8x10 Burke and James View Camera, advice

[Louis Pacilla]

The Ilex Acme is a good shutter, but probably should be cleaned lubed and adjusted. Any first class shutter tech will be able to get it tuned up again. These are tough and long lived shutters.

Some of the very early Ilex Acme shutters had troubles. But the later rim set Acme shutters (which are most of them we see) are fine shutters. But a CLA will not hurt even if it runs semi OK.

So What premortho said.

[roresteen]

I just saw this post...I have a 5x7 Grover...it's a beast but solid...if the bellows is good, then $275.00 for the camera alone seems lie a good buy.

[Bill, 70's military B&W]

Thanks to everyone,
If I were going to CLA this Ilex Acme shutter, where would I send it and what would be a good price?
Bill

[premortho]

Have you tried the shutter and diaphram to see if it is not working correctly? I'm not sure if I have the name right, but Carol Flutot comes to mind. She's on the west coast. Once this shutter of yours is CLA'd, it should last you a lifetime.

[premortho]

Bill, I should have said that if you were in your early twenties, a good cla should make it last a lifetime or two!

[Bill, 70's military B&W]

The shutter is not working, the diaphragm is very smooth. Thanks for the info, I checked and Carol Flutot has her prices listed, CLA for $65-75.
Here is her contact info

http://flutotscamerarepair.com/index.htm

I'll be contacting her next week.

[Bill, 70's military B&W]

premortho, I just spoke with Carol Flutot, she said to say "Hi" to the Forum. In her opinion, this Acme shutter is not worth fixing. Maybe it's just the wrong model, too old.
Now I've got another lens without a shutter. Is that a common problem?

[John Koehrer]

Another technician for view camera shutters is Paul Ebel in Wisconsin.
It's probably(?) worth fixing than replacing. As in finding the correct size. IDK
The Packard is a quick & easy solution but not all Packards have the "I" speed and are B and "depends how fast you squeeze the bulb".
Two other options are a "drop shutter" and "roller blind" shutter. Both of these fit on the front of the lens. The drop shutter is a pretty easy DIY project with material from a hobby shop. Model aircraft plywood(6X12) and styrene sheet(8X10) they both come in different thicknesses and can be worked with something like a utility knife.
A little black paint to finish it up.

[premortho]

These shutters are from 60 to 100 years old. So some of them are past fixing. You need to find a shutter repair service that has a lot of Acme parts, and let them fix it. So, if it was mine, I'd look at the speeds and see how many are there. Some only go to 1/50th. And old ones don't have flash synchro. Not that that's a big problem, there are plenty of solonoids on e-bay. But I'm cheap... I'd get a Packard shutter with the instant device, and mount it behind the lensboard.

[Bill, 70's military B&W]

Carol @ Fluotots said for me to send the Acme in with 2 other shutters I have for CLA and she'd look it over. I'm looking into the Packard shutter.
The broken Acme I have goes up to 1/300 sec.