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Milosdevino
Tinkerer
Username: Milosdevino
Post Number: 1
Registered: 03-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 01, 2010 - 04:01 am: | 
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Does anyone know of a good paint I can use on the blades of a shutter. I am repairing an Agfa Isolette III, and rather foolishly left the shutter blades to soak in methylated spirits. What I didn't realise at the time is that "metho" contains water, which rusted the blades. I polished the rust off with Brasso, but removed most of the paint coating as well. Any ideas? |
David_nebenzahl
Tinkerer
Username: David_nebenzahl
Post Number: 243
Registered: 12-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 01, 2010 - 10:59 am: |
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I don't think that's paint on the blades.
If the blades are metal (spring steel), then the finish on them was probably "bluing", like the finish on gun barrels. I think there's a way to restore this finish chemically, though I don't know the details. |
John_s
Tinkerer
Username: John_s
Post Number: 17
Registered: 07-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 01, 2010 - 11:18 am: |
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This is just a suggestion, it might sound silly but could you go over the blades with an ordinary soft black pencil to leave a thin coating of graphite? This would also act as a lubricant although it might not stay on but paint would surely lead to sticking. Or just leave them as they are, I guess the coating is only cosmetic. |
Chiccolini
Tinkerer
Username: Chiccolini
Post Number: 88
Registered: 06-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 01, 2010 - 11:36 am: |
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John's suggestion made me think that "painting" them with a black magic marker would be a good option and it is not thick or "heavy" like regular paint. |
David_nebenzahl
Tinkerer
Username: David_nebenzahl
Post Number: 244
Registered: 12-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 01, 2010 - 11:41 am: |
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I have to disagree.
It seems to me that one really doesn't want any kind of coating on the shutter blades (bluing is a chemical surface treatment, not a coating), as any coating is prone to being worn off. And if worn off, where is it going to go? All over the inside surfaces of your nice clean lenses, that's where.
Graphite (a very thin layer) is good for lubricating shutter blades, but as John S. pointed out, any finish on the shutter blades is only cosmetic. They'll work just as well whether rusty or nicely blued. It's up to your tolerance for how they look when you peer into your camera's lens, I guess. |
Glenn
Tinkerer
Username: Glenn
Post Number: 767
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 01, 2010 - 06:17 pm: |
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Any gunsmith or shooting supply outlet will stock 'gun blue', either in a paste/gel form or a liquid. Certain other outlets will supply a product called 'cold chemical blacking'- try engineering suppliers. I prefer the 'liquid chemical blacking' for steel camera parts, polish up will very fine emery or wet/dry, degrease well and then follow instructions for product you have obtained. Note that you can also get blacking chemicals for brass.
If you have the experience you can easily heat reblue all steel shutter blades, just use a very small propane torch and support the blades on a sand bath and quench in thin oil when the correct colour appears. |
Rick_oleson
Tinkerer
Username: Rick_oleson
Post Number: 1081
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 01, 2010 - 07:35 pm: |
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I have a 3-ounce bottle of "Perma-Blue" Liquid Gun Blue, made by Birchwood Casey. The same company also makes "Brass Black" and "Aluminum Black", all of which can be handy for blackening metal parts without painting. |
David_nebenzahl
Tinkerer
Username: David_nebenzahl
Post Number: 248
Registered: 12-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 01, 2010 - 10:01 pm: |
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I guess I'd go for the chemical treatment here. Using heat to reblue, isn't there a danger of warping those thin blades? Maybe you've done this successfully, but I wouldn't trust myself to try this. |
Milosdevino
Tinkerer
Username: Milosdevino
Post Number: 2
Registered: 03-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 02, 2010 - 01:19 am: |
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Thanks for the advice everyone, it's off to the gunshop for me.I didn't think the blades were painted, but I couldn't think what else they were coated with. I was worried about two things, flare and corrosion of the uncoated metal due to atmospheric moisture, blue seems to be the perfect solution. |
