Just had a vintage shutter curtain tear on me mid-repair

I was working on a 1960s SLR last week, trying to clean the mirror box. The second curtain fabric just gave way when I touched it with a cotton swab, a clean rip about an inch long. I had to stop everything, order a donor body for parts from an online auction, and wait three days for it to arrive. Has anyone found a good source for new old stock curtain material, or is it all cannibalized parts now?

3 comments

3 Comments

hill.troy1mo ago

Yeah, I'm totally with you on using donor bodies. I had a curtain crumble on a perfectly clean Pentax last month, and the only real fix was pulling one from a junker. That old material is just too far gone now.

gibson.robert1mo ago

That bit about looking for new old stock curtain material. I used to hunt for it too, but honestly, every roll I ever found was just as brittle. I only trust curtains from a working donor body now.

the_alice1mo ago

But have you tried a proper rehydration process first? Some of those old rolls just need the right treatment to become flexible again. A donor body is a huge hassle when a simpler fix might work.