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Cirkut Camera
Tips:
Do NOT electrify a cirkut! There is no reason for
it. A well kept cirkut camera will work fine. My 1904 fan camera is my best shooter! There
are pleanty of surfaces were metal rubs against metal that can cause banding. Adding an
electric motor will do nothing to solve this problem. A friend of mine took a #16 that was
banding a little and switched to an electric drive. That made it worse. He has spent a
large fortune trying to get it to work as well as it did before the conversion. Some
original spring motors have been trashed, so owners had no choice but do a conversion. If
your Cirkut is banding try a good cleaning and run the mechanism often before you trash a
fine antique.
Robert Erickson, bob@panoramic.net
A couple of things to do: 1 Remove
completely or disconnect the film counter all together. 2 Remove the clockwork motor and
have it cleaned and serviced my a watchmaker or someone who has had experience with
clockwork motors someone who could repair old fashioned wind up gramophones comes to mind.
Dont undo the brass case that holds the motor unless you are aware of what will happen, a
bloody great spring and heaps of graphite dust comes to mind! 3 To remove the baseplate
you have to start with the top of the drive shaft that goes through the take up drum, then
loosen the screw holding the take up drum to the shaft. Then check to see how the speed
control is connected to the base plate and disconnect that. My experience is with a #10
and that speed control is connected to the base plate with a very fine split pin, which
will come out and just remove tthe speed control completely. Then undo the screws holding
the base plate and slide the assembly out. It will come out with the drive shaft attached
so draw it out carefully. 4 When you reassemble it take the serrated plate from the top of
the shaft, file down the serrations and drill and tap a hole on the edge of the plate to
take a small screw so that it sticks out about 1/8" and in the corresponding cupped
plate file 4 semicircular grooves in it with a circular file. make them just deep enough
to take the screw so that instead of jamming the 2 serrated plates together to take the
photo you just tighten the 2 plates enough so that the screw just sits comfortably in the
groove but DO NOT TIGHTEN any more than that. One of the big problems with banding is that
the top nut is tightened too tightly causing the whole drim and drive assembly to lock up
5 Investigate the electric motor option if you are going to use the camera commercially 6
Add a Klein plate to the camera film delivery side and in that respect speak to Ron Klein
who would be the one guy with all the answers and who can cut new gears if you need them.
Col Bullard, cirkutoz@acay.com.au
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Believe it or not, a cirkut camera can be made to run quite nicely. I
have spent twenty years perfecting the operation but must say it is tricky. Having worked
on at least fifty of the cameras, I have learned a lot about their construction. I have
worked on every model camera from the #5 to #16 and beyond. (I have a 22 inch camera) I
will confess to owning and using an electric version, but more on that later.
First bit of advice, DON'T MODIFY THE CAMERA!!! I can't tell you how many
cameras that I've seen where the mechanism has been seriously altered to fix banding
problems and the situation was only made worse. If you could find a totally new cirkut
camera, would you tear it up trying to make it better? I'm not against modernizing the
cameras, but I firmly believe that any new work to the original machine must be totally
reversible. For example, an electric motor conversion should be made by removing all of
the original parts and replacing them with newly machined compponents that screw into the
exact same mounting holes. That way when you find out that your "better design"
isn't solving the problem, you can get back to square one. The original camera mechanism
wasn't built to high tolerance. Remember it wasn't the space age! However the original
design is quite good. The gear ratios were well thought out, as I have been able to
use lenses from 6 inch focal length to over 30 inches on a number ten camera with great
success.
To begin, before you take your first picture, the camera must be inspected,
cleaned, oiled and adjusted. Then at least once a year do the same. Start with the
tripod. Is it tight? any broken legs, or missing bits of wood? How about the holes where
the turntable attaches, are they loose? A wobbly tripod on a cirkut is trouble trouble
trouble. Next look at the ring gear. seperate the upper and lower halves and look at the
teeth, and the upper surface. Look for damaged teeth from being hit or dropped. Also check
the plating for peeling or wear. A bit of advice, DON"T HAVE THE GEAR REPLATED unless
it is by someone who can do very precise work. An outfit doing car bumpers is not the
place to
go. Are there dents in the track surface? This must be repaired before replating.
Also, the ring gear must be leveled to the turntable. This was originally done by putting
paper shims under the ring gear. The gear is marked by a number stamped in it, and it
should match the ring gear number and also be put back in the same alignment. The center
pivot hole (not on #5 or #6 cameras) is actually NOT supposed to be tight. This
seems contrary, but the rollers on the upper part of the turntable center need a little
slop to prevent binding. The upper turntable rollers should be checked for looseness, flat
spots, and total wear. I was fortunate enough to inspect brand new rollers and can tell
you that any flatness on the rim is wear. Eventually they wear down to the point that the
pinion gear doesn't mesh at the right height to the ring gear. If the rollers are
wobbly then the center is worn. Resist temptation to replace the rollers with ball
bearings. Unless the ball bearings have brass tires on them, they are too wide and will
skid while rotating. The inside edge of the bearing would have to turn slower than
the outside edge which is not possible. It is a good idea to wipe the surface of the ring
gear and check rotation just before you take a picture. One piece of crud on the track
will cause a bad spot in the picture.
The camera guts obviously require the most attention. I could write a book
on what to do, but it is actually quite simple to disassemble and clean. I will caution
the #5 and #6 owners however. Those cameras are stubborn to pull apart and reassemble. The
gears must be perfectly clean, and the shafts and journals as well. Journal must be
inspected for wear which is done by watching the ends while gears are wiggled back and
forth. To try to tell you how much wear is acceptable in a letter is difficult. I think a
badly worn journal is obvious. If you are going to remove the upper plate, pay attention
to small spacer washers that were used to shim the plate or the gear shafts. It is a good
idea to make a sketch as you go. The gears can be wire brushed with a fine brass brush,
but go easy. I soak gears in lacquer thinner to clean and wash all the parts except the
spring in it as well. The spring is a special case. Taking it apart is not easy but can be
done if you are brave. If you let it get away from you, there is 25 feet of razorlike
material headding for your neck. The only reason to take the spring
apart is to relube it and check for hairline cracks. IMPORTANT!!! DO NOT PUT GREASE OR OIL
ON THE SPRING!!! The spring is lubricated with powdered graphite and is dry. If it were
greased or oiled then on a cold day it wouldn't work at all. A good clock repair shop can
do this work for you as well. They have special tools for unwinding mainsprings in huge
clocks. If your spring is broken, it can be repaired. Usually it breaks on the inside end.
I have cut off the broken part and drilled a new hole making the spring slightly shorter
and it works fine. Thereis a trick to putting a hole through spring steel so please don't
just try to drill it.
When oiling the parts, use a spotting brush and apply a small drop of oil to
each journal and moving part. Take a clean rag and wipe excess oil. Too much oil will
attract dirt. DO NOT OIL THE GEAR TEETH!!! Brass gears are suposed to be dry. Lastly, a
good trick is to use masking tape to seal the space between the upper plate and the base
plate. This keeps dirt and crud from getting on the gear teeth causing instant banding.
There isn't much room for the tape, but it will work. The next time you open the
camera, lacquer thinner will disolve the old tape.
The only real adjustment on the mechanism is the ball governor and damper
control for speeds (not on fan cameras). The upper adjusting screw on the ball governor
should be loose, not tight. With the mechanism running the screw is tightened until the
governor stops or slows down. Then back of 1/4 turn or 1/2 turn. There must be some end
play which you can feel with your fingers. I have a #10 camera that had NEVER been taken
apart since assembled at the factory, and with low mileage as well. The motor was very
loose. This allows the 1/2 second speed to work.
There are a lot more little tricks, but not critical. If you have trouble,
put all the parts in a zip lock bag and send them to me. The best operating tricks are
really simple. Eliminate backlash in the gear train, make sure the film is evenly attached
to the takeup drum ( not too high or low), and that your tripod is level. Old timers will
tell you to rest your finger on the camera as it goes around to keep
tension on the gear train. Just remember, Cirkut cameras are like violins. Some people can
play them and others.......
If you are interested in electrofying your camera, let me suggest that an
entire new lower plate be constructed so you can restore your original camera back to
collectable condition. This will maintain its value and allow you to experiment with
camera speeds unobtainable with spring motors. I was thinking about making some of these
units for sale in my shop, but since summer is rapidly approaching and I already have a
full load of projects it will have to wait.
So why use a big old cirkut camera when modern cameras exist that work
better? Because they're cool man!!! If you have
problems, let me know
Ron Klein panorama@ptialaska.net
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Cirkut Tips
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