Is it possible that a replacement curtain which is sewn around a replacement (thin) lath will work in a Nikon? This works in other cameras, so there may be a chance that it may in a Nikon.
In most cases the crimped lath has more to do in the blind-making process than the function of the shutter itself. Crimped laths are less labour- intensive than wrap around laths since less gluing and no sewing is involved. The lath is crimped in one action, perhaps along with the ribbons too.
The crimped lath also appears to be more reliable than the wrap around types since there is no possibility of the cloth become unglued or lose its stitching. But a properly glued and sewn cloth blind (and tapes) will hold the lath very reliably too.
As for the function, the thickness difference between a wrap-around (with cloth) and a crimped lath may be very little. I think that the difference is too small to matter when the two blinds traverse on the curtain channel.
The plain lath is quite easy to make. It's really just a thin metal strip with cut outs on either side for the tapes. I made a few out of thin metal strips- width isn't very critical but length must match what they're replacing. I know they worked when they replaced crimped metal laths in some cameras like Zorki or Zenit. I don't know if the Nikon's mechanism is far less tolerant of the lath type used.