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lisa clunie
27-Sep-2010, 15:56
I was recently given a lovely Thornton Pickard camera by an elderly gentleman, I know that the roll shutter on this camera used to work really smoothly and consistently with 2 distinct shutter stages, but the shutter no longer fully opens at the 1st ‘viewing’ stage and is inconsistent as to how far open it is. Apart from this it seems to be in really good nick.
I wonder if the cog needs to be adjusted so that the shutter is locked open at the right point- maybe it came loose/got bumped when I moved the camera to Australia. I figure that its either that or the shutter has slipped a little and/or gummed up a bit so that it is no longer in sync with where it should be .I would really appreciate some advice- before I start to tinker with it. I am planning to use the camera rather than have it as a beautiful decoration. Any other maintenance tips/ restoration advice or any manuals would be most appreciated. I took some pictures showing the shutter and cog at its various stages- but just realised they exceed the max file attachment for this site- so will resize and post later in the day. If you have info and want to send me something you could do so to : lisa.clunie@anu.edu.au.
Any help much appreciated; Cheerio, lisa

miss_emma_jade
27-Sep-2010, 17:34
you can fix it! Go girl. Id love to help, and show it works, but i'm in queensland and u might be in canberra, From your email address. it could be many things, maybe the stitching has come open or the fabric is frayed, and its sticking? Cant wait for the pictures! Good luck with it. Glad its to be used. Emma

Paul Ewins
27-Sep-2010, 17:56
Hi Lisa, they're not that hard to work on. Here's a little tutorial I put together on replacing the curtain - http://www.paulewins.com/old_site/resources/tp_shutter.htm - with luck something in there will show you what the problem is.

Paul

Sevo
28-Sep-2010, 02:06
Thornton Pickard focal plane shutters are a bit more complex than their before-the-shutter accessory roller blinds. The principle is the same, though, and in general, repairing large format blind shutters is mostly a matter of patience. They are generously big, so that basic sewing skills are enough (for Leica shutters, you'd better be a neurosurgeon) and the only thing that is usually terminally broken on them are the rubber cloth blinds and silk tapes, for which you can still get replacements or hack up substitutes.

Sevo

lisa clunie
28-Sep-2010, 02:28
Cool- thanks for all your replies-and yes Emma I am in canberra. Here are some pics of the different stage of the shutter and the cog too which I had figured determines exactly where the shutter decides to stop and so was guessing that the screw would allow me to adjust it a bit. You'll see in these pics I have attached that the 1st stage ( which is the picture with 3 bits) is inconsistent, it used to open perfectly for focussing and now just sticks at various stages of 1/2 open. The other pic is the of shutter fully cocked. Cheers lisa

lisa clunie
28-Sep-2010, 02:33
Thanks for the link to your tutorial Paul. I am a bit baffled cause the shutter seems to be in good condition- I cannot see any fraying- but Ill have a good look at it later in week.

IanG
28-Sep-2010, 02:36
Go for it Lisa, these shutters are easy to repair, even if you have to make a new curtain.

Sometimes the cords get jammed, also they often need replacing, In the UK I use cord sold for french /roman blinds. Paul's pages are all you need, I found them after I'd restored my first shutter.

If you remove the front cover, and the baffle (held by 2 screw, 1 by the speed indicator the other just over an inch further) then you can see clearly exactly what's happening as you cock and trip the shutter.

I've drawn up a new speed dial if anyone needs it as the one on mine had disintegrated.

Ian

numnutz
28-Sep-2010, 05:28
I have a couple of these shutters. I have repaired one It had some pinholes in the blind and needed freeing up and now works fine I get 1/27 sec constantly out of it.

I have a couple of others that need new cloth I wonder what you use for this - I have seen some advertised by Micro tools it is really expensive from the German site but always seems out of stock on the USA site. Is there anywhere else I can get this?

thanks in advance.

nn :)

IanG
28-Sep-2010, 08:09
If the original cloth isn't bad I reseal it, in two cases I had to strip off flaking light proofing using meths, then iron the curtain flat again. I use acrylic black paint for light proofing which I work into the cloth wiping off excess. That's worked on a Speed graphic curtain as well.

I use a similar technique to make new shutter cloths & bellows but choice of cloth is important, some are better than others and I'm still evaluating which is most ideal for each purpose.

Ian

Matt_Bigwood
28-Sep-2010, 23:56
Hi Ian, where can I buy the shutter curtain material in the UK? I need to replace the shutter on my VN camera as it has pinholes in one of the curtains.

Matt

IanG
29-Sep-2010, 01:41
Matt, I'm back in about 3 weeks if you can wait I'll send you some.

Meanwhile if you get a tube of Reeves Acrylic Black paint (http://www.reeves-art.com/product.lasso?sku=8340901+19) (in a transparent plastic tube), it's cheap and high density, I mix a bit wit a drop or two of water and then work into the pinhole areas, then with a damp colth remove excess, so there's almost mon left on the shutter curtain surface, I do this on both sides. So far curtains have lasted 3-4 years.

Ian

Matt_Bigwood
29-Sep-2010, 06:28
Thanks Ian, your advice is much appreciated.

Matt

Farside
30-Sep-2010, 09:50
I used a quick and dirty method of pinhole (actually, lines of them) filling by mixing 50/50 black acrylic paint and PVA, then brushing the FP shutter of my Ihagee Zwieverschluss. This has been working well for the past year or so, but when I eventually need to replace the curtain material I found a Japanese supplier here...
http://aki-asahi.com/store/html/curtains/shutter-curtain.php
I see he no longer lists the material in long lengths, but at the worst I could attach two or more short ones together.

IanG
4-Oct-2010, 00:21
You don't need to add the PVA the acrylic paint works perfectly on its own.

Ian