Took me 3 years to realize I was oiling shutter blades wrong

I used to put a drop of oil directly on the shutter blades on old leaf shutters. Then a customer brought in a Compur from the 1950s that was completely gummy. I asked a buddy who repairs antique cameras and he told me I was supposed to put one tiny drop on the pivot points only, not the blades. The oil on the blades was attracting dust and slowing everything down. Has anyone else made that mistake on a specific shutter model?

3 comments

3 Comments

drew_jones311mo ago

Oh man I did the exact same thing with a Wollensak Rapax.

pat_moore1mo ago

Yeah that Rapax is a beast but man if you breathe wrong on those old shutters they just give up on you. I had a similar moment where I was adjusting the aperture and the whole thing just kinda... seized up and stayed stuck at f/8 for a week.

sagecooper1mo ago

Oh actually that's a Rapax shutter issue, not Wollensak making them.