Repairing synchro compur shutter blades

[Cesare]

I've picked up an old and somewhat bashed about voigtlander bessa RF (the one with a coupled rangefinder) and am in the process of restoring it to working condition. I'm restoring this to be a working camera not a collectors piece.

Ignoring cosmetics, the bellows are in pretty good nick, certainly good enough to test out the camera, whilst the lens/shutter/aperture are in need of attention. I have disassembled and cleaned the lens elements, and have fixed the aperture blades (some had worked loose).

The shutter cocks and fires, and makes all the right noises at lower speeds (even sounds pretty good at 1 sec). The problem is that of the 5 shutter blades two have got mangled and have cuts in their ends. What advice is there to restore damaged blades? Should I be looking for another compur to take the blades from, or is there some place to obtain replacement blades for the shutter. I could of course replace the entire shutter from another camera which has died for another reason. Seems drastic for 5 small pieces of metal though...

Any advice appreciated.

Cesare

 

[ZeissFan]

At this point in time (Compur shutters in that size were last made about 50 years ago), the only source for replacement blades is another Compur shutter. That usually means buying another shutter or another camera of similar specs. The best option, of course, is to buy the identical model, because then you can be assured that the lens elements will fit, and the shutter faceplate will have the identical markings, etc.

Also keep this in mind: While most cameras are worthy of restoration, some aren't. It's possible that the next camera you buy will be in better condition, and your original camera will become a parts body.

 

[ZeissFan]

Also, some Compurs use a three-blade design for those intended for medium format cameras.

 

[Cesare]

Ok, so it sounds like i'm on the right track simply finding spares from another identical shutter. Just wanted to make sure there wasn't some magical way to either repair the existing shutter, or a well known source of spare parts for shutters of this age.

I'll keep my eye out and see what I can find.

Cesare

 

[FallisPhoto]

What advice is there to restore damaged blades? Should I be looking for another compur to take the blades from, or is there some place to obtain replacement blades for the shutter. I could of course replace the entire shutter from another camera which has died for another reason. Seems drastic for 5 small pieces of metal though...

Any advice appreciated.

Cesare

You can't repair shutter blades, and very few can be restored. You pretty much always have to replace them. The only exception I can think of is if there is very light pitting; After polishing the blade, the pits can sometimes be filled with a graphite stick. Even then, it's usually more trouble than it's worth and you're better off replacing them.

 

[Cesare]

Well, having been rather frustrated with an initial search for a replacement, and before I dismantle the blades from a spare Mamiya C3 80 that i've got lying around, I thought i'd see what could be done with the two damaged blades. I scraped the damaged edges of the first blade with raised edges and got this flat enough to fit into the shutter without snagging on the other blades. The second blade with a 1cm long cut I repaired believe it or not by superglueing a bit of kitchen foil onto it. I reassembled the shutter with this bodged blade on the outside edge so the foil doesn't have to rub agaist any other blade and the shutter is up and running.

Sure, it's not pretty, but it's working whilst I try and find some better blades. Will at least allow me to check and test the rest of the camera (lens allignment, shutter speeds etc). Shutter blades can't be repaired? Hah! ;-)

 

[FallisPhoto]

Well, having been rather frustrated with an initial search for a replacement, and before I dismantle the blades from a spare Mamiya C3 80 that i've got lying around, I thought i'd see what could be done with the two damaged blades. I scraped the damaged edges of the first blade with raised edges and got this flat enough to fit into the shutter without snagging on the other blades. The second blade with a 1cm long cut I repaired believe it or not by superglueing a bit of kitchen foil onto it. I reassembled the shutter with this bodged blade on the outside edge so the foil doesn't have to rub agaist any other blade and the shutter is up and running.

Sure, it's not pretty, but it's working whilst I try and find some better blades. Will at least allow me to check and test the rest of the camera (lens allignment, shutter speeds etc). Shutter blades can't be repaired? Hah! ;-)

That's just a bandaid. It won't hold. For one thing, aluminum galls in any kind of friction application and it will start sticking to the blade it is rubbing against. Also, with the blades out of balance, you risk the thing starting to shed blades. You need new shutter blades. For god's sake spend the few bucks it takes to buy a stupid Kodak with a Compur and take the blades out: http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Kodak-S...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4a9bec50ed