Graflex.org

steve woods · Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 4 Location: england,uk

hi to you all,having recently joined you all from the u/k i wondered if anyone can advise me please on the following.
i have two optar lenses which both have a similar problem in that the diaphram arm does not interact properly with the pin,i think possibly wear is a factor,what happens is that if you open the lens with the diaphram it does not close properly,i bought a great copy of the shutter from an excellent ebay seller in the usa which has enabled me to at least strip one of the lenses to discover the problem,if there are no parts and it means the graphex shutter is scrap with the earlie wollensack 1.9 shutter allow fitment of the optar lenses?
many thanks for reading this
steve woods

45PSS · Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:02 am Post subject:

steve woods · Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 4 Location: england,uk

hi charles,
thank you for your reply,i have a copy of a manual on the graphex shutters 1,2 and 3 as i said in the original question which at least allowed me to work out the fault with the shutters,which is the diaphram opening pin arm is no longer correctly locating on the pin therefore when you open the lens up and close it again the blades do not close fully,this can be overcome to some extent by firing the shutter but success runs at around 30%,i am aware the earlier wollensack
1.9 shutter will need to be the same thread and the blades will need to clear,(they should anyway)i just wondered if anyone knew whether the thickness of the front screw flange to rear screw flange was identical therefore allowing the lenses to be equidistant apart,as equal to the later graphex shutters numbered 2 and 3?,or if anyone manufactures parts for the graphex number 2 and 3 shutters please?
many thanks
steve woods

45PSS · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 12:56 am Post subject:

Ok, if the parts are worn out and you are not a machinist and you do not know one then the options are: buy another used shutter/lens and hope its good or find a machinist you can afford.

_________________
The best camera ever made is the one that YOU enjoy using and produces the image quality that satifies YOU.

steve woods · Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 4 Location: england,uk

hi,
thanks again for the reply,i realise i can change the shutter but what i am trying to find out here is if other users of graphex number 2 and 3 shutters have experienced a similar problem and if anyone in the usa is currenly remanufacturing these parts at present?,i realise n/o/s may still be held in some graflex dealership somewhere?.i can replace the shutters/lenses but if possible i would like to keep the original lenses as useable as they are the same age as the camera bodies,so if anyone knows of a stockist of spares i would like to know of the stockist please?
many thanks steve woods

troublemaker · Joined: 24 Nov 2003 Posts: 715 Location: So Cal

Like Charles I am not exectly sure what you are referencing regarding the "pin", or the "diaphram". Exerience with these shutters suggests that what you are writing about are the shutter blades. However, I have seen one Graphex #2 that had a diaphram guide pin pop out of its guide, which didn't effect the shutter blades.
The culprit with shutter blades not opperating smoothly tends to be that they can get a small amount of lubricant on them, ussually migrating from an over lubed diaphram ring, and thus will stick, slightly open, when closed using the press focus lever. If this is the case, A graphex shutter can ussually be brought into very good opperating condition with a good cleaning and proper reassembly...
If I misread your problem just dissregard my note.
Stephen

45PSS · Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 7:51 pm Post subject:

Rephrasing what I said in my previous post: I do not know of any source other than ebay for another graflex shutter or parts.

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Graflex Corp.was a (silent) supporter of Rain Forest Devastation.

[ This Message was edited by: 45PSS on 2006-10-17 22:16 ]

Les · Joined: 09 May 2001 Posts: 2682 Location: Detroit, MI

The only other source would be SK Grimes or Flutots. Grimes does a lot of shutter work and may have shutter carcasses to scavange from.

Flutots has a web page here

http://home.earthlink.net/~flutotscamera/Website/Services.htm

SK is only slightly closer to you (east coast US as opposed to west coast) but Flutot's has better prices.

steve woods · Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 4 Location: england,uk

hi to you all,
i now know the reason why both of these graphex shutters were experiencing a similar problem and it was not the pin assembly or diaphram at fault,it is under close examination i discovered both of the main lever arm assemblies had significant wear to the region above the the focus lever,this results in two things happening,the lever assembly does not hold the focus lever down correctly so it no longer sits flat on the diaphram plate assembly surface,secondly as the focus lever is moved it catches on the build up of brass on the underside of the main lever assembly,this has sorted one lens as useable but the second will need more work,the pin ring locating pins are severely worn,especially in the case of the focus lever,so i have drilled it out and cut down a drill bit which has been glued.the literature needed for these lenses is graphex shutters volume 6711AC.
i hope this information is of some use to others.
regards
steve woods