How to repear a Thornton Pickard Roller Blind Shutter

[nehartmannn]

Just got a Thornton Pickard Roller Blind Shutter
1) how does this shutter funktion (link ??)
2) It is working, but surely not optamal. How to repear ??? (link ??)

I hope to use the shutter with my ICA (13x18) or my 1/2 plate Gandolfi and some old brass lenses.....


Thanks

Niels-Erik
denmark

[Ash]

you pull the string to cock the shutter, then press the button to fire it.

the string is often broken or lost inside the body. take off the front piece (held by 4 screws) and look to the bottom.

It's all pretty simple. Just a pain. :)

[nehartmannn]

Thanks..... Manny times.....

I can pull the string and the 'curten' is following Ok...
But cant find any button to fire.....
The string is not broken
And I think I have to upload some pictures to get a little more help
Just give me a little time... have to take pictures ......

It is also 'imposible' for me to set the time... It is at the bottom of the shutter.....
n-e

[BrianShaw]

Do a search of the archives on this forum, and a Google search. There is a gent who put up a really nice site - last year, I believe - on T-P shutters. I can't recall his name right now, but you should be able to find it without too much difficulty.

EDIT: I forgot that the info I was referring to was on APUG, inthe Plate Camera forum. Here is the web site I was pointing you to:

http://www.apug.org/forums/forum192/26251-rebuilding-t-p-roller-blind-shutters.html#post300779

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~paulewins/resources/tp_shutter.htm

[Ernest Purdum]

Maybe there are some parts missing. To release the shutter, you pull out on the long metal arm at one side of the housing. This arm also moves a little to go from instaneous to time if yours is the most common model. Speeds are set by a little knob on one side which turns a marker on the other side. This should click every time a higher speed is selected. To go to lower speeds, you pull out on an oddly shaped spring, allowing the marker to unwind.

[nehartmannn]

I have tryed many things this evening (it is abaut 20:00 in Dk now).....
I seemes like the spring is not working and I have (up til now) found out how to set the timer.....
But I am trying.....
Thanks for your help.... Ernest, Brian and Ash... It is much appreciated......

niels-erik


PS and I can still need some help :-)

[Gene McCluney]

If you will post some detail photos of what you have, so some of us can see the condition of your shutter, we can advise you better.

[nehartmannn]

Yes Gene and others: Here are the pictures

http://www.fotokritik.dk/kritik.html?pic=329535

http://www.fotokritik.dk/kritik.html?pic=329535-1

http://www.fotokritik.dk/kritik.html?pic=329535-2



niels-erik

PS you may just go to the first picture....the two 'extras' are on the same page......

[BrianShaw]

What does "Vi er oppe at køre igen hurtigst muligt!" mean? My language skills are deficient. :o

[nehartmannn]

That means that the site is not stabil....

We are not running OK try again a little later .....that is what it means....

[BrianShaw]

OK - I can get to the pics. Your shutter looks complete except for one thing - the shutter release holder. I've seen different styles of these. Mine has a half-circle "clip" that holds an air release. The air release had a bladder at the end that expanded and pushed the long release bar up when the bulb was squeezed. On Paul Ewins web site he shows a bell-crank type attachment that might hold a cable release. It sounds to me like your spring may be broken if you can't get any tension. Can yo feel any spring tension when you turn the shutter speed knob to faster speed (or move the "pawl spring" and let the shutter speed knob spin down to a slower speed?

[BrianShaw]

Here's a pic I grabbed from somewhere on the net - this is what the air bladder T-P shutter release (air bladder) looks like. The bulb, of course, if for squeezing; the black ring is what I assume gets secured by the half-circle clip I mentioned; and the air bladder at the end is what pushes up the release bar on the side of the shutter.

[nehartmannn]

I will send some more pictures in just 5 minutes....
1) I can't turn the shutter speed knob to faster speed or slower or at all......
2) I can't feel any tension at all
3) I think that the pictures shows how to release the shutter ??


Picture:

http://www.fotokritik.dk/kritik.html?pic=329535-3


sorry not a very good picture, but it showes how I attaced a shuttercabel to the shutter arm...

[BrianShaw]

Ok - the pic is good enough to get the idea. That is what I suspected the hole in the release arm was for. None of my T-P shutters have such a hole, but I'll be drilling and tapping them whenever I get around to overhauling the shutters!

It sounds to me like your spring might be broken and/or twisted and jammed up. did you follow Ernest's directionon how to set/release the shutter speed spring tension? If so... and you still feel no tension, then I'd suspect tthat I might be right.

To be honest, I'm always amazed that these shutters ran at all... or for very long. Wood, metal, and humidity tend to result in rust. My T-P shutters all show rust on the pivots (axles). I'm thinking about bushing them with brass to improve performance.

At this point you might consider using your shutter as an experiment. Disassemble, using Paul Ewins site as a guide, and see what you can learn. Maybe you'll be able to repair.... and maybe not. You might not have much to lose given the shutter's condition.

[nehartmannn]

Thanks Brian

I will put a note up here when it is working..... hopefuly....
I just taken it 'a little apart' and nothing i working now :-))


Niels-Erik
Copenhagen