Any experience with shutter curtain cloth and strap from Aki-Asahi ?

You are especially brave to replace just the material in your curtains. I wimped out and bought a nice set (several actually) from a Ukraine seller, Blyatnikov.
Good luck......I would be scared that the ribbons would come out of the laths...

Dave...
 
Material

Material

fidget said:
You are especially brave to replace just the material in your curtains. I wimped out and bought a nice set (several actually) from a Ukraine seller, Blyatnikov.

Dave...
Click to expand...

So did I! It turns out that I could need it for an old Canon IV......Hi Ondrey where did you get those materials as perhaps I have to buy them for my Canon RF (In case the Zorki solution is not feasible9
 
Aki's material isn't bad. It works fine. I just replaced a 1st curtain
in a Zorki-6 with it. It seems durable and is the same thickness
as both the Leica and Russian material. His ribbon material isn't all that good.
It's about 3.5 as opposed to 4mm and doesn't glue nearly as well as
the original Russian stuff, for instance. It'll work though. But, as far as I know
Aki hasn't sold either for months and he hasn't responded to email
over the issue. 'japan-hobby-tool' has some on eBay at an outrageous
price, $47.80 delivered for a 220x300mm sheet. It's probably the
same material Aki was selling. Haven't tried Microtools, and Oleg's bulk
material is listed as NLA on his website. Haven't read about anyone
that was thrilled with it anyway. He does have 4mm straps though. Again,
a little expensive, imho. Just use the original straps but be sure and
get the old glue residue off as best you can. Also, you might email Jon Hartman
and give his .15mm material a try. It's best used with the pressure-sensitive
tape he provides.

john
 
get the old glue residue off as best you can. Also, you might email Jon Hartman
and give his .15mm material a try. It's best used with the pressure-sensitive
tape he provides.

john[/quote]


Err, that should be Jon Goodman ! My sincerest apologies, Jon.
Damn 100 degree heat.
 
Spyderman said:
Any experience? Is the material the same as the original? Especially - are the straps the same width?

Thanx in advance.
Click to expand...


Ondrej

Aki-Asahi's straps are 3mm, and quite thin. They should work well in an FSU camera. FSU cameras aren't really picky with curtain/strap materials. They work with even home-made curtains and straps (the only type I've used since I started shutter work with FED and Zorki).

The shutters allow a generous margin with the straps' width. A difference of 0,25mm should not affect your shutter's performance.

The specs of Aki-Asahi's shutter materials are within the specs required by Zorki or FED. Older cameras used shutter blinds as thick as 0.4mm. Later ones used curtain thickness of about 0,2-0,25mm.

Jay
 
Spyderman said:
Jay: what material do YOU use for the curtains? I'm just curious...
Click to expand...


HI Ondrej

I use synthetic silk (same type used for rain jackets and umbrellas) for the base material. This is then hand-coated with rubberised cloth paint, black of course. I've made curtains in the past which were coated red on the other side.

The coating is applied by hand, using a rubber squeegee. Coating is the next most difficult part in the process. The most tricky (and critical) part is heat-curing the coated fabric to fix the paint. Too much heat -using an ordinary steam iron- and the rubber coating thickens too much. The curtain becomes a
virtual rubber sheet.

This method would yield shutter fabric which is about 0,25mm thick. But the thickness isn't very even. For FED, Zorki and even an occasional Leica or Canon, this doesn't seem to matter at all. The surface sometimes look flakey, but again, this doesn't affect the shutter's effectivity.

I cut narrow strips from the same coated fabric for use as shutter straps/ribbons. Again, the exact width, so long as it doesn't become too wide for the shutter pulleys, isn't too critical. I would think that the straps I cut would vary from 2,5 to 3.35 mm. And sometimes within the same strap.

Having put these in many Zorki and FED whose shutters did work right after repair should prove that this home-made shutter cloth works. I've sent Jon Goodman a sample about a couple of years ago and he used them for his Zenit. I also sent some to Oleg Khalyavin- I don't know though if the material went in any of the cameras he repaired. 🙂

Jay

PS, I could send you some. I've got some left, after assigning the rest to about 6 Zorki and FED waiting to get shutter replacements.
 
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Jay

So if I visit the islands you are the person walking around with a FSU camera and a rain coat with large holes?

Noel
 
I also have the thin shutter curtain cloth that is needed by Leica, Olympus and others who used it...and it works fine in FED, Zorki, etc. Also the silk ribbons. Also the pressure sensitive adhesive (same as used on the foam I sell). If interested, you can e:mail me at Jgood21967@aol.com.

It isn't expensive at all. Years ago I bought a roll of the stuff, and it should last me until I become at least 1,000 years old. Singapore made.
Jon
 
Hi,

just measured the 2 original materials. The original FSU strap is 0.15mm thick and 4mm wide and the curtian rubberized cloth is 0.3-0.35mm thick.

In a PM from Jay he mentioned that the strap and curtain should be the same thickness... how come the Russians used different thickness ?
 
Spyderman said:
Hi,

just measured the 2 original materials. The original FSU strap is 0.15mm thick and 4mm wide and the curtian rubberized cloth is 0.3-0.35mm thick.

In a PM from Jay he mentioned that the strap and curtain should be the same thickness... how come the Russians used different thickness ?
Click to expand...


Material availability? 🙂

The curtain used in the FED and Zorki varied in thickness. For instance, FED from the prewar to immediate postwar eras used thick (almost 0.4 - 0.45mm) cloth. Using thinner replacement materials on these won't affect the shutter's performance. Rather they become lighter to wind, and often, less noisy to fire. Tensioning tends to be less too.

Having both curtain and strap at the same thickness simplifies the installation process during repair/replacement.

Jay
 
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