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Found a simple fix for stuck shutter blades on old Copal shutters
I was working on a Mamiya 645 from the 80s last week with a stuck shutter. The blades were just sitting there frozen. I tried cleaning them with lighter fluid like everyone says, but they still wouldn't move. Then a guy at the local camera club told me to try a tiny drop of sewing machine oil on the pivot points, not the blades themselves. He said the real problem is the dried up old grease in the pivot holes, not the blades being dirty. I used a toothpick to apply it, let it sit for 10 minutes, and worked the shutter open and closed by hand. It freed right up and now it fires at every speed from 1 second to 1/500. Has anyone else had luck with this trick or do you stick to dry cleaning only?
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ryan_shah384d ago
Light fluid never did it for me either, but a single drop of oil on the pivot points fixed a frozen Compur shutter on an old folder I had. Best tip I ever got from a crusty old camera repair guy.
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gibson.avery4d ago
Lighter fluid sounds like trying to fix a car engine with windex lol. Glad you got it working though, sewing machine oil is basically magic juice for old shutters.
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tessa_murray4d ago
Magic juice for old shutters" haha I'm gonna start calling everything that from now on. My lens cleaning fluid is now "magic juice for old glass".
Honestly though I'm still waiting for the day someone shows up with a can of WD-40 and a dream, trying to fix a sticky aperture. That's the real horror show waiting to happen.
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