Work on my Exakta VX IIb shutter curtain?

[jay moussy]

Last year, I was given this Exakta VX IIb with interesting accessories. At the time, I put it aside as it was all a bit complex.

A casual look indicates that the curtain has a few pinholes, a common problem on these.
I have read about repairs done by applying some sort of pliable material.
Would it work on a shutter this old, and maybe fragile?

 

[E. von Hoegh]

I can't see your curtains, so I can't give much of an answer. Black acrylic artist's paint, rubbed into a small pinhole, will work for a while. The proper solution is new curtains.
Your curtains, like old bellows, will only get worse.

 

[Tel]

Ditto that. I've only used the acrylic paint fix once: on a Graflex RB with a shutter curtain made of something just thinner than sail canvas. On a shutter as thin as the Exakta's it might work but not for long.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

Ditto that. I've only used the acrylic paint fix once: on a Graflex RB with a shutter curtain made of something just thinner than sail canvas. On a shutter as thin as the Exakta's it might work but not for long.

Maybe the OP just wants to get it operational for a few rolls, in which case any short term repair will do.

A while ago I bought a pristine 1949 MIOJ Canon IIb, the curtains lit up like a tiny planetarium. I gooped them up and played with it a bit, fell in love with it (it's basically a Leica III clone & just as well made), made new curtains and gave the whole thing a true overhaul with modern lubricants. I like it so much that I bought a 1946 Summitar to screw onto it, which came to me with nasty looking separation but perfect glass and coatings, it's now recemented and I'd not trade it for any other Leica 50.

I mixed lampblack with latex to lightproof a Graphlex RB shutter, maybe about 1990, it's still just fine! I shook out as much as I could of the ossified rubber, and squeegeed in the latex.

 

[jay moussy]

OP here, good answers. Yes, I should try the patching first, test, and see how it holds with occasional light use.

The curtain replacement option remains open as well.

 

[shutterfinger]

Graflex SLR shutter curtains were rubberized silk .007 inch thick. They quit working well in the camera when the curtain swells to .025 inch thick. The swelling occurs with age from poor storage and will wrinkle and peel off if left exposed to the storage environment by leaving a film holder off. 35mm SLR curtains are similar but .003 or .004 inch thick.
Golden Heavy Body Acrylic Artist Paint #1040 carbon black dries flexible and is opaque. It works well diluted no more than 1:1 and applied in thin coats with a fine bristle artist brush. It last well also.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

Graflex SLR shutter curtains were rubberized silk .007 inch thick. They quit working well in the camera when the curtain swells to .025 inch thick. The swelling occurs with age from poor storage and will wrinkle and peel off if left exposed to the storage environment by leaving a film holder off. 35mm SLR curtains are similar but .003 or .004 inch thick.
Golden Heavy Body Acrylic Artist Paint #1040 carbon black dries flexible and is opaque. It works well diluted no more than 1:1 and applied in thin coats with a fine bristle artist brush. It last well also.

That's essentially the lampblack & latex thing I did, just mine was homebrew.
My shutter, after 30-sh years on the "repair" works as it should. Maybe not so pretty.