Easily available lube for Argus C-3 Shutter Works

hipsterdufus

hipsterdufus

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Hi, everyone! I'm new to the site, but I've enjoyed reading a lot of the comments and love that folks have for the old 35mm rangefinders.

So, to my question, I have begun disassembling an old Argus C-3 that is really quite beat up. The shutter was sticking at slow speeds almost every time it was released. So, I'm to the point where I can clean and lubricate the shutter works (front of camera removed). However, I don't really know what materials to use to do this. I've heard of using lighter fluid to clean the parts. What lighter fluid should I get and where can I find it (besides on-line). Also, once the parts are clean, where can I find an easily available oil to relubricate them? What oil would you recommend? I know a lot of folks use watch lubricants, but I'm not going to mail order watch lubricant for a simple C-3. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks a lot!
 
hipsterdufus said:
Hi, everyone! I'm new to the site, but I've enjoyed reading a lot of the comments and love that folks have for the old 35mm rangefinders.

So, to my question, I have begun disassembling an old Argus C-3 that is really quite beat up. The shutter was sticking at slow speeds almost every time it was released. So, I'm to the point where I can clean and lubricate the shutter works (front of camera removed). However, I don't really know what materials to use to do this. I've heard of using lighter fluid to clean the parts. What lighter fluid should I get and where can I find it (besides on-line). Also, once the parts are clean, where can I find an easily available oil to relubricate them? What oil would you recommend? I know a lot of folks use watch lubricants, but I'm not going to mail order watch lubricant for a simple C-3. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...

Pretty much any lighter fluid will do (Zippo, Ronsonol, and etcetera -- they're all pure naptha), or you can go to the hardware store and get a gallon can of naptha (same thing, but sold as an industrial solvent). Camp stove gas (also known as white gas or Coleman gas) is also naptha, and is sold in sporting goods stores. Most charcoal lighting fluid is also naptha and is often sold in grocery stores (but you need to read the ingredients, and make sure it doesn't have anything else in it; some contain paraffin, and those would not be suitable).

If you don't want to order Nye watch oil online (or whale oil, or Novastar, or other watch oil) then you can go to the sporting goods store and get a small bottle of Rem Oil (a light oil used for lubricating guns). The brand isn't really important; what is important is that it be a very light (low viscosity) oil that doesn't spread. 3-in-1 and other general-purpose oils are too thick, and have a strong tendency to spread, so do not use those. Vegetable based oils, like castor oil, tend to gum up in relatively short order and they are biodegradable (in this case, that would be a bad thing), so don't use those either. The most important quality though is that it not spread. If you've just CLAd your camera, it would be utterly insane to use an oil that is going to spread and be back on the shutter blades inside a week.
 
Nye 140B is excellent. Ronell Clock Co. in Oregon has most
of the Nye oils at very reasonable prices. Super nice folks, too.
 
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