Exakta Varex IIa curtains replacement, can I do it?

[onre]

Hello,

I just recently obtained a cheap Exakta Varex IIa which came with a 1.8/50 Schacht S-Travelon and 4/135 Jena. This camera's curtains aren't in a very good condition anymore, and I'd have to replace them. Local repair shop would ask for around 300EUR for this, so I decided to at least give it a shot. I have some experience working with equipment with small and delicate parts, so I'm not totally foreign to this kind of work.

I've read Zorkikat.com picture report and Rick Oleson's instructions on dismantling the IIa and replacing the shutters. I think I'll buy materials for new ones at Aki Asahi. Now I have some questions about this whole thing, because I've never done any camera repair before and would like to get some things clear before beginning.

Apparently original Exakta curtains have a folded metal piece at curtain's end? I thought of replacing this with a solution similar to one at Zorkikat site, where he's apparently just sewn a piece of metal "inside" the curtain's end. I'd imagine it's best to have the new curtains weight as close to original ones as possible? This could be easily adjusted by choosing right sort of metal strip for the curtain end. What sort of glue should be used here? Would a cyanoacrylate "super glue" be a bad choice? I thought of using it so that I first do the sewing and then apply a drop of it on top. Would some other sort of glue work better?

I've also understood that I should cock the shutter and turn the slow-speed dial before starting work, and only release the shutter after replacement is complete. Is this correct?

Thanks for your answers in advance.

[Attila]

Welcome!

I did try to repair two camera one compact and one folder 6x6, several hours working, compact repair did come with zero success.
Folder repair result was a ruined camera cameras are precise instruments most people can't do it well. Seems I one of them
I rather save a little money and pay for an expert than ruin any again by myself.

[luisalegria]

I have repaired two Exaktas successfully, the problem was they needed cleaning and lubrication. The biggest problem is disassembly/reassembly. There are a LOT of screws. Be careful. But after you have done one any more are easy.

I am about to do two more repairs, this time with curtain replacements.
I actually did one (a VXIIa) but I used material that was too thick, and the shutter assembly did not fit back in the camera shell.
But the shutter was working fine with good timing. .
I now have Aki Asahi material and I will try again, maybe this weekend.

It may not be necessary to remove the metal strip. I used Rick Olesons suggestion and just cut out the bad material and glued in the new material. The tapes were still in good shape so I did not try replace the whole think like Zorkikat.

[onre]

Thank you for your replies!

I am inclined to try this myself, because at least with careful work I can't make matters any worse than they are now. I probably will use Oleson's method of just glueing new material into old "shutter end", and see how it works out. After all, I'm under impression that one sheet of Aki Asahi shutter cloth is enough for two shutters? As in, if this glueing solution fails, I still have enough material left to build completely new curtains.

I'll order materials today, we will see what comes out of this.