Last time we visited Bell & Howell 2709 #586, I had begun some work on the shutter dissolve mechanism. Some judicious cleaning and relubrication of the bore in the casting, the threads, and the brass nut that are the main part of the shutter dissolve had that system back in working condition. 2709s, in their original configuration, have a very elaborate automatic dissolve mechanism that uses a series of levers that set a brake to stop the shutter when the end of the dissolve cycle has been reached. Most of this system had been disabled on this camera, but some of it was interfering with the smooth operation of the shutter dissolve mechanism. To fix this, I removed the long dovetail cover plate from the top of the camera, repaired one of the levers, lubricated everything, and put the cover plate back in place.
While I had most of the other bits and pieces out of the camera, I checked that all of the oil passages were feeding oil to the gears and bearings, and cleaned and replaced some of the wicks in the oil passages. In order to access the working parts of the dissolve mechanism, the sprocket, the keeper assemblies, and the dissolve gear cover plate had to come out of the camera. While disassembling this section of the camera, I noticed this service record scribed into the back of the dissolve gear cover plate. It reads: “Washington D.C. Ralph E. Densmore, C.P.O., US (Chief Petty Officer, US) 2-2-44 Also Paramount Studio Hollywood”. A wonderful insight into the history of this camera. As an aside, I have taken apart a number of cameras that were in the military where people had similarly scribed their names and the dates they worked on them, sometimes on the backs of the shutter, sometimes on various other internal parts.
As I looked over the rest of the parts, I noticed that the lead counterweights in the shutter had that disgusting white powdery residue that happens over time. All that had to be cleaned off, some of the black paint touched up, and then everything but the movement could be put back together. Further adventures continue next week.
