Shutter lubrication

[Tumbles]

I have a Seiko #0 shutter that's mostly disassembled. The shutter blades have become clogged with oil and are barely moveable. I haven't gotten into that part yet. This shutter was professionally serviced something over 10 years ago.

I've found and taken note of a number of parts that have some dark grease on them that I assume is molybdenum grease. I'm trying figure out what type of molybdenum grease is appropriate to use? I haven't been able to turn up much info on this, as far as what brands to use. The only stuff I have on hand is ARP Moly Fastener Assembly Lube, which is left over from when I had an engine to rebuild.

For the slow speed escapement, I plan to use Nye Oil 140C once it's been through the ultrasonic cleaner.

 

[titrisol]

Per Chris Sherlock.... moly powder is better than grease for these shutters.
Check his videos for information on how to

Chris Sherlock

Mostly stuff related to the Kodak Retina series of 35mm cameras, especially repair. You can find my website here....https://retinarescue.com

www.youtube.com

 

[OAPOli]

Molybdenum disulfide powder for the operating ring and its channel. Just a light rub to leave a sheen and blow off excess. Moly paste for lever pivots, latching or rubbing surfaces. Light rub also. You can make moly paste by mixing moly powder with Nye oil.

You can leave the escapement dry. Or apply a small rub of moly powder on the gears and a drop of oil on the gear shaft bushings.

You can use graphite instead of moly powder but apparently it is slightly abrasive.

PS. The Seiko is not an easy shutter to work on.

 

[4season]

I've been using the same tube of Molykote G-N for years, but the more experienced I become, the less I use: A light film on areas which see high metal-on-metal contact forces, including leaf shutter cocking rings and gears, ought to suffice.

Seiko speed escapement on my Minoltina caused me some head-scratching: It obviously didn't run properly when clean and dry, but applying even my lightest oils wasn't working much better. That's when I remembered the trick of using oil diluted in solvent, and that did the trick. Some escapements work fine with even a generous drop of oil, but this wasn't one of them.

 

[retina_restoration]

Molybdenum paste for metal on metal friction areas (but not shutter or aperture blades). I use Recoil Paste and just rub a bit into a paintbrush and then brush it on lightly: it should look like you have barely dirtied the surface of the metal, not glob it on.

 

[Tumbles]

Thanks for all the info everyone. This is exactly what I was looking for.

I'm seeing grease mainly on pins that sit in cylinders, and on the cocking ring and the gear that it engages. The heavy spring below this gear is pretty heavily greased. I'm not sure how correct this is.

So far I haven't found this too terribly difficult to work on, yet. I have Compur-P shutter that needs work. After I opened it up and moved things around a bit, it scared me well away from it.

For this shutter I lucked out and found a video of someone working on the exact same one as I am:

 

[OAPOli]

It's usual to grease the main spring and cam a bit more liberally since the friction forces are high.

It's a good video. The Seiko is very busy with tiny springs in the section to the left of the main spring. I notice that he didn't take out the springs for the operating ring return and X/M detent. You'll need to remove it to split the shutter and clean the blades. It's tricky to put back. Pay attention on how the blades are arranged. The first is a stub you can see at 8 o'clock and the last is different for the other regular blades.

 

[Tumbles]

Currently, I've managed to get the shutter and aperture blades cleaned and working smoothly. The aperture blades were fiddly, and they took awhile to get together. I'm relieved that is wasn't quite the nightmare I thought it could be.

I've just been waiting for the Molykote to arrive in the mail before proceed I any further. I have another week to wait. It's really taking it's time.

Something I noticed was one of the pins in the escapement is bent towards the outside of the case. I'm not sure how well this shows in the photo. I'm wondering if this could cause problems and throw off times? I'm guessing it might be fine since the speeds were tested last time it was serviced. It hasn't seen very much use since then.

 

[4season]

Currently, I've managed to get the shutter and aperture blades cleaned and working smoothly. The aperture blades were fiddly, and they took awhile to get together. I'm relieved that is wasn't quite the nightmare I thought it could be.

I've just been waiting for the Molykote to arrive in the mail before proceed I any further. I have another week to wait. It's really taking it's time.

Something I noticed was one of the pins in the escapement is bent towards the outside of the case. I'm not sure how well this shows in the photo. I'm wondering if this could cause problems and throw off times? I'm guessing it might be fine since the speeds were tested last time it was serviced. It hasn't seen very much use since then.

View attachment 420901

Be careful with that! Cameras like Hasselblad V-system are old school designs, and those parts were often deliberately bent as part of the factory alignment. If you straighten things out simply because "they don't look right", not only are you likely to mess up the alignment, but if you manage to snap off one of those pins, you will be very, very sorry.

 

[BrianShaw]

Clean and lube per specification before even thinking about adjustments!

 

[OAPOli]

Yes it's possible to adjust the times via the pin; leave it as is. You'll probably see some swaging marks on the speed cam plate; same idea.

 

[Tumbles]

Yeah, trying to bend it is not something I would want to try on my own. If it needed to happen, I would take it to someone else.