Graflex.org

[ChrisKelvin]

Hello everyone,

my Speed Graphic Pacemaker's focal plane shutter works great, except when I turn it into portrait mode, i.e. on it's side. If I cock the shutter before in landscape I can fire it in portrait mode. But I can not cock the shutter in portrait mode. I can turn and wind the shutter but it won't stop at the next speed.

Anyone have an idea what I could do?
Thank you very much!

[William Hallett]

A guess - but only a guess - is that the spring which pulls down on the escapement is either missing or weak. (The "escapement" in Graflex language is the oddly shaped large round piece in the shutter mechanism.) If this is the case, the escapement could latch when the camera is in the vertical position because the weight of the escapement would pull it down enough to engage the pin on the gear, whereas with the camera on its side the weight would no longer assist in doing this. The spring in question is a coil spring which at one end is attached to the escapement, while the other end hooks on to a pin on the plate which is the base of the focal plane shutter mechanism. It is part 3 in Fig. 6 in the service manual for the Pacemaker Graphics, which is available on line. The mechanism is simple to dismantle and de-bug, except that you will need the service manual to tell you how to re-tension the lower roller spring when you put it back together.
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WilliamH