Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY)
Scovill's Safety Shutter Variation 2- c.1890's
The
American Annual of Photography and Photographic Times Almanac for 1888,
ads p. 64
Unlike the one in Variation 1, the release lever for Variation 2 has a coil spring (underneath the left end of the lever in the photo below) to return it to its rest position.
Unlike the one in
Variation 1, the hole that
makes the exposure in
Variation 2 is cut in a complex shape designed to produce
a more consistent exposure over the plate.
Below, the drop shutter
installed onto the front of a Scovill Waterbury Lens
Notes:
Scovill's Safety Shutter and Scovill's Universal Safety Shutter were advertised on the same page, the Universal model costing over twice as much as the non-Universal. They did not appear in 1886 catalogs, the Scovill catalog of April 1887 being their first appearance.
Both models had a manner of braking the dropping slide, which prevents the jolt made as a drop shutter suddenly stops dropping. The shutter is equipped with one or two brass springs bent outward from the shutter, and a brass rod across the top of the shutter. After the slide has cleared the exposure area, the springs rub on the rod, braking the motion. The further the drop slide proceeds, the more the braking, until finally the hooks at the end of the springs catch on the rod.
The Universal Safety Shutter, differs from the Safety Shutter had a unique way of adjusting the length of the exposure by moving one of the wooden panels, securing it by means of the perforated brass piece.
Starting about 1888, they were equipped with a pneumatic release (brass cylinder).
References:
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
The Scovill Co. (New York, NY), distributed by
C.H. Codman & Co. (Boston, MA), April 1887, p.
90
The American Annual of Photography and Photographic Times Almanac for
1888, C.W. Canfield, ed.; Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY), copyright
1887, ads p. 64
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co. (New York, NY),
undated but about January 1888, p. 104
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
Scovill Mfg. Co., distributed by C.H. Codman & Co.
(Boston, MA), September 1888,
p. 57
Scovill's Photographic Series No. 26: "The Photographic Instructor",
The Scovill & Adams Co., New York, NY. ads p.23
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
The Scovill & Adams Co.
(New York, NY), January 1889, p. 55
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
The Scovill & Adams
Co. (New York, NY), 1890, p. 63
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
The Scovill & Adams
Co. (New York, NY), January
1891, p. 66
How to Make Photographs and Descriptive Price List,
The Scovill & Adams
Co. (New York, NY), abt. June 1892, p. 96
