Ruby Horizontal Reflex

[ProbablyPasta]

Hi all! I’m currently working on a ruby horizontal reflex, i’ve gotten the camera disassembled and taken a peek at the shutter mechanism, which seems okay. 2 problems though:

1 the bottom curtain does not want to go all the way up, it goes about half of the way, and if i turn the knob on the right hand side that’s used to wind the shutter counter clockwise, it goes up about 1 centimeter more, before falling back down when i release the tension on the knob

2: the shutter seems INCREDIBLY lazy, im unsure if i need to tension the curtains somehow, or if this is dirt buildup in the mechanism causing too much friction. Or perhaps a secret 3rd problem.

any help on this would be appreciated, as i’m not too familiar with these kinds of cameras, especially when it comes to repairing them

 

[ProbablyPasta]

a thorton picard ruby reflex “horizontal” to be precise

 

[ProbablyPasta]

UPDATE: After winding the camera a few times to see if i could diagnose the shutter issue, the two “straps” that connect the top and bottom curtain with eachother both came loose! (glue applied a century ago apparently doesn’t hold up all that well ) Not good, since after replacing these all the tension in the curtains is just poof, gone. I assume i have to re-tensions them somehow, but the exact method is a mystery to me. the first picture is the shutter uncocked, the second is after setting a shutter speed and winding. I’ve seen this camera work so i know it’s not supposed to look like… that.

 

[Donald Qualls]

Pictures don't seem to have arrived.

 

[ProbablyPasta]

Pictures don't seem to have arrived.

Hi donald, yeah turns out i used the wrong button, so they didn’t attach. I’ve got the shutter assembly out now and narrowed the problem down to 2 things. One is that the tapes responsible for moving the curtains up and down were re installed incorrectly when someone took this thing apart before me. So i have to cut and attach new tapes for on the curtains, but i’m unsure as to how i should figure out the length. i’ve found some notes on here about the length of the tapes in a ruby “special” camera which is very similar, but i don’t know if i can just copy those without ruining the shutter speeds. Second is that whatever is responsible for rolling the bottom curtain back around it’s spool has grown weak, making the shutter lazy. Unsure how to proceed further in all honesty

 

[Ian Grant]

I've added details on tape lengths in the thread linked to below.

There's photos in this thread of a few TP reflex cameras in this thread.

Ian

 

[ProbablyPasta]

There's photos in this thread of a few TP reflex cameras in this thread.

Ian

ah ian, just the man i’m looking for! i was on this thread recently and your contributions have been incredibly helpful. In this thread someone posted pictures of the dimensions of the curtains and the tape that attached them to the rollers. Can i copy these dimensions without issue? and would you happen to know what the material that the tape is made out of is called? much appreciated

 

[Ian Grant]

You will need to work out the tape lengths for your camera, the shutters vary, and the curtains/tapes lengths vary depending on the camera format. It's better to keep the questions in the other thread.

Ian