New shutter to replace Ilex Acme #4?

[DonF]

I purchased the pictured lens and shutter for use with my Graflex Graphic View II. The lens is a Schneider 210mm mounted in an Ilex No. 4 Acme Synchro Shutter. The shutter is pretty temperamental. The blades operate fine, but the slower speeds are hit or miss, the "B" setting doesn't work, and the "T" setting sometimes fails to latch open on the first shutter press. I have had the unit open and carefully doused in Naptha, which helped things a bit, but still very clunky operation.

The lens came mounted in the pictured plate (I believe for a Graflex press camera) and that in turn mounted to a special board to adapt to the GVII.

I like the lens quite a bit. Would it be possible to find a shutter that would be essentially a drop-in replacement for the Ilex? That is, front and rear elements screw in and the shutter can be mounted to the adapter plate and board? Are the threads standard?

I'm a bit unfamiliar with the view camera world. Are there any modern shutters available, or something newer and more reliable than the 1954 Ilex?

Thanks,

Don

 

[Doremus Scudder]

CLA

 

[sepiareverb]

S.K.Grimes

 

[Ian Grant]

The lens was usually fitted in a Compur or Copal #3 shutter which is a slightly different thread to the normal Ilex Acme #4, alternately a Compound or Copal #3. It's harder to find #3 shutters these days so a CLA is better.

Any good repairshop can CLA an Acme shutter.

Ian

 

[shutterfinger]

I have had the unit open and carefully doused in Naptha, which helped things a bit, but still very clunky operation.

That's the worst thing you could do for this shutter. Ilex shutters use hard rubber shutter blades and Naphtha destroys them. Unless its worn out it should return to proper operation with a complete CLA.

 

[Steve Goldstein]

The person for Ilex shutters is Frank Marshman in Virginia. He bought all the spare parts when the factory closed. Send me a PM if you wish to contact him.

 

[DonF]

Thanks for the help and pointers. It looks like a CLA is in my future. As the shutter is in very good cosmetic shape, I think it will be worth it.

I discovered the naptha issue with Ilex shutters after the dunk and blow dry operation. There did not seem to be any negative effects to the iris or shutter, at least short term. It was a quick 10 minute dunk, not overnight, plus I dried the mechanism with compressed air immediately, so hopefully there was no permanent damage.

Best regards,

Don