UK Focal Plane Shutter Repairman Needed

[timparkin]

I've just bought a beautiful condition, fully working Zeiss Icon Miroflex A but the shutter has pinholes in it and some areas that are quite thin. I would really like to get the camera in a useable state and was wondering if anyone knows of a UK based expert who would be able to look at the camera. I have a roll of shutter curtain material if that helps.

I'm reluctant to try this myself but if I can't get an expert I'll have a crack (I'll get a trash one off ebay to play with first!)

Tim Parkin

 

[shutterfinger]

Acrylic carbon black artist paint and washable black fabric paint work well for patching pin holes in shutter curtains and bellows.
Shutter curtains: dilute the paint 25% to 50% with label recommended thinners and apply 2 or 3 thin layers.
Bellows: apply to the inside of the bellows.

 

[Xmas]

apply thin coat and leave for hours before moving shutter fabric or a further coat

buy several zorkis and when you rebuild their shutters think about... The zorkis can work as well.

 

[Steve Roberts]

Hi,
I just bought a Miranda B which had a split in the second shutter curtain. After firing the shutter a dozen or so times, the curtain parted company with itself. Apparently the B is a fairly rare model and mine is in excellent condition apart from the shutter. Apart from the fact that I don't know who would undertake a shutter curtain replacement, I suspect that if I did find someone the cost would be far more than the camera's worth, though perhaps that's not the case with your Miroflex. I do basic repairs to SLRs, though I've never delved quite as deep as shutter curtain repair. However, there's plenty of information on the web about the techniques involved and though they tend to relate to Leicas, Zorkis etc., I don't imagine that the basic principles are too different between FP shutters of that vintage. I regard it as being a job for the long winter evenings and if it should go seriously wrong, my £15 Miranda will have to suffice as a display item.
Best wishes,
Steve

 

[Ian Grant]

These large focal plane shutters usually use a different material to modern small shutters, it's to do with dimensional stability (stretch etc). I supply material for large Graflex shutters to a US repairman and I know he tested and tried many materials first.

I'd try re-light-proofing the original curtains first, I've done that with a Speed Graphic and it's still fine 6 or 7 years later but a lot depends on the condition of the original curtains.

Not all these older shutters work on quite the same principles, Graflex use a long shutter curtain and a variety of slits of different slit widths and different tensions so the speed is dependant on the combination of slit width & tension, some shutters use elaborate mechanisms to vary the width of slit between two curtains that effectively get used as one (in use) while the best use two curtains, a Leica/Zorki uses a scaled down version.

The best of the old FP shutters in early Reflex cameras are modular (Thornton Pickard Ruby Reflex) and can be removed complete from the camera, I've never looked at a Miroflex so havae no idea how easy they would be to work on.

If you need any advice PM me. I've a backlog of large shutters (inc 5 FP) I'll be restoring over the next few weeks and some spare materials.

Ian