Thanks for the help.

Congrats. Test Roll !!