IIIF Shutter Curtain

[davidrol]

Hello members,
Does anyone know the shutter curtain dimensions for a IIIF black dial? My curtains was very old and brittle, and disintegrated during disassembly. Also, I'm have the toughest time removing the large drum. The top screw must have been set with an equivalent of Loctite. Is it reverse threaded? Otherwise the tear-down was quite easy.

Any suggestions will be tremendous help. By the way, I have enough left over curtain and ribbon material for three (3) more shutter sets, if someone is interested.

Best Regards, davidrol😕

 

[colyn]

You can buy original replacement curtains at http://www.dagcamera.com which will include the tapes.

The screw is right hand.

 

[John Elder]

Do your self a very big favour and just ship the camera to Youxin Ye. You will be a happy camper for sure.

 

[mongo141]

A IIf has a right hand thread so it should be the same. The problem is that screw is an almost interference fit and the slghtest bit of rust will lock it in place. I have used some stuff called "KROIL" to loosen things up ( it had to sit a couple of day's), but you need a properly fitting screwdriver blade and some power to get it loose. ( I thought I was going to break something) but it came loose. Dave

Hello members,
Does anyone know the shutter curtain dimensions for a IIIF black dial? My curtains was very old and brittle, and disintegrated during disassembly. Also, I'm have the toughest time removing the large drum. The top screw must have been set with an equivalent of Loctite. Is it reverse threaded? Otherwise the tear-down was quite easy.

Any suggestions will be tremendous help. By the way, I have enough left over curtain and ribbon material for three (3) more shutter sets, if someone is interested.

Best Regards, davidrol😕

 

[jn053]

Did you custom file a large screwdriver to fit the screw slot exactly
once you realized it was secured too tight ? You do know of course
that something stops the rotation of the shaft while you're trying to
loosen the screw. Did you consider that it might not be strong enough
to withstand a large amount of torque ? If not, then send the camera
to DAG or (maybe) Youxin. They have the experience to
CLA a Leica SM and replace its shutter curtains without removing either
the screw or the fragile speed disk, which can be very troublesome
as well sometimes. Can't speak for the quality and accuracy of Youxin's work
on curtain replacement, but DAG's I know is first-rate, the way the
factory intended. Plus you'll get genuine Leica curtains. It's worth the
money.

 

[Ronald M]

Kroil is great stuff. The engineers at work use it as a staple.

 

[Luddite Frank]

Kroil is great stuff. The engineers at work use it as a staple.

Shucks.... I always used it as a penetrating oil.... 😀

( Sorry, Ronald - I couldn't resist ! )

Yes Kroil is great stuff - buy on-line from Kanolabs.com

Apply a TINY drop with a needle or fine screw-driver.


Good luck !

Luddite Frank

 

[davidrol]

IIIF shutter curtain dimensions

IIIF shutter curtain dimensions

Thanks for all of the responses. I will order the Kroil.

I have the proper dimension for the long curtain. It remained intact during assembly, and it is completely rebuilt with curtain and ribbons. I have reinstalled this curtain, along with the entire shutter assembly, in order to get clues to the shorter, or drum curtain's, proper dimension and placement. This alignment on the drum was done many, many times at the Leica factory. Any tech would know this. I had hoped someone here was familiar with setting the drum in 'home position', if you will.

Anyhow, I want to thank everyone. Your comments lead me to some concrete options.

Best Regards, davidrol 🙂

 

[John Shriver]

When the drum and rollers are at the "rest" condition (shutter closed), the curtains overlap such that the two metal strips align with each other. The closing curtain is long enough to wrap the drum a whole turn when the shutter is uncocked. The exact length isn't critical, although it does affect the drum diameter. The position is what counts.

I think the trick to locating the second curtain is to do experimental fixings of it with Scotch Magic tape. While a IIIf does have cams on the closing curtain latch for the 1/500 and 1/1000 speeds, it really pays to get the curtains in the right place. Then you just get 1/30 accurate, and all of the rest of speeds should be right. You don't want to be tuning the high shutter speeds by fudging the curtain speeds, all you really want to do with the curtain speeds is get the exposure the same from end to end.

Once you have the right location, glue it down with shellac or Pliobond.

This approach is more critical on the IIIa and earlier, and on the Canon screwmounts, where there's no adjustable cams on the closing curtain latch to fine-tune the high two speeds. Those cams on the IIIc and later make it easier.

 

[Charles Woodhouse]

Hi, I usually replace both curtains but in Leicas almost never the tapes. I don't agree with Phil Nelson's method of obtaining the overlap which relies on the old curtains being a perfect fit with a correct overlap. My curtain dimensions for a Leica IIIc are: first or opening curtain 76mm X 31mm(which includes 6mm overlap),and second or closing curtain 100mm X 31mm(which includes 6mm overlap. I usually stitch the curtains with black waxed thread for cosmetic authenticity, and if one original curtain has the rubber side forward and the other has the cloth side forward, then I replace them that way. Done properly a new curtain job should be very difficult to pick from the original, and the camera should be good for another forty or fifty years.