TIL the hard way about old Copal shutters at a trade show

I was at the Camera Repair Expo in Cleveland last month. A guy brought in a 1950s Voigtlander with a stuck Copal shutter. I tried my usual method with lighter fluid and it barely loosened up. Turns out those old shutters have a different lubricant that turns to glue after 60 years. Now I use a specific heat gun trick before even touching solvent. Has anyone else run into this with pre-1960 Copal shutters?

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3 Comments

the_henry4mo ago

Specific heat gun trick" - that's just called preheating, not a trick lol.

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theawest4mo ago

I get what you're saying, but calling it a "heat gun trick" makes sense to me. Preheating is just warming something up, while using a heat gun on specific spots can target problem areas in a way a normal oven can't. It's more of a technique than just turning up the temp.

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jones.brooke2mo ago

Nah, it's totally just preheating with extra steps. You're still just applying heat to a surface, same as an oven, just with a smaller area. It's not some secret technique, it's a tool doing what tools do.

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