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jim10219
23-Mar-2017, 17:38
Hello all! I was wondering if any of you could help me out. I have a B&L Tessar 1c 5x8 in what I believe is a Compound 3 shutter. The glass isn't bad, but the shutter was in rough shape when I received it. The previous owner somehow jammed up the iris and broke or severely bent about half the blades. I tried using it with just a few removed, but I don't have enough good ones to keep them all in place. I even tried fashioning some shims to keep them in place, but I couldn't get that to work. I got the shutter working well though! So right now it's a permanent F/4.5, though I'm thinking about making some paper Waterhouse stops to drop in between the back between the rear lens and the shutter. Still, that's a hassle to mess with.

Does anyone know if the blades in a barrel version of this lens would fit this shutter? Or what about the blades off a similar sized Compur shutter? Or could i just directly install this lens into a Compur 3 shutter without any modifications (assuming I could find a good one cheap enough)? Is there a good way to DIY some replacements (I can't find a material thin and strong enough)? I've been looking for a donor Compound 3 shutter, but haven't come across one at a reasonable price. I don't want to send it off to have some made, because it's just never going to be worth that much and I'd rather live with the paper stops or permanent F/4.5 for that kind of money. I bought it more because it was cheap than because I needed yet another 200ish mm lens.

el french
24-Mar-2017, 09:51
How thick are the blades? Have you looked at shim stock? https://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-shims/=16w8wad

jim10219
24-Mar-2017, 10:16
How thick are the blades? Have you looked at shim stock? https://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-shims/=16w8wad

No, I didn't think to try that place! Thanks for the suggestion! Those prices don't seem too bad either! I'll have to get out the calipers and measure them later on. They're pretty thin. Thinner than the 100# paper that I tried, which was also too rough and created too much resistance anyway.

cowanw
24-Mar-2017, 12:37
I have used fully exposed and developed large format film as blades in a studio shutter.