Had to pick between a tiny screwdriver and a toothpick for a stuck shutter blade

This old Yashica TLR came in with a shutter that wouldn't fire. I could see a tiny piece of old foam stuck in the blades. My good micro screwdriver was too thick to fit in the gap without bending things. I had to choose: grind down the screwdriver tip for 30 minutes or use a sharpened toothpick. Went with the toothpick. It worked, but the tip broke off inside and I spent another hour fishing it out with tweezers. Anyone have a better tool for clearing gunk from tight shutter assemblies?

2 comments

2 Comments

oscarthompson17d ago

Just spent twenty minutes trying to get a sliver of toothpick out of a leaf shutter with the tip of a safety pin. Felt like I was performing surgery on a flea. I should really listen to @dylan_anderson and get some of those plastic picks. My toolbox is full of these "good enough" fixes that always backfire, like using a bent paperclip to adjust a rangefinder and then having to fix the paperclip mark on the mirror.

dylan_anderson17d ago

Feel your pain on a spiritual level. Honestly, fishing a broken toothpick out of a shutter sounds like my own personal nightmare. I keep a set of those cheap plastic dental picks around for exactly this kind of junk. They're stiff enough to scrape but soft enough not to scratch anything if you slip. Still a total pain though.