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View Full Version : S.K. Grimes Recent Experiences?



Neal Shields
9-Jan-2005, 18:22
My low speeds on my 75 Biogon just went belly up.

Last time I had a problem with them I sent it to Steve Grimes and it came back accurate to three decmal places.

I haven't used it much sinse them but I suspect that the problem isn't their fault but just something breaking.

It won't even work on B. It opens but doesn't close when you release the cable. You have to give the leaver a nudge on any speed from B to 1/50.

Last time the service was great, price reasonable and repair perfect. Do they still maintain that standard?

Also does anyone know anywhere there is any "new old stock" Compur shutters?

Brian Ellis
9-Jan-2005, 18:30
I've used them for a couple things, I can't now remember exactly what, but the service was fine. I don't think Steve is replaceable but his successors seemed to do as well as is possible. .

Dan Fromm
9-Jan-2005, 18:53
Neal, if you want a new shutter, Copals interchange with Compurs. If you can't abide Copals, don't tell me.

I had a couple of shutters worked on mid-fall at SKGrimes, all came back correct. I have two lenses there now, expect nothing less than their usual.

Cheers,

Dan

Michael Kadillak
9-Jan-2005, 19:06
The last few things I sent them were done just fine albeit a bit slow, but I did notice that they appear to be sub-contracting some work out recently. The reason that I know is that a job for an anodized expansion filter ring on my 16 1/2" Red Dot Artar along with a fabricated lens cap came from another shop in the mail and rather caught me by surprise. I have no doubt that they would stand behind this work as well as their own and I guess that is all that matters.

The good news I surmise is that business is good which as it turns out is also the origin of the bad news from a quick turn around perspective. I try to be patient, but I do call Adam periodically and rattle his cage a bit about work I am interested in checking the status on and he always takes my calls and is very service oriented. As long as he keeps his sense of humor and continues to maintain a high standard of performance output to customers, I am pleased.

Cheers!

Neal Shields
9-Jan-2005, 19:27
Dan;

No problem with that at all but the 75mm Biogon front element is so heavy that the structure of the shutter won't support it. The one I have is in a massive housing and I think that I remember being told that a Copal won't fit inside. I would change out in a minute if I could.

David A. Goldfarb
9-Jan-2005, 19:51
They did a fine job with a Compound shutter I sent around a year ago, and recently made a special adapter ring to put an 11.5" Verito on a Linhof board, which I've posted about under "classic lenses."

Armin Seeholzer
10-Jan-2005, 05:09
I have good news for all Europe guys re repairs!
I just heared very good tings from a little company here in Switzerland I'm not in any way connected to it!
The boss of the company has about 40 years of expierience in camera repair and they are official service center for Agfa, Bauer, Braun, Canon, Hasselblad, Kodak, Leica, but he can also repair any shutter etc.
www.ziegler-ag-fototechnik.ch

Dan Fromm
10-Jan-2005, 05:12
Neil, if y'r Compur -- which size? -- can't be repaired or replaced, you might consider having the lens remounted in a Copal. Its been a while since I've seen 'em, but if I recall correctly Steve had several pallets of 75/4.5 Biogons and occasionally put one in a Copal 1. I've handled a finished one. The finished ones weren't cheap, but they comprised lens, new shutter, and machining. SKGrimes charged me and at least four of my customers $300 t0 extract a 38 Biogon from an AGI F135 shutter and put it in a Copal.

Michael, AFAIK SKG has always sent aluminum parts out to be anodized. When I've bugged 'em about where my gear was the answer has almost always been "the parts are at the anodizing shop." I've been up to Woonsocket a couple of times, most recently last spring, and there's nothing in house that would do for anodizing.

Cheers,

Dan

J. P. Mose
10-Jan-2005, 06:04
Neal,

The barrel mount US Government 75mm Biogons (hundreds of them) have been mounted in Copal shutters. In fact, Steve Grimes used to perform this modification and sell them on his website.

Keep in mind that your Biogon will loose some of its collectable value if you switch out the original shutter. That and cost of conversion may be enough reason to merely repair your existing Compur shutter. If you very apprehensive about returning to S. K. Grimes, perhaps you should contact Ken at Focal Point Lens in Colorado (www.focalpointlens.com). Ken does outstanding work!

darter
10-Jan-2005, 08:27
S.K. Grimes is slower than before (I think they are still looking for an additional machinist) but the quality is excellent.

Jim_3565
10-Jan-2005, 08:35
Last spring I captured an image that I was so excited about that I dropped my 210mm Nikkor onto a marble floor and cracked the shutter housing. I sent it to S.K. Grimes who replaced it with a reconditioned Copal. I actually like it better now than I did with the original shutter. Steve must have trained these guys superbly. They seem to be doing his name proud.

Paul Butler
11-Jan-2005, 08:59
They did a recent CLA for me, and it took 3 weeks which seems about par for them. 1928 dial set compur and Zeiss Tessar lens, the outcome was excellent.

Steve Grimes.
19-Jan-2005, 17:30
Good Day Folks,

Thank you for the referrals and continued support. Sometimes we do have projects that take us a little longer but we always want to ensure the quality of the projects we work on meet and exceed our standards. If we’re not happy with the results, then how can we expect you to be.

Neal, the more recent 75 Biogons (done in the last 2 years) we have been remounting were compatible with Copal #1 shutter. We can certainly take a look at yours and give you a quick evaluation of repairable/ remountability of the lens.

Dan et al, I believe Michael is referring to the name “Dabones Studios LMT” which was in the return address of a package we recently sent him. I have to apologize for this confusion, as I have not made a public announcement about Dabones Studios. In August of 2004, I finished purchasing the assets of S.K. Grimes. For a couple reasons, I established a new company, Dabones Studios and purchased the assets, including the name, of S.K. Grimes. Publicly, we still operate as S.K. Grimes. To the government, we are Dabones Studio LMT.

So what's up with the name?

Before working with Steve, I worked at Olive Jar Studios in Boston and was an apprentice to an armature machinist. A stop-motion armature is the metal skeleton inside a clay / foam / cloth puppet. Think "Nightmare Before Christmas" or "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer." I still machine armatures for students and professionals. In this industry, I'm known as Dabones Studios, because I build "da bones" of the puppet.

Dabones was also a nickname I had back in school. I was a pretty skinny kid back then.

Thanks you all once again for the referrals and you are always welcome to give us a call or email if you have question.

Adam Dau

Dan Fromm
19-Jan-2005, 19:13
Adam, you're still pretty skinny ...

Cheers,

Dan

QT Luong
21-Jan-2005, 15:29
The last time I sent a job there (post Steve Grimmes), the result has been below expectations, although the job was fairly simple (remount a lens in a Copal). Adam, since you are reading this thread, maybe you could contact me, since my email to you went unanswered.