Contax 2 ribbon length

[richardHaw]

Thanks, my stitching for the bottom roller tucks-in neatly to the milled slot on the bottom roller

can it be the stitching of the top roller?

I will open the back panel and take pictures of what I can. The friction clutches/buckles look tight on mine but otherwise seems unmodified. the ribbons pass through there smoothly but not effortlessly which I take is good.

I am currently working on another Contax, the model 2a and I think i am more comfortable working on the shutter of the post-war design.

I also saw the kiev survival site some years ago. apart from the type of ribbon, my setup looked the same

 

[Highway 61]

can it be the stitching of the top roller?

No it can't.

If you can clearly see an uneven motion of the shutter curtains (either the first or the second curtain because both are linked to the spring unit in question in a passive way thanks to the ribbons, this is how the prewar Contax shutter works) I would suspect a semi-defective bottom roller drum spring unit, which has to be replaced with a good one coming from a Kiev shutter. At this point you don't have to re-do the stitches or replace the ribbons (you just remove the bottom roller drum end caps, fit the already stitched ribbons loops in place on the "new" drum roller unit, and reinstall the drum end caps before you reassemble). In case of the use of a bottom drum roller spring unit coming from a Kiev I would recommend to keep the original leather brake of the Contax part instead of the felt brake of the Kiev part.

Or - the ribbons material you used has some unexpected flexiness and don't enroll following a linear speed curve when the shutter is fired.