[monochrome]

I updated the # of units produced in my Post #3 above.

[Xmas]

Thanks for the offer but I believe that the problem is with the curtains. Eric had put a brand new set of curtains in my K but when He opened up my AP, he sent this message with a refund, "I took the unit apart and found that the shutter curtain streamer is torn. I don't have the parts available to fix it. Returning unrepaired."

I suppose that Mark is going to have to manufacture new shutter curtains? That's what it sounds like anyway.

The curtains are easy you can get the material or make it from raw silk and liquid rubber...
Think the streamer is the metal end pieces you just may able to see that run in the top and bottom rails and form the leading (trailing) edges of the shutter blinds.
Thin strip metal formed in small press with dies!

[Lord Lucan]

I think you need to decide what you want an old camera for. If it is as a workhorse to take routine photos, because you like the feel of it or because the shutter is quiet (these points have been mentioned), then obviously it might need the CLA to do so but you really have to drop the idea that it is being saved for posterity.

OTOH if it is to be saved for posterity, as an example of 1960's (say) tech and style, then it should be CLA's if possible and then used very little; such an "exhibition" camera needs to be at least cosmetically in very good condition if not mint to start with however. Also there is no point in replacing any of its parts with 3-D printed ones - better to leave it with the original broken parts. Use a more modern and widely available camera for your daily worker, such as a K1000 if you are a traditionalist, otherwise a DSLR. You wouldn't use a Duesenberg Phaeton to drive to work, even if you might use an old VW Beetle.

Also, being CLA'd or tossed in the trash are not the only alternatives. It is still an example of the tech and style of the time even if it does not work and can be kept as such, in a glass case (metaphorically or literally). I went to the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, UK, a couple of years ago, and I don't think that most people would expect all or even a minority of their cars to be runners, but none of them are heading for the scrap yard any time soon.

You also need to consier what will happen when you pass away My kids I'm sure will just toss everything into a skip. You need to think about offloading any collectable stuff before this is likely to happen.

[Wild Mark]

You also need to consier what will happen when you pass away My kids I'm sure will just toss everything into a skip. You need to think about offloading any collectable stuff before this is likely to happen.

ok, I am going to loiter the streets of South Wales for skip bins now

[monochrome]

So many original Shelby Cobras have been restored to 100 Point Concours condition that when Roger Penske recently bought a well-used copy that had been sitting in a barn for decades he changed the battery, oil and tires, fired it up - it started and ran - and shut it down, keeping it unrestored. Apparently the as-found-condition Cobras are so rare they’re worth more than the pretty ones.

There’s a lesson in there somewhere.

[ctrout]

I have an L.C. Smith SxS from 1902 that I use for trap and bird hunting whenever I can. I hardly ever take out my Italian over/under any more. I used to have a V12 BMW that there were fewer than 3500 brought to N. America that I used as a daily driver until I sold it. My everyday radio on the bench in my ham shack is a pair of Kenwood twins from the mid 1970s. In fact I just got off the air with it about an hour ago. I like classic toys for everyday use and I'm not afraid to use a $300 camera every day for its intended purpose.